When tracing genealogy it is incredibly important to remember that the reliability of information is unsure. When using old records, particularly those not directly attributed to family members, always be sure to take the information with a pinch of salt. Unfortunately, accurate population data and government record keeping was not always as it is now. This means that data is not always accurate and may to tell the whole truth of a situation. Due to the fact that ideas such as universal spelling were not introduced until relatively recently, at least in the scope of human existence, it can be very difficult to find people, even if you know for whom you are looking.

For those with forebears tracing back to less developed countries, there may be issues in finding records due to less stable governments keeping less accurate or complete records. There are still a number of countries in the world where the kind of data sought by amateur genealogist are simply not recorded in any publicly accessible forum. This means that for some, genealogy can become quite a difficult undertaking.

It is also worth remembering that until more recent times, genealogy was a pastime of the rich; some of whom traced their ancestry in an effort to link their families to heroes or historically significant figures. Chances are, if your lineage cannot be traced back through a family of these means, there may be no information to find, after a point.

This is all to say, while genealogy is an incredibly interesting a fun way to learn about your family, there need to be considerations for the extent to which we can know about those that came before us.