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The German word, "ahnentafel," translates to "ancestor table" in English. The German word is pronounced AW-NEN-TAWFULL. An ahnentafel is truly awful. (In the sense that it is awe inspiring -- not awfully bad).

Ahnentafel is the German word for pedigree. To Americans, a pedigree is an identification of a person's direct ancestors A pedigree can be expressed as a diagram showing the ancestors of a person, starting with a first person, usually a person alive today, and moves back in time to that person's parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and so on. (The English have a broader definition of the word "pedigree" which can be the same as what we Americans would call a "descendancy," a diagram which moves in the opposite direction as an American pedigree, or a "lineage" which is a line of linked ancestors. The English began using the word pedigree back during the time of an influential French-speaking visitor named William the Conqueror. In French, the word pedigree means "the foot of the goose", because, apparently, a goose's foot resembles the branches of family tree).

Dating back to the time of Kaiser Wilhelm I, the Germans invented a numbering scheme for a pedigree in which unique ID numbers were assigned to each person in an ancestor table. Unlike an American pedigree diagram, where numbers for people keep changing when you run out of paper on a chart and repeat a person on another chart, the ahnentafel numbering system continues the numbers in a very logical, and typically German scheme.

But, the difference between an American pedigree and a German ahnentafel is only a matter of how to assign ID numbers to ancestors. The ahnentafel system not only allows for unique ID numbers for every ancestor in a pedigree, it allows for different methods of displaying or publishing a pedigree. And since the Germans are known for their keen sense of logic and order, using an ahnentafel system has some advantages over an American pedigree numbering scheme. Americans have always been borrowers, and the German ahnentafel system has been borrowed by many American genealogists, particularly those who want to copy the German penchant for efficiency, logic, and order.

A Typical American Pedigree Chart

A typical American pedigree chart usually has room for four generations. Starting on the first chart with number one, the father of that person is number two, the mother number three. The grandparents are numbers 4, 5, 6, and 7, and the great-grandparents are numbers 8 through 15:

On the first chart of four generations there are some simple rules that can be seen for each of the numbered positions of ancestors:

1. Except for the first person, all husbands/males in the diagram are shown above their wives/females.

2. Except for the first person, who can be male or female, all males/husbands have an ID number which is an even number.

3. All females/wives have an ID number which is an odd number, a number one higher than their husband's number.

4. The ID number of the father of any person is double that person's number. Therefore, the father of number one is number two. The father of number three is number six. The father of number 6 is number 12, and so on.

5. The ID number of the mother of any person is double that person's number plus one. Thus, the mother of number 5 is 10 plus 1, or number 11.

All of these rules apply to the first chart. If another pedigree chart is needed to continue the ancestry, a cross-reference is necessary, because the numbers start over again with number one for the first person on the chart:

Here's the situation. On chart two, the first person is back to being person number one. All of the rules about doubling to find a father or mother that made sense on the first chart have to be started over again for each new chart. In addition, a cross-reference note is needed somewhere on chart two that states, "Person number one on chart two is the same as person number eight on chart one."

If person number one on chart two used to have the ID number eight on chart one, that means that a genealogist is forced to keep track of charts in addition to keeping track of people. When going from chart one to chart two, the use of unique ID numbers has been lost because the ID numbers have changed.

The Ahnentafel Numbering System

Essentially, to refer to a pedigree as an ahnentafel, a genealogist needs to modify the numbers so that every ancestor keeps a unique ID number that never changes. Here's the effect of an ahnentafel on a new chart two using the German Numbering System:

The ancestor who was ID number eight on chart one is repeated as ID number eight on chart two. It's as simple as that. Why change ID numbers?

Now the same rules apply an any new chart. The father of number 8 is number 16. The father of number 16 is number 32, and so on. The rule for adding one to a male's ID number for each female follows as well.

In fact, the main difference is that ID numbers continue to rise. Regardless of what chart on which a person appears, an ID number never changes. As a result, the ID numbers are unique and can be used for other presentations of a pedigree not possible without them.

In addition, ahnentafel charts can be numbered to indicate the ID number of the person who starts the chart. If number one starts chart one, why can't the chart starting with ID number 8 be the starting person on chart eight? With this concept, a chart can be started with any person in the first position, and that person's ID number can also identify the chart number.

Ahnentafel Lists

A list of your direct ancestors can be prepared in numerical order. All the rules from the pedigree still work, i.e., to find the father of any person, double that person's number; and to find a mother of any person, double the person's number and add one.

1. James Smith
2. Franklin Smith
3. Martha Johnson
4. William Smith, Jr.
5. Elizabeth Brown
6. Martin Johnson
7. Mary Black
8. William Smith, Sr.
9. Polly Anderson
10. ---- Brown
11. ---- ----
12. ---- Johnson
13. ---- ----
14. ---- Black
15. ---- ----
16. George Smith
17. Elizabeth Preston
18. James Anderson
19. Martha Ann Pool
. . . and so on . . .

The ahnentafel list above is no different than a pedigree diagram, but the ancestors are listed in a table. Note that in this list certain names were added where the surname could be predicted. For example, the father of any male can be predicted to have the same surname. Therefore, it was possible to predict that number 10 would be a Brown, as was the case also for number 12, Johnson, and number 14, Black.

Surname Lists

The simplicity of the ahnentafel is what makes it so practical. For example, the rule about all males having even numbers and all females having odd numbers gives a genealogist another list that can be very useful -- a surname list.

Since every female ancestor has a different surname, listing females in numerical order presents a list of every different surname which appears in a pedigree:

1. Smith, James
3. Johnson, Martha
5. Brown, Elizabeth
7. Black, Mary
9. Anderson, Polly
. . . and so on . . .

If the above list were continued -- being all odd numbers -- it would list every female in the pedigree. (Remember that number one is the only odd number that can be male or female). But the list is also a listing of every different surname in the entire pedigree.

A genealogist who has identified more than 30 different surnames is engaged in a very large pedigree project. Counting surnames is another way of judging the size of a pedigree. The surname list is possible without using ahnentafel numbers, of course, but the numbers add an element of priority. The lower the number, the closer to the starting person in the pedigree. Therefore, a surname list can act as list of names in their numerical order, but also in their order of priority or importance back in time. (If you need a rule to follow that tells you where you should be working on your pedigree, one rule is to work on those surnames with unanswered questions and are closer to number one in numerical order).

Ancestor Table

Behind each of the odd numbers in a surname list is a line of males with the same surname. So, an arrangement of the ahnentafel allows another method of viewing a lineage from a pedigree chart -- this time just for one surname. I'll call this type of list an "ancestor table."

Compile an ancestor table by starting with any odd number, then double that number to find the father of that person, double again to continue, such as the list below:

3. Martha Johnson
6. Martin Johnson
12. Samuel Johnson
24. William Johnson
48. Henry Johnson
96. Henry Johnson
192. Henry Johnson
384. -- Johnson
768. -- Johnson
. . . and so on . . .

The same list could be prepared showing all of the spouses of the Johnson men. An ancestor table can be prepared for each surname, one page for one lineage of the same name, creating a series of sheets that can store the names, spouses, dates, and places for each genealogical event, e.g., birth, marriage, or death information.

Ahnentafel numbers lend themselves to more options for displaying ancestors. Good luck with yours.