How to Create a Family Tree Chart

Family tree charts are wonderful ways in which you can keep track of your family’s roots and relationships as they evolve throughout the years. Not only are family trees a good exercise which you and your family can spend enjoyable hours on, but a completed family tree chart, if properly hung, can be a source of family pride and many stories to tell whenever visitors come over.

If you are interested in creating a family tree chart of your own, you should first attempt to diagram your relatives. In doing so, you have to consider what type of family tree you want.  Some persons are content with just several generations of relatives while others want to go back to more than ten or twelve generations back.

Once you have decided on the extent of your contemplated family tree chart, sit down and try to draft a list of your relatives. Sometimes, this is when a source of confusion comes in. Do you know the exact names or birthdates of your relatives? Are you sure that you haven’t forgotten to list down one of your maiden ancestors, or perhaps an ancestor who had previously died as a baby? If you need something to jog your memory, a little get-together with your relatives in a combined effort to remember these relatives can be useful. You can also ask them to bring over old photo albums so you can reminisce and make sure that you aren’t forgetting to add any of your ancestors.

If, after this, you still need help in determining who your ancestors are, then it is also an excellent idea to utilize one of the online family tree websites. These websites can offer you help in searching for your genealogy and culling out your ancestors from a huge database of names and people. Many people who have tried have even ended up being quite surprised by the number of ancestors that they have and the types of people that they were related to.  Who knows, you may even find out that your family is related to royalty.

The last thing on your way to having your very own family tree is to decide how you want it to be displayed. Many people belonging to small families often choose to have their family trees printed out or hand-drawn. If you have artistic skills and your family tree isn’t very large, then why not make your own family tree? This will lend an even more personal touch to it. If however your family tree has become quite large, then you can hire a company or a freelance artist to create it for you. Again, many online companies can do this for a reasonable price.  They will turn your family tree into a work of art anyone would be proud of.