Not all census searches are going to work out as well as those for my imaginary Wesley and Roth families. In that case you go for the other record groups.
Vital records: Check to see when each state you are researching started keeping birth, marriage & death records. Also check to see if individual counties & towns kept vital records. New England colonies kept vital records from the early days forward. Of course, there may have been records destroyed by courthouse fires, floods, etc. & during warfare. Hope your family's records survived! Don't forget to check church records for the vital records.
On more than one occasion, I have found a birth record that name's an ancestor's father. It is the sibling who has the mother's name included. Check witnesses to baptisms. Chances are they are family.
When I was trying to locate a marriage for Jacob Crousore in Clinton Co., OH, I called the county archives & learned that his bride's brother was named on the record. [Jimima Smith & brother John]
Later, I checked John Smith's marriage; that record gave his father's name - William Smith. A check of a collateral [brother] turns up a parent's name that was not given on the direct ancestor's record.
Death records? Your ancestor's informant may have been lacking in knowledge about the family & not known the parents. The informant for your ancestor's sister may have given the parents.
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