3 Genealogy Activities to Complete on Your Loved Ones' Birthdays

Today is my husband’s birthday - happy birthday to Kalonji!

And his birthday has prompted me to share some insight into activities I do when a loved one has a birthday. These are just some examples that are quick to do and help me make a little bit more progress in my family history research:

• Document the origin of their given name - or, if already known for that person, document the origin of their parent’s given names (this may involve asking other family members). For example, today, my husband learned for the first time from his mother, what his name would have been if he had been born a girl.

• Organize documentation related to their birth - keeping our source items organized helps us be more efficient in our research. I actively build and maintain a permanent, digital family history archive and I double-checked today that I have Kalonji’s birth certificate there (I did!). I also have a newspaper announcement about his birth. So, for that, I am all set.

• Document where the family was living when they were born - now, in this case, I know where his mom was living when he was born, but I had not yet documented the address in my RootsMagic database; looks like it’s time for an update! Related to this, if the person was born in a hospital, make sure you document the name of the hospital.

Do you have any genealogy activities that you do on a loved one’s birthday? Let me know!