From: Ivo Lawrence Azevedo 
Subject: Re: New beginner here please help me!!!
Date: 1999/02/23
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All those names, Rodrigues, Ribeiro and Moura are very popular
portuguese names.

To start you must obtain Your own birth or baptism certificates, and
start searching backward from there using your parents and grand parents
names the places were they were born.  This information is usually
listed on those certificates.

When you have an ancestor's  name and possible birth location, you
deduce that person's birth date by calculating when he could have had
babies... then request their Birth Certificate from the appropriate
Registry.

If you do not live in the country were you must do your searches, then I
recommend that you use the services of a professional researcher.

There is a lot more... but you asked how to start...

Good hunting

Ivo