Family Tree

A family tree is a visual or structured representation of a person’s family relationships across multiple generations. It shows ancestry (parents, grandparents, and earlier generations) and, optionally, descendants (children, grandchildren, and later generations). Family trees typically display names, dates of birth and death, and connecting lines that indicate parent-child and marriage relationships.

The “tree” metaphor reflects the branching structure: a single person at the base, extending upward (or outward) through the branches of their ancestors. Family trees can be drawn in many formats: the classic pedigree chart (extending left and right), a descendant chart (showing all children and grandchildren), a fan chart (radial layout), or the interactive digital formats used by modern software like MapMyRoots.