Tips for Building Your Brazil Family Tree

brazilian-geanealogy

Building your Brazilian family tree can be challenging, with information potentially scattered across many different resources. Our genealogy and family history experts have compiled these tips to help your tree find its leaves.

1. Start with Your Own Family Tree Documents

The easiest way to begin building your Brazilian family tree is to start with your own documents and what you already know. You might know the full names of your parents and maybe the names of your grandparents. If not, a birth certificate can include this important information. By asking your parents or finding their birth certificates, you also have the name of your grandparents.

With this simple research, you have reached the fourth generation of your family! You can use a family tree program or worksheet to start keeping track of what you know.

2. Discuss Your Family Ancestry with Family Members

The next step is simple and involves your family—an incredible source of information.

Get a notebook, a pencil, and an eraser. (Or plan to take good notes on your phone or laptop!) Put on your most comfortable shoes and go looking for information.

Woman talking to the oldest member of her family.

  1. Talk to everyone, direct relatives or not. Many people have the habit of taking notes in journals and notebooks. They could also have photos, if so, remember to check the back for notes!
  2. Talk to the oldest members of the family first. Film or record the conversations you have with them. Perhaps their current memory is compromised, but their past memory can be very much alive in their minds.
  3. How about using social tools to your advantage? Make family groups on WhatsApp or create Messenger groups on Facebook.
  4. Bring all of your family together to work on the family tree. The research can go much faster with more people involved, and your family will enjoy being part of the process.

3. Look for and Use Family Documents to Expand the Branches of your Family Tree

Use what you learned about your family to start digging deeper.

  1. Try to track down Bibles, personal diaries, letters, and photos. You might be surprised by what valuable and interesting information you find!
  2. Check online files. Do you need to find your ancestor’s birth certificates? Many files can be ordered or viewed online:
    1. First, try a simple search on sites such as FamilySearch to see what you can find. They have a large collection of records that are freely available.
    2. Next, learn about other places where you can find Brazilian civil and church records.
  3. Look for other civil documents. These documents may include school cards, club cards, identity cards, voter's titles, reservist certificates, and work permits. You might find them while visiting relatives, or you may learn information that can lead you to them. To get these documents from other organizations, you will likely need to present a birth certificate or a marriage certificate.
Family looking at photos.

Keep in mind from the start that a family tree is not made only of names, dates, and places. Photos, family stories, reports, summaries—all this information can be part of a family tree as well.

Are Some Names and Dates Still Missing?

As you learn more about your family, it is normal to find that you are still missing information. That’s OK! Here are some tips that can help when you are stuck.

  • First, carefully read every document you’ve been able to find. Many usually have more information than you realized. For example, sometimes close relatives such as uncles and brothers appear as witnesses or godparents.
  • Start your search with the women of the family! Brazil certificates may not have the name of the father of the family, but they will never be without the name of the mother.
Reading genealogy documents carefully.

The more you add to your family tree, the more connections you’ll find! Remember to add what you know to FamilySearch as you go. As more and more records are added to FamilySearch collections, you might even learn more with the records FamilySearch matches to your ancestors.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I make my own family tree?
How do I start a family tree online for free?

    What is the ancestry of Brazil?
    Do all Brazilians have Portuguese ancestry?
    Who were the first Brazilians?
    The first Brazilians were the indigenous peoples of Brazil, who lived in largely semi-nomadic tribes along the coasts and rivers. Not much is known about the Brazilian indigenous people before Portuguese colonists and explorers arrived in 1500.

    Continue Building your Brazil Family Tree with FamilySearch

    If you haven’t already, consider continuing your family tree building journey with FamilySearch. Our free online Family Tree allows users to build out their Brazil family tree alongside a community of like-minded enthusiasts and experts. Our community tree also offers the unique experience of making connections with family you may not have known existed!

    Find Out More About Your Family Through Free Activities

    Family Search provides a range of activities to help you learn more about your immediate and extended family, including learning about the women in your family, family traditions, the places your family lived, and the heroes of your family. Each of these activities add to build out the rich tapestry that is your family.

    Learn About Your Brazilian Surname

    Alongside our Family Tree and Activities, you can also use our free Surname Origins tool to learn more about your surname, what it means and where it originates. You can also learn more through our article on Brazilian Surnames and their Origins.

    Use the FamilySearch Wiki to Build your Tree Further

    At FamilySearch, our teams and volunteers work tirelessly to keep our wikis up to date with the latest information on genealogy across a range of counties and cultures. Our Brazil Genealogy wiki in particular may be useful in helping you to build your Brazil family tree, and may offer up some interesting surprises, too!

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