Family tree and genogram guides
Practical help for family trees, genograms, ecomaps and pedigree charts.
Updated
- Cousin chart: how are we related?
Second cousin, first cousin once removed, great-aunt: a simple chart and two rules that explain every family relationship. - How to make a family tree, step by step
Where to start, what to ask your relatives, which records to look at and how to draw the tree, for a school project or a lifetime of family history. - Types of family tree charts, and when to use each
Pedigree charts, fan charts, descendant charts and family group sheets: what each one shows and which to choose. - Genogram symbols and lines: the complete key
Every standard genogram symbol in one place: people, couples, children, pregnancies, health and the emotional relationship lines, with what each one means. - What is a genogram, and how do you make one?
A genogram is a family tree that also shows relationships, illnesses and life events. Here is what it is for, what to include and how to draw one step by step. - What is an ecomap? Symbols, an example and how to make one
An ecomap shows a family and the people and services around it, and whether each connection is strong, weak or stressful. Here is how to read and draw one. - Pedigree chart symbols and how to read a pedigree
The symbols used in genetic pedigrees, and how to tell autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive and X-linked inheritance apart from the chart.