When you start your family tree, you usually start with yourself and add your direct line back through the years—your parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. That is truly the best way to start!
Once you’ve entered that information on FamilySearch, you can start expanding your family tree by adding more family members like children and siblings. Growing your tree beyond your direct line can help you find even more family members and help keep those families together in recorded history.
Watch the How-To Video
You can start expanding your tree with children and siblings by watching the video below. It provides step-by-step instructions on how to add children and siblings to the family members in your tree.
Helpful Notes and Takeaways
Find More People in Your Family
Our family is more than our parents and grandparents. We also have cousins, uncles, and aunts for generations!. We are connected to so many people who have stories of their own. How much do you know about your great-great-aunt? Have you ever looked up your grandfather’s cousins?
Sometimes, when you focus on your own direct line, you forget that your family tree has many branches that grow as wide as they do tall. If you’re stuck in your family history work and not sure what to work on next, try looking up family members beyond your direct line.
Keep Families Together after They’re Gone
At FamilySearch, we know your ancestors are more than just a name on an old document—they had real relationships and real connections with others around them. FamilySearch helps represent those close ties even after family members are gone. By adding children and siblings to the tree, you are helping to keep those who were connected in life stay connected in history and memory. Who knows? You could be the one to find and add a missing brother or sister to your tree!
