Family tree templates: which one to choose

People look for a family tree template when they need something quickly: a school project, a family reunion coming up, or the sudden wish to write down what a grandparent still remembers. That instinct is right — filling in prepared fields is far easier than starting from a blank page.

Templates do have a ceiling, though, and it is worth knowing where it is.

The main types

Ascending tree — the common one

One person at the base, parents above them, grandparents above those. The chart widens as it rises, because each generation back has twice as many people in it.

This is the format for exploring your own origins, and the one school projects almost always want: three generations fit neatly on a single sheet.

Descending tree

A shared ancestor at the top, then their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren below. The chart widens downwards and shows how far a family has spread.

This is the reunion chart — the one where everyone finds themselves and works out how they are related to the rest of the room.

Fan chart

The subject sits at the centre and the generations radiate outwards in half-rings. It fits more generations onto one page than a rectangular layout does. The trade-off is that it is awkward to fill in by hand, and without dates alongside the names it ends up as decoration.

Outline or numbered list

Not a picture at all: every person gets a number, and the numbering shows who descends from whom. It looks dry, but it holds any amount of detail and is the easiest format for recording where each fact came from.

Where templates run out

The problem is not the templates. It is arithmetic.

You have 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great-grandparents, 16 in the generation before that — plus siblings, their children, second marriages, step-families. A sheet with a fixed number of boxes was drawn for a fixed number of people, and eventually someone new simply has nowhere to go.

What follows is familiar: notes in the margin, arrows, a second sheet, “I’ll redraw it properly later”. That is usually where a family tree stops.

The second limit is that a template holds names and little else. The most valuable material in family history is exactly what does not fit in a box: a photograph, an occupation, where they came from, what they were like, where they are buried.

When a template is the right choice

Sometimes it genuinely is. Use one if:

• the task is one-off — a school project, a poster for an anniversary;
• you want a physical object to print, frame or give as a gift;
• three generations is all you plan to record.

In that case take a simple ascending chart and fill it in by hand. A handwritten chart becomes a keepsake in its own right.

When to move on

Signs you have outgrown the template:

• there are people with nowhere to write them;
• you want photographs next to the names;
• information arrives in pieces — an aunt remembers something, a certificate turns up;
• you want to share it with relatives rather than keep one copy;
• there are relatives who have passed, and you want to record more than dates — including where they are buried.

A living tree differs from a template in one respect: it does not decide in advance how many people will fit. You say who is related to whom, and the layout rearranges itself — after the tenth relative and after the hundredth.

What to record about each person

Whatever format you choose, the minimum is the same:

• full name, and maiden name for women — without it the maternal line stops dead;
• years of birth and death;
• where they were born and where they lived;
• for those who have passed, where they are buried;
• where the information came from: a relative’s memory or a document.

If there is room, add a photograph and a story or two. Two generations from now, the dates will matter less than what the person was like.

A tree you never have to redraw

In iRitual the tree builds outward from you: add parents and grandparents and the generations arrange themselves, however many relatives turn up later.

Each person holds photos, stories and significant dates, and the living and the departed appear in the same tree. For those who have passed you can save the GPS coordinates of the burial place.

Free, on iOS and Android.