A pedigree chart answers one precise question: who do you come from? You on the left, your two parents next, four grandparents after that, eight great-grandparents after that — a clean bracket of direct ancestors, with everything else (siblings, cousins, second marriages) left out.

That precision is what makes pedigree charts so satisfying — and so annoying to draw by hand. Every generation doubles: by great-great-grandparents you're aligning sixteen boxes against eight against four, and one newly discovered ancestor forces you to redraw the whole sheet. This guide shows how to create a pedigree chart online instead, where the chart draws itself.

What is a pedigree chart, exactly?

A pedigree chart (genealogists also call it an ancestor chart or, in the table form, an Ahnentafel) shows only your direct bloodline:

• You (or any person you choose as the starting point);
• their parents — father in the upper slot, mother in the lower;
• their grandparents, great-grandparents, and so on, doubling each generation.

That's the difference from a full family tree, which also includes siblings, spouses, aunts, cousins and descendants. A family tree tells the whole story; a pedigree chart isolates one thread of it. You'll usually want both — and the good news is that if you build the tree, the pedigree chart comes for free.

Why create it online instead of on paper

Printable pedigree forms have been around for a century, and they all share the same problems:

• Fixed size. The form has four generations; your research doesn't stop at four generations.
• No corrections. New ancestor, new sheet.
• Silent gaps. A blank on paper doesn't tell you whether the ancestor is unknown or you just haven't copied them in yet.
• One copy. Your cousin who knows the missing names never sees it.

An online pedigree chart is generated from your data, so it re-draws itself on every change, marks unknown ancestors with explicit placeholder slots, and is shareable with a link. (If you want something printable for the wall, that's a different job — see our free family tree templates.)

How to create your pedigree chart online

With FamilyBushes the pedigree chart isn't something you draw — it's a view that's computed from your family tree. The whole flow:

1. Start a free tree. Open the family tree maker and add yourself: name, birth year, a photo if you like.

2. Add your direct ancestors. Add your parents, then each parent's parents, and keep going as far as you know. Two clicks per couple — the layout takes care of itself. (New to this? Our step-by-step family tree guide covers interviewing relatives and finding records.)

3. Open the Pedigree view. Select any person and open Pedigree. You get a classic table-style chart: the person on the left, then a column per generation, each ancestor connected to their parents with bracket lines, with birth and death years under every name.

4. Mind the gaps — honestly. Ancestors you haven't identified yet show as empty dashed slots, so the chart always shows the full shape of a generation and exactly where your research stops. Resist the urge to type "Unknown" into a name — leave it empty. An honest gap is easier to spot and fill later than a fake placeholder.

5. Re-anchor at will. The chart isn't tied to you. Select your grandmother and open her pedigree; select a child and see four generations converge on them. One tree, unlimited pedigree charts.

6. Share it. Send the link to your family — viewers don't need an account. The relative who casually knows your missing great-great-grandmother's maiden name is usually one share away.

Pedigree collapse: when the same ancestor appears twice

Here's something paper forms handle badly and online charts handle beautifully. In theory you have 16 great-great-grandparents; in practice, in most small communities historically, some of those slots are filled by the same person reached through two different lines. Genealogists call it pedigree collapse.

The famous extreme is the Habsburg dynasty, where generations of uncle-niece and cousin marriages folded the ancestor chart in on itself — Charles II of Spain's pedigree has the same individuals appearing over and over where a "normal" chart would have distinct people.

FamilyBushes highlights this automatically: when a person occupies more than one slot in a pedigree chart, all of their occurrences get the same pastel color, so crossing lines are visible at a glance instead of hiding behind identical names. You can explore the real thing in our interactive Habsburg family tree — open anyone's pedigree and watch the colors repeat.

Not just for people

Pedigree charts are the standard format for animal breeding, too — kennel clubs have used them far longer than genealogy websites have existed. The same tool works unchanged: one profile per animal, parents linked the same way. As a real example, browse Lassi's pedigree — a Finnish smooth collie traced through six generations of champions.

Common questions

How many generations should a pedigree chart show? Printed charts traditionally show 4–5 generations because that's what fits on paper. Online there's no such limit — the practical ceiling is your research, not the page size.

What's the difference between a pedigree chart and a family tree? Direction and scope: a pedigree chart goes up (ancestors only), a family tree goes in every direction (siblings, spouses, descendants). Same data, different views.

I already have my research in another program. Don't re-type it. Export a GEDCOM file and import it — people, dates and relationships come across, and the pedigree chart is generated from them immediately. Comparing tools first? See our family tree maker comparison.

Is it actually free? Building your tree and viewing pedigree charts is free, in the browser, on any device.

Create your pedigree chart now

Add yourself, your parents and your grandparents — that's already a three-generation pedigree chart, and it takes about five minutes:

Create your pedigree chart for free ➡️