4-generation pedigree chart (blank genealogy form)
The pedigree chart is the standard form genealogists use. You are number 1 on the left, your father is 2 and your mother 3, and every person's parents are numbered 2n and 2n + 1. Each line has room for a name and the years of birth and death.
Updated
Continuing onto another chart
When you reach the right edge, start a new sheet with that ancestor as number 1, and write the new chart's number next to their name on this one. Your first chart can be chart 1, and the sheet that continues ancestor 8 can be chart 2, and so on. This keeps long lines in order without a giant sheet. Copy names exactly as the records show them, and put women under their birth surnames, so that each line can be traced in records from before marriage.
What is on this template
- 15 numbered lines (Ahnentafel numbering)
- Room for name, birth and death
- Portrait page, Letter or A4
- Easy to continue on a new chart from any ancestor
It has room for 15 people: you, your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents.
How to fill it in
- Print at 100% ("Actual size"). A plain-paper draft first saves spoiling the good copy.
- Write your own name first, then your parents, then each earlier generation. Fathers go on the upper line of each pair and mothers on the lower line; a father is always number 2n and a mother 2n + 1.
- Add the years of birth and death under each name, like 1931–2005.
Prefer typing? Open this template in the family tree maker, type the names and print a clean copy.
How the numbers work
The numbering is called Ahnentafel, German for "ancestor table". You are 1. A person's father is double their number and their mother is double plus one: your father is 2 and your mother 3, your father's parents are 4 and 5, and your mother's parents 6 and 7. So every man except number 1 has an even number, every woman an odd one, and anyone's parents can be found without looking at the chart.
What to write on each line
- Name: full name, with women under their birth surname.
- b. date and place of birth, m. date and place of marriage, d. date and place of death.
- Write dates as 12 Mar 1931 and places from small to large: town, county, state or country.
Questions
What is a pedigree chart in genealogy?
A chart of your direct ancestors: you on the left, your parents to the right of you, then grandparents and so on, each with their dates and places. It is the standard form genealogists use.
What does Ahnentafel numbering mean?
A fixed number for every ancestor: you are 1, a person's father is twice their number and their mother twice plus one. The same ancestor keeps the same number on every chart and note.
Is this the same as a pedigree chart in biology?
No. A genetics pedigree tracks a trait through a family with shaded squares and circles. For that, use the pedigree chart maker.
