If you break down the word, you have two Greek roots: genea- meaning 'generation' and 'logy', coming from 'logos', meaning 'the study of'. By definition then, genealogy is the study of the generations in a family. It is essentially filling in the family tree, finding out about your ancestors and how they lived.

For instance, an uncle of my husband helped to fill in my husband's family tree, tracing his roots back for almost seven generations. My husband discovered that several of his ancestors helped establish a school system in our area, which is of great interest to my husband since he is an educator. That is all part of my husband's genealogy.

Simply the study of the line of descent or ancestry.

Genealogy is the study of one's ancestors and family history, as well as the researching of their lineages. This is done by studying information about your ancestry and family history, so that you can get a view of your family tree. Researching one's ancestral roots and genealogy is intriguing and enjoyable, whether or not you have any famous forefathers.

Genealogy is a lot more special when it's enjoyed with other family members and preserved for our children and grandchildren. The desire to perform this research is brought on by an interest in one's heritage. That was how I first became interested in doing the research for our family. I found that the best way of starting your ancestry research is simply by listening to the stories of older family members, such as your grandmother and grandfather. They are an very valuable source of information. The internet has also made genealogy research much easier.

Genealogy is the study of your family history. Anyone can be a genealogist, although you can get accredited if you want to sell your services. It is a very addictive past time, and is currently the most popular hobby. Even if you choose not to pursue researching your family history, documenting your current history for a future genealogist would be very helpful.

Genealogy is the study of family lineage and history, with special interest in the specific lines of descent in two senses, genetic and family surname heritage.

Most people who begin to find an interest in genealogy do so because of their realization and appreciation of their own maturity and the fact that the elders in their family are passing away. When we reach the stage where we ARE the elders in a family, a sense of appreciation for our roots and our responsibility to gather and pass down information takes hold of us.

Genealogy, then, is the pursuit of a knowledge of family lineage. And it is typically focused on one's own family, but a broader perspective can be taken, with research conducted on the family lines of anyone's ancestry.

Only after we begin to feel the importance of our connectedness to ancestors does the influence and impact of genealogical research take hold of us in an influential way. It can really become one of the more fascinating of pursuits when interest becomes fanned by the presence of newly discovered material. It can actually become obsessive. Not to mention being a lot of fun, as well.

As families continue having children, genealogy is a project that can never be completed. Many times the best we can do is preserve what is known and pass it on for others to do the same at some later time when more information has been accumulated.

Piecing together a family's past for the first time, in the absence of any previous member having attempted it, is challenging but extremely rewarding. And today, with the maturing of the Internet and all the capabilities it brings to research, the work of genealogy research is far easier, with rewards coming much faster than they did previously. Internet derived information is certainly not unequivocal, requiring confirmation, but it is a tremendous provider of leads and avenues for inquiry.

The young are seldom interested in genealogy because they have not yet reached a level of maturity that dictates an increased interest in the past, in one's heritage, and in one's family connectedness over time.

The study of genes passed down from your ancestors.

Yes, following the reversed path of our origins may be very interesting. I agree with you that it is a project that mostly never ends.
Thanks for your answer.

You're welcome. Thanks for this award. Genealogy is a very rewarding adventure. The best we can hope is to do it justice and contribute some measure of thoroughness and an honest interpretation of the close proximity ancestors that we knew.