One might be fueled with a new-found enthusiasm to research their family history. That said, people often  make mistakes when doing so. One mistake most people make is assuming that old videotapes of their family, daily life, and milestones will be around forever. But that’s not the case. So begin by digitizing these videos, and then move on to the research part. Other than this, there are a few other mistakes to be aware of. Mistakes to avoid when researching one’s family history Here are the top five mistakes to avoid when researching one’s family history: 1. Assuming a surname is spelled a certain way Typically, the family names may have different spellings. So, merely because the family one  knows spells  the name in a particular manner does not mean it has always been spelled in such a way. One’s ancestors or people who entered information on their behalf were not infallible. What if the mistakes they made in recording the family name are how one knows it today? For instance, Callaghan may be spelled Callan, Dillon may be spelled Dillane, and Smyth may be spelled Smith.  So, always look for the phonetic variations of the second name. Further, use an asterisk to get more results.  For instance,  if one looks  up John*, one will see results for John, Johnson, Johnny, etc.