It wasn t unusual to have 10 Johns, seven Williams and four Richards all living in the same town. At first, names were used to identify an individual through a unique characteristic: his family (usually his father), his place of residence, geographical location and even a personal trait like hair color or height. Such tools that are for free are: Babel Fish Translation Program, Foreign Language Translation on the Internet, free genealogical translation, Google Language tools, Systran Translation (up to 150 words can be translated), and Xanadu. The free databases are the following: AccessGenealogy, Digital Archives (Norway), Genealogy service provided by Family Search, and Free Family Surname Search. A basic family tree should look like the following: You > Your Father > Your Father s Father & Your Father s Mother Your Mother > Your Mother s Father & Your Mother s Mother Before one should delve into the long process of tracing generations that are way back, a person should begin by asking his living relatives. The purpose of the family history center is to help eliminate any need to have to travel to Utah, Salt Lake City just to use the collection records. Believe it or not, a lot of the electronic data as well as microfilms collections are generally accessible through the family history centers all over the world. It also wouldn t hurt if you used online resources that are available through sites that specialize in genealogy. With the resurgence of interest in family history, genealogy sites have been experiencing an increase in the number of members who have built their family trees with the help of online resources. Then go ahead and read this: To get started with your own search for those long, departed ancestors and to better explain your unique name, it is wise to start with these few tips on doing family name search before going online and finding out what sites offer free service: Do several searches instead of focusing on just one.