How to Connect Two Ancestors on FindAGrave.com

Have you ever looked at memorials on FindAGrave and wondered why some have links to family members — and others don’t?

I used to get curious (and honestly, a bit frustrated) when I found one ancestor with parents, siblings, spouses, and children all connected — only to discover that their spouse, buried in the same cemetery, had only one connection or even no connections at all!

Before I figured out how to link profiles, I was saving individual memorial pages in my browser just so I wouldn’t lose anyone. It got out of hand quickly. I had hundreds of bookmarked graves, and it took forever to find anyone when I needed them.

Why Connecting Ancestors on FindAGrave Is Important

After that frustrating experience, I decided to document how to make these connections. Now I link my ancestors within FindAGrave instead of bookmarking every individual page. It’s like building a mini family tree right on the site!

Parents, spouses, siblings, children, and genealogist enthusiasts all benefit when you add relationships correctly in a family tree. It makes it easier to navigate your family tree, and it helps others who are researching the same lines.

Find out how to use FindAGrave for genealogy research: How to Use FindAGrave for Genealogy Research

Before You Start Connecting Ancestors

  1. Create a FindAGrave Account
    • You’ll need a free account to suggest edits or add memorials. If you already have an Ancestry account, you can log in with that too.

Create a free FindAGrave account here

  1. Verify Ancestor Information
    • Before submitting any edits, take time to double-check your ancestor’s information:
      • Full name, birth and death dates, burial location
      • Family relationships (if already listed)
      • Be cautious with common names—always verify with records like obituaries, census data, or death certificates.
  2. Find Memorial IDs
    • You’ll need the Memorial ID numbers of the relatives you want to connect. Memorial IDs are on the individual’s profile beneath the individual’s burial information.

Special Note: How Family Connections Work on FindAGrave

You can directly connect a memorial to three types of relatives:

  • Father (biological)
  • Mother (biological)
  • Spouse (you can add more than one)

Children and siblings are linked automatically through these relationships:

  • If a person has the same parents, they’ll show up as siblings.
  • If someone is listed as a child’s parent, the parent will appear on the child’s profile.

This means you can’t directly add a child to a parent — you have to start from the child’s profile and link upward.

Think of it like this: you’re working your way up the family tree, starting with the youngest known relative and connecting them to their next relative.

How to Connect Ancestors on FindAGrave

Once you’ve gathered all the information and verified the connections, here’s how to link profiles:

  1. Go to the profile page of the ancestor you’re updating (start with the child, not the parent).
  2. Click “Suggest Edits” at the top of the page.
  1. Scroll to the “Family Members” section.
  2. Enter the Memorial ID for the father, mother, or spouse.
  3. Click “Save Suggestions” to submit your changes.

Your edit will be reviewed by the FindAGrave team. Once approved, you’ll get an email confirmation and the relationships will appear on the memorials.

Want a printable version of this checklist?

Download the FindAGrave Connection Checklist (PDF) here

Troubleshooting

  • If something isn’t working, visit the FindAGrave Help page or Contact page.

Click here for the FindAGrave Help Page

Click here for the FindAGrave Contact Page

  • If a memorial contains incorrect information, you can also suggest edits or request a transfer if you’re a close relative.

After Connecting Ancestors

Once your edits are confirmed, revisit the memorials to see the new connections in place.

During your edits to connect ancestors, you can also:

  • Add gravesite or headstone photos
  • Upload family photos
  • Include biographical information or obituaries
  • Update your own genealogy software with the changes

And as your research continues, keep adding more family members and connections to FindAGrave. Next time you visit a cemetery — or even just look someone up — you might be surprised how much easier it is to navigate your tree!

Connecting ancestor profiles on FindAGrave is a small step that makes a big difference in preserving and sharing your family history.

Happy researching!