Free Family Tree Builder
Come to Storied for family trees and records. Stay for the stories.
A Place for All Your Family Tree Needs
Storied is the place to build or upload your family tree. Tell stories about your family and loved ones. View, edit, and share your family tree.
Building Out Your Family Tree
Use historical records, newspapers, groups, and stories to discover information that will allow you to continue to build your family tree.
Tips on Family Tree Building
Starting a family tree can be daunting if you are new to family history. It's likely many questions have crossed your mind—Where do I even start when building a family tree? How do I find my ancestors in historical records and attach them to my family tree? How can I share my family tree work with family members? We’re here to help you start your family tree.
Where Do I Start?
Starting a family tree can be daunting if you are new to family history. We're here to help you start your family tree.
Start Simple
Start with what you know. You can likely enter some information for you, your parents, siblings, and grandparents. If possible, include middle names, birth dates, marriage dates, death dates, and locations for each of those. Storied makes adding a person to your family tree quick and easy.
Organize
When you're starting, think about how you want to organize your family tree information. For example, you could have two separate trees—one for your family and one for your spouse's family. It is easy to start with two (or more) than try to separate the information later.
Use Maiden Names
Many people want to add a family member with a married last name. Please don't do it! The correct way to add a married female to your tree is to enter their maiden name in the surname or last name field. For example, my great-grandmother was Stella Louise Fishback Richey. Her maiden last name was Fishback. I would enter her in my family tree as Stella Louise Fishback.
Date Format
Choose an approved genealogy date format and stick with it. As your tree grows, you’ll be glad you did. In the U.S., it is common to write a date in the month/day/year format. In other places around the world, the date is written in the day/month/year format. An example of an approved genealogical format is 24 Mar 1887.
Location Format
Enter locations the same way each time. Consistency is crucial when building a family tree. It is common practice in genealogy and family history to enter the smallest known location first. In many instances, this is the city, followed by county, state, and country. An example in the United States might look like this: Greensburg, Decatur, Indiana, United States.
Reach Out
Reach out to living family members. You might be surprised how much information they can provide - names, dates, locations, and interesting stories.