Google for Family History Research

Google is a powerful tool for family history research. By using a combination of simple search criteria, you can locate information about your ancestor that you might never discover in any other way. 

Search for a specific name, along with a city and/or state and "~genealogy" or "~history". 

Putting the name in quotes limits the search to that name exactly (“Lorenzo Bird”).  Putting an asterisk between the first name and last name (“Lorenzo * Bird”) would find that name with any middle initial or middle name (Lorenzo Dow Bird, Lorenzo F. Bird, Lorenzo Bird). The tilde (~) looks for the word and any synonyms.

Add the names of other family members (for example, a wife's maiden name). Try adding a county name to focus on a particular surname in a specific location. 

For more information and examples using Google to search for family history information, check out Daniel Lynch’s web site: www.googleyourfamilytree.com