South Bay Cities Genealogical Society

Promoting Genealogical Education and Research in Southern California's South Bay

Beginner's Basics

By The Numbers

by Connie Moretti

Now that you have accumulated a number of ancestors and relatives, it's time to think about keeping track of them all. A computer genealogy program will generate reports that number your family members and most family histories number the individuals in some way. A good numbering system can also help you organize your notebook or files.

There are two basic systems of numbering family individuals: descendant ordered and ancestor ordered. A descendant report starts with an early ancestor - a progenitor - and lists all their descendants. This is a popular system, especially for the descendants of famous people. An ancestor report begins with a particular individual, often yourself, and enumerates all that person's forebears.

There are specific names for these numbering systems. The most commonly used descendant ordered systems are the "Register" and "NGSQ". The Register format is that used by the New England Historic Genealogical Register. It uses common (1, 2, 3, 4) and Roman (i, ii, iii, iv) numerals and generations are grouped separately. Only those children of a couple whose descendants are recorded are carried forward. The NGSQ format was developed by the National Genealogical Society Quarterly for use in its pages. The main difference from the Register system is that each individual gets a specific common number and a Roman numeral to identify their birth order within the family. Those children whose descendants are carried forward are identified by a + before their number.

Another descendant based system often encountered in older family histories is the Henry system. In this method the numbers accumulate based on the generation, so the progenitor is 1, his second child, for example, is 12, his first grandchild by this second child is 121, etc. When there are more than nine children for a couple, letters are substituted for the individual digits. After only a few generations, these numbers can become quite unwieldy. Occasionally you will find a genealogy in which the author has invented their own numbering method. This is usually described at the beginning of the book, but is no substitute for the more well known systems.

By far the best method for those of us who are actively extending their genealogy is the ancestor system commonly known as Ahnentafel or Sosa-Stradonitz system. Ahnentafel is German meaning to foresee the list and that is exactly what this method allows you to do. It is by far the easiest system to learn and to use and is the system pre-printed on most pedigree charts. It can be invaluable for organizing your records and allows to you add new ancestors easily. Basically, you are number 1. After that, your father is number 2, and all additional male ancestors carry even numbers. Your mother is number 3, and all additional female ancestors carry odd numbers. To figure out the correct number for any ancestor, double their child's number, and then add 1 if it is a female ancestor.

Whatever number system you choose, it will allow you to quickly locate an individual in your accumulation of information.

[First appeared in The Beacon, November/December 2008.]