5-generation pedigree chart template

Why the numbers matter

The numbering lets you find anyone without looking at the chart: a father's number is always double the child's, and a mother's is double plus one. So person 13's parents are 26 and 27, and 13 is the mother of person 6. Men are always even and women odd, apart from you as number 1. Label your notes and photo folders with the same numbers, so that everything about an ancestor stays together even when you have many charts.

What is on this template

• 31 numbered lines across 5 generations
• Genealogy-standard numbering
• Portrait page, Letter or A4
• Pairs with the 5-generation fan chart

It has room for 31 people: you, your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and further back.

How to fill it in

1. Print at 100% ("Actual size"). A plain-paper draft first saves spoiling the good copy.
2. 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.
3. 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.

A portrait page with 31 ancestors

The fifth column holds 16 great-great-grandparents, numbers 16 to 31. Their lines are shorter, so write the surname in capitals and the years, and keep the full details on a family group sheet for each couple.

Linking several charts

When a line runs off the right edge, start a new chart with that ancestor as number 1. On the old chart write "continued on chart 2" next to the name, and on the new one "same as no. 16 on chart 1". With a few linked charts you can follow every line back as far as the records go, without a giant sheet of paper.

Questions