Home / Pedigree chart
Pedigree chart maker
A pedigree chart traces one person’s direct ancestors. Click a box to type a name, dates and place; the chart saves in your browser and downloads as a print-ready PDF.
How Ahnentafel numbering works
Ahnentafel (German for “ancestor table”) gives every ancestor a fixed number, so genealogists can refer to “number 13” without ambiguity. Click any box in the chart above to see the arithmetic:
- The person the chart is about is 1.
- Anyone’s father is their number × 2, their mother is × 2 + 1. Men are always even, women odd (except number 1).
- Anyone’s child on the chart is their number ÷ 2, rounded down.
- Each generation starts at a power of two: parents 2–3, grandparents 4–7, great-grandparents 8–15, great-great-grandparents 16–31.
The neat trick: write the number in binary, drop the leading 1, and read the digits as directions — 0 means “father”, 1 means “mother”. Number 13 is 1101 in binary, so 101 → mother’s father’s mother.
Pedigree chart or family tree?
Use a pedigree chart when you are researching ancestry — it fits many generations into one page and every box has one clear place. Use the family tree maker when you want siblings, cousins, partners and children, or a decorative print. For medical or counselling use, a genogram adds standard symbols.
Questions
What is a pedigree chart?
A pedigree chart shows one person’s direct ancestors only — parents, grandparents, great-grandparents — branching from left to right. Unlike a full family tree it leaves out siblings, cousins and descendants.
What is an Ahnentafel number?
A standard numbering of ancestors: the subject is 1, a person’s father is double their number and their mother is double plus one. So your father is 2, your mother 3, your paternal grandparents 4 and 5.
How many ancestors are on a 5-generation pedigree chart?
31 people: you, 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great-grandparents and 16 great-great-grandparents.
Is a pedigree chart the same as a family tree?
It is one kind of family tree. Genealogists use pedigree charts to track direct ancestry and descendant charts or family group sheets for everyone else.