Numbering Systems

Before we begin a discussion on what sorts of reports and charts to include in your book (which will be found in the next lesson), you should make a decision on how you want the information presented; i.e., a numbering system.

Ahnentafel Numbering

Most books begin with a specific individual and display information about his/her descendants. If you wish to do the opposite, and begin with a person and work backwards, you are limited to using an Ahnentafel numbering system, although you can also add some other charts and reports (see the discussion of charts below). The Ahnentafel system starts by assigning yourself (or another individual) as the number 1 person. Your father is number 2; your mother is number 3. Your father's father is number 4; your father's mother is number 5, etc. Using the Ahnentafel systems allows for some neat number manipulations...for instance, the father's number is always twice the child's number. The mother's number is always twice plus one. Each generation starts with an even number, and the first number will tell you how many individuals will be found there. See our example.

As a rule, though, most family history books begin by selecting a specific ancestor, and work forward in time through the descendants. How many generations you wish to cover depends on you...you can either use only direct line descendants (descended from the male or female line only) but that is a very limiting style. Since the number of descendants tends to built up quickly, most authors limit the number of generations so that they may include all members of each generation within reason, as time and space allows.

Henry System

The Henry System is one in which an ancestor is chosen as the number 1 person, with his children being numbered:

• first child 11
• second child 12
• third child 13

and so on. See Henry Example 1.

Children of the first child (#11) are designated like this:

• first child 111
• second child 112
• third child 113