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The Correct Family Tree Format

So you’re getting involved in genealogy and you plan to create a family chart backed up with the personal histories of family members. You need to design a family tree that will represent an outline of your family and their families back as far as you can trace. You need to fit a lot of information into a small space, make it easy to understand and to follow throughout the centuries. You need to know the correct family tree format.

The Key

Much of your family history and past relationships has to be depicted by symbols, delineating parents, siblings and spouse with lines and positions. The key is the part that explains the meaning of the symbols. Often men are shown by rectangles containing name, birth and death dates and maybe a little extra information. Women are in circles. This makes it easy to find husbands and wives and pick out their children and parents. The rectangle and circle symbols go into the key with their explanations..

Colors can be used to help keep families separate. Each of the four families related to the grandparents of the person whose chart it is can have a different color. Shades of the colors can mean different things, for instance when the siblings of an ancestor are included, a darker shade of the color can be applied to the symbol showing the direct blood line being traced and lighter shades for the siblings. Whatever the family tree format is for you, remember to create a key to make it understandable.

Different Formats

Computer software is available with templates for different styles of family tree format. You can choose the format that tells the story you want. A thorough study of your family history is best told with several family tree formats all relating to one another. There are many possibilities. A family tree format should be centered on one person or family, usually in the current time. That person can be placed at the top or bottom, left or right center of the chart. Earlier generations branch out from that person. Lines leading away from the central person show an ancestor from another generation. Symbols parallel to each person are siblings and the one directly connected to a person is the spouse. Parents have their children leading away into a new generation level with their siblings and spouses on the same level.

Charts can also be prepared centered on a specific ancestor – the first family member to arrive in America, a famous person or the founder of the family business, for instance. His or her descendants can branch off. To figure out which family tree format is right, decide what story you want to tell. Then, tell it.