How to Identify People in Old Family Photos
(Before It’s Too Late to Ask)
Every family photo box has them: the ghosts. Faces you don’t recognize, people wearing outfits from a decade you can’t place, standing in front of a house that nobody remembers.
I found my own after my parents passed away. When I finally decided to organize my family photos, I gathered every box I could find. I unearthed piles of old family photos that had been sitting in closets and in my parents’ basement for years—some in boxes I never even knew existed. It felt a little like finding hidden treasure.
Looking through them was bittersweet. I was instantly reminded of memories from growing up and family members I hadn’t thought about in years. The smiles were immediate.
“Oh my gosh, I totally forgot about that trip!”
“Ha, this was the time we just watched The Karate Kid and my
dad was doing his imitation of Daniel-san!”
And then came the part that stopped me: I had no idea who half the people in the older photos were.
Some of the faces smiling and laughing alongside my parents were complete strangers to me. But clearly, they weren’t strangers to my parents. These people had mattered to them in some way, at some point in their lives.
I was too young to ask when it would have been easy, and now the people who knew those stories and faces are gone.
Those were the ghosts in my photo boxes.
A lot of people would say to just get rid of those photos. They aren’t your memories, so why keep them? Ultimately, it’s a personal choice. I chose to keep my unidentified family photos. Call me sentimental, but I can’t help thinking that someone in my family may eventually recognize one of those faces. I’m not hurting for space, so for now, they’ll stay in a box.
But if you have old family photos like these, and you still have someone you can ask, don’t wait.
Identifying people in old photos doesn’t require you to become a genealogist. Start with the people who might remember them, then use the clues already hiding in the photographs themselves.
Ask while there’s still someone to ask.
01. Ask the People Who Might Know
Older relatives, family friends, or a cousin who’s always been the “keeper of the family stories” are the perfect people to start with. Show them photos in person or at the next family gathering. Faces spark memories better than descriptions. And they may have similar photos in their own collection, but labeled.
Don’t limit yourself to immediate family, either. Longtime family friends, neighbors, former coworkers, and relatives by marriage may recognize people you don’t.
A few of my mother’s relatives started a private Facebook group and I have had many photos identified by sharing in the group. Others have shared their own photos which just adds context and family lore. The stories and images are priceless to me.
02. Look at Where the Photo Came From
Before separating unidentified photos from an album, envelope, box, or group, pay attention to where you found them. Context is a clue.
Was the photo in your grandmother’s album? Mixed in with photos from your father’s side of the family? Are the people beside the mystery person already identified?
Those connections can help you narrow down which branch of the family you’re looking at. And this information is easy to lose once everything gets pulled apart and reorganized.
Take a quick photo of the album page, envelope, or original grouping before you move anything.
03. Figure Out When the Photo Was Taken
Learning how to date old family photos is one of the best ways to narrow down who might be in them. Once you know an approximate time period, you can narrow down your family tree into a smaller group of people who were alive at that time.
Photos can give you lots of information. Look at the size and type of print, the edges and borders, clothing styles, hairstyles, car models, buildings, signs, furniture, and anything else visible in the background.
Even those familiar deckled-edge prints or old drugstore snapshots can help place a photo within a particular era.
Discovering writing on the back is gold. Even a single name or year can give you an idea of who in your family might know more information.
You might also find information about the photographer or studio that took the photo. A studio name, address, or stamp on the front or back may help you determine where and when the photo was made.
Free Download
Photo Inventory Checklist
Before you start sorting, scanning, or identifying people, it helps to know what you actually have. My free Photo Inventory Checklist walks you through finding the photos scattered around your home, devices, and storage.
04. Record the Answers Right Away
If you get lucky and family members have some answers for you, snap a photo of the print with your phone and add it to a note with names and any stories they share. Voice memos are great, too. Hearing a story in someone’s own words can be so meaningful.
Remember to record who gave you the information. “Uncle Joe says this is Aunt Helen” is more useful later than simply writing “Aunt Helen,” especially if another relative remembers something differently.
Keep track of information that is presented as fact and information that may only be a guess.
05. Label Old Family Photos Safely
Once you’ve identified relatives in photos, make sure the information doesn’t get separated from the image again.
Avoid ballpoint pens, felt-tip markers, adhesive labels, tape, or anything that can bleed through, leave an impression, or damage the photo over time.
Keep any information on a separate index card, or write gently on the back of the photo with a photo-safe pencil.
What If You Still Can’t Identify Someone?
Sometimes, despite your best detective work, a face will remain a mystery. Don’t let that stop you from preserving what you do know.
Write down every clue you’ve got: a rough date, the place, which side of the family the photo came from, and the names of anyone you can identify.
If you have a hunch about the mystery person, go ahead and note it, just label it as a guess and not a fact. “Possibly Aunt Helen” is much more helpful to the next generation than leaving the photo completely unlabeled, or accidentally passing along incorrect information.
Preserve the Stories While You Still Can.
Finding out the information now is so important to telling your family’s story. Every name you write down today is a gift for someone who wants to enjoy these photos in the future.
The photograph itself may survive for generations. The knowledge of who’s in it may not.
Don’t let time turn the people you love into strangers, or leave the next generation with a box full of ghosts of their own.
Identifying the People Is Only the Beginning
If you’ve inherited a family photo collection, identifying the people in the pictures is only part of the job. Once you start uncovering names, dates, places, and stories, you also need a way to preserve that information so it doesn’t get separated from the photos again.
That might mean labeling prints safely, grouping photos by family or time period, removing duplicates, digitizing important images, and creating a system that makes sense to the next generation.
And if you’re looking at boxes—or even decades—of inherited family photos and thinking, I don’t know where to begin, you don’t have to tackle the entire collection at once.
Start with one box, one branch of the family, or even one person you’d like to identify.
If you’re not sure what you have yet, my free Photo Inventory Checklist is a good first step. If you know what you have but aren’t sure what to do with it, the Photo Game Plan is a one-on-one session where we’ll map out a practical plan for your collection.
See How the Photo Game Plan Works
Take the first step in finding out how to get your collection organized with a one-on-one video call and a personalized plan designed to help you with next steps. Click below to find out how.
And if you’d rather have someone help you make sense of the collection itself, that’s exactly the kind of work we do at Picture It Photo Solutions. I help families organize, preserve, and digitize inherited and old family photos so the names, stories, and images stay together—and the collection makes sense to the people who inherit it next.
start where you are
Your photos, your pace, your way.
Maybe you’re ready to roll up your sleeves and tackle the boxes yourself. Maybe you want a little guidance along the way. Or maybe you’d happily hand over the whole pile and never think about it again. All three are completely valid, and I’d love to help you find the one that fits.
