Last names are a lot of fun – but sometimes they aren’t super easy to track. Then again, it’s also a lot easier to track family history when you’ve got a family surname to help you make sure you’ve got the right Charles! So how far back do surnames go? Surnames in China date back … Read more

While dating my now-husband, it made me laugh when people asked him if he was related to famous people with his same last name. Now that we’re married, though, I’m getting that same question about being related to other Starrs. Are all people with the same last name related? Spoiler alert: no. Two people with … Read more

Thanks to statistics and how history played out, the odds are that your family hasn’t been in America for more than a few hundred years at most. This means that, at some point, someone in your family line immigrated to America. When did my ancestors come to America? Immigrants to the United States are usually … Read more

America is a land of opportunity and immigrants. So when you’re trying to find more about your family, it can help to discover when your family became a US citizen. So, when did my grandfather become a US citizen? To find out when a grandfather (or another relative) became a citizen of the United States, … Read more

As I do my genealogy, things get crazy fast when you’re from a yours-mine-and-ours type of family. Especially when you’ve got two brothers (one from another mother) with the same first name. The family tree gets complicated quickly. But do I leave someone out just to simplify? Who should you include in your family tree? … Read more