Template:AR Goal Parents

Here are a few tips for learning the names of a person's parents:

Why?

• Many types of records were created around a person's death
• Death related records usually give birth and marriage information, clues leading to parents
• Later records typically provide more information and clues
• Death certificates ask for names of parents
• Obituaries usually identify the parents

• Tip: Search marriage records for your ancestor

Why?

• Marriage records often give names of parents
• The records usually exist from the time the county was formed

• Tip: Find your ancestor in every census taken while he/she was alive

Why?

• They may live with or near relatives
• Relatives, such as parents, brothers, sisters, an aunt, or uncle, may live with them
• Censuses 1880 and later tell the state or nation where the father and the mother were born

• Tip: Use Probate records

Why?

• Wills and other probate records often give married names of daughters
  • Online or published indexes provide every-name searches
• These records were kept from the time a county was formed

• Tip: Search records of your ancestor's siblings

Why?

• Brothers and sisters had the same parents. Their records may have your answer
• They or their children may have compiled a genealogy and included it in a local history or a genealogy database

Click for more tips

Articles About Finding Parents

• United States Adoption Research
• How to find descendants (Also helps with finding parents.)