An ''ahnentafel'' (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

for "ancestor table"; ) or ''ahnenreihe'' ("ancestor series"; ) is a

genealogical numbering system Several genealogical numbering systems have been widely adopted for presenting family trees and pedigree charts in text format. Among the most popular numbering systems are: Ahnentafel (Sosa-Stradonitz Method), and the Register, NGSQ, Henry, d'Abov ...

for listing a person's direct ancestors in a fixed sequence of ascent. The subject (or

proband In medical genetics and other medical fields, a proband, proposito (male proband), or proposita (female proband)Bennett, RL. The Language of the Pedigree. In: ''The Practical Guide to the Genetic Family History''. Wiley-Liss. is a particular subjec ...

) of the ahnentafel is listed as , the subject's father as and the mother as , the paternal grandparents as and and the maternal grandparents as and , and so on, back through the generations. Apart from , who can be male or female, all even-numbered persons are male, and all odd-numbered persons are female. In this

schema The word schema comes from the Greek word ('), which means ''shape'', or more generally, ''plan''. The plural is ('). In English, both ''schemas'' and ''schemata'' are used as plural forms. Schema may refer to: Science and technology * SCHEMA ...

, the number of any person's father is double the person's number, and a person's mother is double the person's number plus one. Using this definition of numeration, one can derive some basic information about individuals who are listed without additional research. This construct displays a person's

genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

compactly, without the need for a diagram such as a

family tree A family tree, also called a genealogy or a pedigree chart, is a chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure. More detailed family trees, used in medicine and social work, are known as genograms. Representations of ...

. It is particularly useful in situations where one may be restricted to presenting a

in plain text, for example, in

email Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" mean ...

s or

newsgroup A Usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from users in different locations using the Internet. They are discussion groups and are not devoted to publishing news. Newsgroups are technically distinc ...

articles. In effect, an ahnentafel is a method for storing a binary tree in an array by listing the

node In general, a node is a localized swelling (a "knot") or a point of intersection (a vertex). Node may refer to: In mathematics * Vertex (graph theory), a vertex in a mathematical graph *Vertex (geometry), a point where two or more curves, lines ...

s (individuals) in level-order (in generation order). The ahnentafel system of numeration is also known as the Eytzinger Method, for

Michaël Eytzinger Michaël Eytzinger (Freiherr Michael von Aitzing, Aitzinger, Eyzinger, or Eitzing) (born ca. 1530 in Obereitzing - died 1598 in Bonn), was an Austrian nobleman, diplomat, historian, and publicist, who wrote and published several works, includi ...

, the Austrian-born historian who first published the principles of the system in 1590; the Sosa Method, named for Jerónimo (Jerome) de Sosa, the Spanish genealogist who popularized the numbering system in his work ''Noticia de la gran casa de los marqueses de Villafranca'' in 1676; and the Sosa–Stradonitz Method, for

Stephan Kekulé von Stradonitz Stephan Kekulé von Stradonitz (1 May 1863, in Ghent – 5 May 1933, in Berlin), was a German lawyer, heraldist and genealogist who popularized a genealogical numbering system of ancestors. Stephan was the son of the prominent chemist Friedr ...

, the genealogist and son of chemist

Friedrich August Kekulé Friedrich may refer to: Names * Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' * Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' Other * Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Year ...

, who published his interpretation of Sosa's method in his ''Ahnentafel-atlas'' in 1898. "Ahnentafel" is a loan word from the German language, and its German equivalents are ''Ahnenreihe'' and ''Ahnenliste''. An ahnentafel list is sometimes called a "Kekulé" after

. A variant of is known in French as

Seize Quartiers Seize quartiers is a French phrase which literally means a person's "sixteen quarters", the coats of arms of their sixteen great-great-grandparents quarters of nobility, which are typically accompanied by a five generation genealogy ahnentafel ou ...

Inductive reckoning

To find out what someone's number would be without compiling a list, one must first trace how they relate back to the subject or person of interest, meaning that one determines for example that some ancestor is the subject's father's mother's mother's father's father. Once one has done that, one can use two methods.

First method

Use the definition that a father's number will be twice that individual's number, or a mother's will be twice plus one, and just multiply and add 1 accordingly. For instance, someone can find out what number Sophia of Hanover would be on an ahnentafel of

Peter Phillips Peter Mark Andrew Phillips (born 15 November 1977) is a British businessman and the son of Anne, Princess Royal, and Captain Mark Phillips. He is the eldest nephew of King Charles III, and 17th in the line of succession to the British throne. ...

(son of

Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of K ...

and grandson of

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

). Sophia is Phillips's mother's mother's

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

's Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, father's

. So, we multiply and add: :1×2 + 1 = 3 ::3×2 + 1 = 7 :::7×2 = 14 ::::14×2 = 28 :::::28×2 = 56 ::::::56×2 + 1 = 113 :::::::113×2 = 226 ::::::::226×2 = 452 :::::::::452×2 = 904 ::::::::::904×2 = 1808 :::::::::::1808×2 = 3616 ::::::::::::3616×2 + 1 = 7233 Thus, if we were to make an ahnentafel for Peter Phillips, Electress Sophia would be #7233.

Second method

Write down the digit "1", which represents the subject, then from left to right write "0" for each father and "1" for each mother in the relation, ending with the ancestor of interest. The result will be the Binary numeral system, binary representation of the ancestor's ahnentafel number. Then convert the binary number to decimal form. Using the Sophia example: :Sophia = Peter's mother's mother's father's father's father's mother's father's father's father's father's father's mother :Sophia = 1110001000001 :1110001000001 = ''1×4096+ ''1×2048+ ''1×1024+ ''0×512+ ''0×256+ ''0×128+ ''1×64+ ''0×32+ ''0×16+ ''0×8+ ''0×4+ ''0×2+ ''1×1:Sophia = 7233

Deductive reckoning

We can also work in reverse to find what the relation is from the number.

Reverse first method

#One starts out by seeing if the number is odd or even. #If it is odd, the last part of the relation is "mother," so subtract 1 and divide by 2. #If it is even, the last part is "father," and one divides by 2. #Repeat steps 2–3, and build back from the last word. #Once one gets to 1, one is done. On an ahnentafel of

Prince William William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. Born in London, William was educa ...

, John Wark is number 116. We follow the steps: We reverse that, and we get that #116, John Wark, is Prince William's mother's mother's father's mother's father's father.

Reverse second method

1. Convert the ahnentafel number from decimal to binary, then replace the leftmost "1" with the subject's name and replace each following "0" and "1" with "father" and "mother" respectively. :John Wark = 116 :116 = ''1×64+ ''1×32+ ''1×16+ ''0×8+ ''1×4+ ''0×2+ ''0×1:John Wark = 1110100 :John Wark = Prince William's mother's mother's father's mother's father's father

Calculation of the generation number

The generation number can be calculated as the

logarithm In mathematics, the logarithm is the inverse function to exponentiation. That means the logarithm of a number to the base is the exponent to which must be raised, to produce . For example, since , the ''logarithm base'' 10 of ...

to base 2 of the ahnentafel number, and rounding down to a full integer by truncating decimal digits. For example, the number 38 is between 2⁵=32 and 2⁶=64, so log₂(38) is between 5 and 6. This means that ancestor no.38 belongs to generation five, and was a great-great-great-grandparent of the reference person who is no.1 (generation zero).

Example

The example, shown below, is an ahnentafel of

The Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers o ...

, listing all of his ancestors up to his fourth great-grandparents. #

William, Prince of Wales William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. Born in London, William was edu ...

(born 21 June 1982) # Charles III, King of the United Kingdom et al. (born 14 November 1948) # Diana, Princess of Wales (1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) #

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(10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) # Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom et al. (21 April 1926 - 8 September 2022) #

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(20 January 1882 – 3 December 1944) #

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(24 December 1845 – 18 March 1913) #Grand Duchess

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Mary of Teck Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes; 26 May 186724 March 1953) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 6 May 1910 until 20 January 1936 as the wife of King-Empe ...

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Margaret Baring Charles Robert Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer, (30 October 1857 – 26 September 1922), styled The Honourable Charles Spencer until 1905 and known as Viscount Althorp between 1905 and 1910, was a British courtier and Liberal politician from the Spen ...

(14 December 1868 – 4 July 1906) #

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Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel da, Louise Wilhelmine Frederikke Caroline Auguste Julie , succession = Queen consort of Denmark , image = Louise of Hesse-Kassel.jpg , reign = 15 November 1863 – 29 September 1898 , spouse = , issue = , house = ...

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Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine Prince Alexander Ludwig Georg Friedrich Emil of Hesse and by Rhine, (15 July 1823 – 15 December 1888), was the third son and fourth child of Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse, and Wilhelmine of Baden. He was a brother of Tsarina Maria Alexandr ...

(15 July 1823 – 15 December 1888) #

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(12 November 1825 – 19 September 1895) #

Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine English: Frederick William Louis Charles , house = Hesse-Darmstadt , father = Prince Charles of Hesse and by Rhine , mother = Princess Elisabeth of Prussia , birth_date = , birth_place = Prinz-Carl-Palais, Darmstadt, Gra ...

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Princess Alexandra of Denmark Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 January 1901 t ...

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Frances Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne Frances is a French and English given name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'free one.' The male version of the name in English is Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "Frenchman", comes from the F ...

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Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl Spencer Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl Spencer, KG, CB, PC (14 April 1798 – 27 December 1857), styled The Honourable Frederick Spencer until 1845, was a British naval commander, courtier, and Whig politician. He initially served in the Royal Navy and ...

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Adelaide Spencer, Countess Spencer Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The demo ...

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James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn (24 August 1838 – 3 January 1913), styled Viscount Hamilton until 1868 and Marquess of Hamilton from 1868 to 1885, was a British nobleman, groom of the stool, and diplomat. He was the son of James Hamilton ...

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Cecilia Bingham, Countess of Lucan Charles George Bingham, 4th Earl of Lucan, KP (8 May 1830 – 5 June 1914), styled Lord Bingham from 1839 to 1888, was an Irish peer and soldier. He was the eldest son of George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan and Lady Anne Brudenell. His maternal gra ...

(13 April 1835 – 5 October 1910) #

Edmond Roche, 1st Baron Fermoy Edmond Burke Roche, 1st Baron Fermoy (9 August 1815 – 17 September 1874) was an Irish politician in the British parliament who was granted a title in the Peerage of Ireland. His direct ancestor was Maurice FitzEdmund Roche, Mayor of Cork, who di ...

(August 1815 – 17 September 1874) # Elizabeth Roche, Baroness Fermoy (9 August 1821 – 26 April 1897) # Frank Work (10 February 1819 – 16 March 1911) #Ellen Wood (18 July 1831 – 22 February 1877) # Alexander Ogston Gill #

Barbara Smith Marr Barbara may refer to: People * Barbara (given name) * Barbara (painter) (1915–2002), pseudonym of Olga Biglieri, Italian futurist painter * Barbara (singer) (1930–1997), French singer * Barbara Popović (born 2000), also known mononymously ...

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(24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) #= 78 #= 79 #= 32 #= 33 # Duke Alexander of Württemberg (9 September 1804 – 4 July 1885) #

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(11 December 1796 – 12 May 1870) # Anne Gore (8 March 1817 – 23 July 1877) # George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan (16 April 1800 – 10 November 1888) # Anne Bingham, Countess of Lucan née Lady Anne Brudenell (29 June 1809 – 2 April 1877) #

Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond, (3 August 179121 October 1860), of Goodwood House near Chichester in West Sussex, was a British peer, soldier and prominent Conservative politician. Origins He was born "Charles Lennox", the son and ...

(3 August 1791 – 21 October 1860) # Caroline Paget (6 June 1796 – 12 March 1874) # Edward Roche (13 July 1771 – 21 March 1855) # Margaret Curtain (1786 – 21 January 1862) # James Boothby (10 February 1791 – 28 October 1850) # Charlotte Cunningham (1799 – 22 January 1893) # John Wark (1783 – 16 April 1823) # Sarah Duncan Boude (15 December 1790 – 17 December 1860) # John Wood (29 July 1785 – 29 January 1848) # Eleanor Strong (ca. 1803 – 9 July 1863) # David Gill # Sarah Ogston # William Smith Marr (27 November 1810 – 13 February 1898) # Helen Bean (1814/5 – 20 July 1852) # William Littlejohn (12 August 1803 – 8 July 1888) # Janet Bentley (26 January 1811 – 1 October 1848) # James Crombie (13 January 1810 – 31 January 1878) # Katharine Forbes (1 December 1812 – 10 April 1893) The same information in a tree:

Multiple numbers for the same person

An ancestor may have two or more numbers due to

pedigree collapse In genealogy, pedigree collapse describes how reproduction between two individuals who share an ancestor causes the number of distinct ancestors in the family tree of their offspring to be smaller than it could otherwise be. Robert C. Gunderson c ...

. For example, in the above Ahnentafel for Prince William, Queen Victoria is both no.79 and no.81. She is no.79 because she was the great-great-grandmother of William's grandfather Prince Philip, and she is also no.81 because she was the great-great-grandmother of William's grandmother Queen Elizabeth II. The relationships are easier to follow using the ancestry tree with ahnentafel numbering.

Other German definitions

Genealogical table for evidence of Aryan ancestry

European nobility took pride in displaying their descent. In the German language, the term ''"Ahnentafel"'' may refer to a list of coats of arms and names of one's ancestors, even when it does not follow the numbered tabular representation given above. In this case, the German "Tafel" is taken literally to be a physical "display board" instead of an abstract scheme. In

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service required a person to prove non-Jewish ancestry with an

Ariernachweis In Nazi Germany, the Aryan certificate/passport (german: Ariernachweis) was a document which certified that a person was a member of the presumed Aryan race. Beginning in April 1933, it was required from all employees and officials in the publ ...

(Aryan certificate). The certificate could take the form of entries in the permanent

Ahnenpass The ''Ahnenpaß'' (literally, "ancestor pass") documented the Aryan lineage of people "of German blood" in Nazi Germany. It was one of the forms of the Aryan certificate (''Ariernachweis'') and issued by the "Reich Association of Marriage Regis ...

(that was sorted according to the ahnentafel numbering system) or as entries in a singular Arierschein (Aryan attestation) that was titled "Ahnentafel".

Software

References

{{Family Genealogy Family trees