Ahnentafel : A German word. "Ahnen" meaning "ancestor" and "tafel" meaning "table'.
The starting person (this can be anyone in your family - even your child) is given the number 1. Their father is number 2 and mother number 3. To find the father of any person, double that number. To find the mother, double the number and add one. Other than the starting person, males always have even numbers and women odd numbers. To use myself as an example, my ahnentafel, up to and including my great-grandparents is:
1. Vonda Lee Doane
2. Darrell Edwin Doane [father of 1]
3. Evelyn Mae Miller [mother of 1]
4. George Clinton Doan [father of 2]
5. Julia Arena Jacobs [mother of 2]
6. Leland Edward Miller [father of 3]
7. Clara Mae Gardner [mother of 3]
8. Dudley Wilbur Doan [father of 4]
9. Minnie Belle Conrad [mother of 4]
10. Henry Clinton Jacobs [father of 5]
11. Julia Ann Rice (mother of 5]
12. Albert Datus Miller [father of 6]
13. Minnie Laura Postlewait/Postlethwait [mother of 6]
14. Isaiah Gardner [father of 7]
15. Sarah Jane Vinson [mother of 7]
The same information presented as an Ancestor Chart should look similar to this: Some people refer to it as a "Pedigree" but I was taught that a Pedigree was really for animal lineages and ours are "Ancestor Charts".
8. Dudley Wilbur Doan 4. George Clinton Doan | 9. Minnie Belle Conrad | 2. Darrell Edwin Doane | | 10. Henry Clinton Jacobs | 5. Julia Arena Jacobs | 11. Julia Ann Rice 1. Vonda Lee Doane | | 12. Albert Datus Miller | 6. Leland Edward Miller | | 13. Minnie Laura Postlewait/Postlethwait 3. Evelyn Mae Miller | | 14. Isaiah Gardner 7. Clara Mae Gardner 15. Sarah Jane Vinson
The numbers on the Ahnentafel are the same numbers assigned to my ancestors on the actual Ancestor Chart. The Ancestor Chart gives you a better perspective of relationships but the Ahnentafel Chart allows for more information in less space and it's up to you to determine how much - or little - information you wish to include. The Ahnentafel Chart could, if you wanted, be expanded to be an acutal mini-genealogy.
To see the rest of
my Ahnentafel, you may click here.
