The family tree chart is a familiar part of family history research. There are many different formats, so how do you choose which family tree chart to use?
The family tree is a tool and like all tools, you need to choose the best tool for the job. It is not as simple as deciding whether you need a descendancy or ascendancy format. Which family tree chart format you choose should be based on your purpose.
What is your purpose in creating a family tree chart?
Before you decide which family tree chart format to use, think about why you are creating the chart. What do you want to achieve?
The answer to this question will not be the same on every occasion, which means you need to create different charts at different times.
Questioning your purpose
Which of the following three categories is the main purpose of the chart?
- documenting – recording key bits of information about the people in your family tree and how they are related to each other
- illustrating – sharing a graphical representation of your family history with others
- analysing – analysing your family history to progress your research.
It is possible to create a chart that achieves more than one of these categories. However, trying to achieve all of these purposes in a single chart is rarely successful. That is why family history software, for example, allows you to view a chart in different formats.
Which family tree chart format do you need?
Ancestral or descendancy chart
The first format decision is a choice between an ancestral chart or a descendancy chart.
- An ancestral chart starts with you or another person and moves back through the generations of ancestors.
- A descendancy chart starts with an ancestor and moves forward through time listing the descendants.
A family tree chart illustrates how people are related to a focus person. The focus person for these two formats are different. In the ancestral tree, the focus person is the one at the bottom of the chart. In the descendancy tree, the focus person is the one at the top of the chart.
The people that are included in an ancestral chart and a descendancy chart will differ, even if the chart is about the same family lines.
Unless you choose otherwise, an ancestral chart will show all four of your grandparent lines; while a descendancy chart will just show the grandparent line that relates to the ancestor who was the focus person.
Type of chart
The second format decision is the type of chart. Line charts and fan charts are the types most commonly used.
The line chart is useful for all three categories of purpose – documenting, illustrating and analysing.
I like it best for documenting, but it can also be used for analysis as shown by my Tree Health Assessment Tool.
The fan chart is great for illustrating and analysis purposes.
The fan chart is a neat format and tends to fit nicely onto an A4 page.
I find that a fan chart is a good format for sharing with people who are not family historians as it is easier for them to interpret. However, it cannot store as much information as the line chart so it may not be the best choice if your main purpose is documenting.
For analysis purposes, the fan chart clearly shows where you have gaps in your family tree. In DNA analysis, it can be used to illustrate which people have been confirmed by DNA.
Both the line chart and fan chart formats can be either an ancestral chart or a descendancy chart.
Some family history and charting software also provide other chart formats, such as trellis, dandelion, bow tie and fractal trees.
What do you need to include in a family history chart?
Which people do you need to include in your chart to achieve your purpose?
Is it sufficient to include just the direct line, or do you need to include extended family such as siblings, multiple marriage partners, step children, adopted children? Are there particular lines that you want the chart to focus on?
The answer to this question feeds back into your choice of format. If you only want to include your direct line, then any format will suffice. A line chart is often the best choice if you want to include extended family or focus on particular lines.
What information do you need to include in your chart to achieve your purpose?
Names are usually essential, but not always. I have seen many charts produced for DNA purposes that do not contain names.
Birth and death dates are useful, because they help to distinguish between the people in the tree. Alternatively, unique identifier numbers that link into your research documentation may be sufficient in some cases.
If you are creating the chart to document your family tree, then you will probably want to include additional information such as birth and death locations, marriage dates and locations, and burial locations. This makes the chart more useful as a summary of your family history which can then be used for further research.
If the purpose of the chart is analysis, then information relevant to that analysis should be included. For DNA analysis that may include segment size, chromosome data, ethnicity data and clustering data.
Charting for DNA
Charting for DNA purposes is a big topic, which I cannot explore in detail here. If you want examples of how to use charting with DNA analysis, take a look at:
More information
For more tips on charting, see my article Tips for creating a good family tree chart
For more of my articles on charting and documenting your family history, go to the Document page.
Post last updated 18 June 2024
3 thoughts on “Which family tree chart is best depends on your purpose”