Once you make the decision to document your family history, the next logical step is to document what you find. You are excited and feel tempted to plunge into the research. However, starting with a plan is a precursor to your success. Here is a beginner’s guide to starting your family tree.

Create your Roadmap. Imagine you decide to drive from Los Angeles, California to Miami, Florida. The first thing you do is to look at a map and plan your trip. You figure out the distance, the time it takes to get there and your route. Without looking at the map, you can wander along, get lost, take detours and may take twice as long to et to Miami. But, you would like to get to your destination as quickly as possible.

In order for you to document your family tree properly, you need a plan of action.

• What is your goal?

• What to include, maternal and paternal relatives?

• Where to look?

• How to document it? Download a family tree template to help you document your research.

Take the time to create a roadmap. You will increase your chances of completing your project successfully.

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If you are like me, you may at some point thought about your last name.

What does it mean?

Where did it come from?

Am I related to anyone famous?

Maybe my last name means nothing. It might simply be a made-up name without history.

Your last name is your ID.
The name you have serves to define and identify you to others. Consider the number of times every day someone asks for your last name.

“Can I see your driver’s license please?”

“Sign here please!”

“Could you please spell your last name?”

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It wasn’t what I anticipated as I lazily enjoyed an evening of history on television last week. In 2003, Researchers found, that nearly 8% of the 200 men living in the region of the former Mongol Empire, carry nearly identical Y-chromosomes. That’s about 0.5% of the men in the world or roughly 1 in every 200 men. This led the researchers to believe they all had a common fore-father.

I sat straight up in my chair and listened more intently. And to my surprise; I learned Genghis Khan’s DNA might possibly be in my family genealogy! and he could be in yours too!

No way, that is impossible, I thought. I have to check this out.

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Tiger WOODS claims to be Cablinasian: Ca for Caucasian, Bl for Black, In for (American) Indian and the rest for Asian. His father is said to be one-quarter Native American, one-quarter Chinese and half black. Claims are that Tiger’s mother is half Thai, a quarter Chinese and a quarter Dutch. This [if true] makes WOODS himself half Asian (one-quarter Chinese and one-quarter Thai), one-quarter African American, one-eighth Native American and one-eighth Dutch. (“Earning his stripes.” AsianWeek. 1996-10-11. Retrieved 2010-01-15.)

These claims might be intriguing and even give him an air of mystery, but are they true? One would hate to doubt what a person claims as ethnic make-up, but I have not found any proof to substantiate some of these claims and, in fact, evidence seems to refute some.
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