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Free printable pedigree chart (four generations, PDF)

Published by Generation Archives on October 20, 2026. Last updated November 5, 2026.

A pedigree chart shows one person's direct ancestors: parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, fifteen people on one page. It's the classic first form in family history, and a quick way to see what you know and what you still need to find.

Download: US Letter PDF · A4 PDF

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How to fill it in

Box 1 is the starting person, often you. Write the chart number and your name at the top.
Each person's father is twice their number, and their mother is twice plus one. So 2 and 3 are the parents of 1, 4 to 7 are the grandparents, and 8 to 15 are the great-grandparents.
Write what you know: names, and dates and places of birth, marriage and death. Leave unknown lines blank rather than guessing. The blanks are your research list.
Continue on a new chart. When you reach a great-grandparent, start a new chart with them as number 1, and write that chart's number in the "Cont. on chart" line.
Print at 100%, not "fit to page", so the writing space isn't shrunk.

When a paper chart isn't enough

A pedigree chart only shows direct ancestors, two parents per person. Real families often have more: step-parents, adoptive parents, multiple marriages, and the siblings and cousins a pedigree leaves out. For one couple and their children, use the family group sheet.

If you'd rather not keep it on paper, you can build the same tree online in Generation Archives, which is free to use (media uploads beyond the free starter credit are paid). You can add any number of parents per person, tag people in photos, drag the tree into any shape you like, and export it as a PDF, PNG or JPEG image of the tree (or as GEDCOM 5.5.1, GEDCOM 7.0 or GEDZIP data) to print. Trees are private by default, visible only to you and the relatives you invite.

A worked example: filling in a chart for a fictional family

Numbers are easier to understand once you have watched them work. Here is a made-up person, Dana Whitfield, filling in her own chart. Every name and date below is invented.

Dana writes herself in box 1: Dana Whitfield, born 1994, Duluth, Minnesota. She knows her parents without looking anything up, so box 2 (father) is Peter Whitfield, born about 1962, Duluth and box 3 (mother) is Lorraine Ames, born 1965, Thunder Bay, Ontario. Notice the pattern: Peter is 2 because 1 × 2 = 2, and Lorraine is 3 because 1 × 2 + 1 = 3.

Now the grandparents. Peter's parents go in boxes 4 and 5, because 2 × 2 = 4 and 2 × 2 + 1 = 5. Dana's grandfather is Walter Whitfield, born 1931, and her grandmother is Ruth Kessler, born about 1934. Lorraine's parents go in 6 and 7 (3 × 2 and 3 × 2 + 1). Dana knows her grandmother's name for box 7, Margit Ames, but only remembers her grandfather as "Grandpa Joe." So box 6 gets Joseph Ames? (known as Joe) with a question mark, and the birth date stays blank.

That blank is the point of the exercise. Dana can see at a glance that:

Box 6 needs a legal first name and a birth year. Her mother, Lorraine, is the person to ask.
Boxes 8 through 15, the great-grandparents, are empty except for one name she half remembers. That is a research plan with eight lines on it.
Ruth Kessler has a birth year but no place. The place is her next question for her father.

When Dana asks her father about Walter's parents, she learns that Walter's father was Henrik Whitfield and his mother was Anna Brandt. Walter is box 4, so his father is box 8 and his mother is box 9. Dana does not squeeze them onto the crowded part of the page. If she had started from Walter, she would begin a new chart with him as number 1 and write "Continued from chart 1, person 4" at the top.

Reading the numbers back

Once you know the doubling rule you can work in either direction. To find someone's father, double their number. To find their mother, double it and add one. To go the other way, halve the number and drop any remainder: box 9 halved is 4 (with a remainder), so box 9 is the child of box 4. Box 13 halved is 6, so box 13 belongs to box 6. This is why you can hand a stranger a chart and say "look at person 13" and be understood.

Common mistakes on a pedigree chart

Most problems with a printed chart are habits, not ignorance. These are the ones that cause the most trouble later.

Writing a guess in ink. If you are not sure of a date, leave it blank or write "abt" before the year and a question mark after it. A confident-looking date copied by a cousin will be treated as fact within a year. Use pencil if you are working on paper.

Mixing up the two lines. It is easy to put a grandmother in the paternal line because she lived with the family. The chart records biological or legal parentage depending on how you decide to use it, not who was in the house. If a step-parent or adoptive parent raised the child, note them beside the box or on a separate sheet and say what you chose. The guide to adoptive and step-parents in a family tree goes through the options.

Recording married names for women. Write the birth surname wherever it is known, and put the married name in a note. A chart full of married surnames makes it hard to see the next generation back.

Skipping the place. Dates without places are hard to follow up. Even a country or a county helps a later researcher.

Printing at "fit to page." Fit-to-page shrinks the writing space, and you end up squeezing names into tiny boxes. Print at 100%.

Treating the chart as proof. The chart is a summary. It has no room for sources, so keep your notes somewhere else and write the source down as you go. If you have a letter, a photo, or an interview behind a fact, cite the photo, letter, or interview in a sentence your cousin can follow.

Forgetting to date the chart itself. Write the day you filled it in at the top. In five years you will want to know which version you are holding.

When to switch from paper to software

A printed chart is a good starting tool and a poor long-term home. It works best while you are asking questions and the tree is small. Consider moving to software when:

You have more than two or three charts. Continuation sheets multiply quickly, and it gets hard to find a person without a tidy index.
Siblings, cousins, and second marriages start to matter. A pedigree leaves them out on purpose. A tree app shows them next to the direct line.
Other relatives want to add to it. Passing a paper chart around means you will end up with three versions. A shared tree gives everyone one version.
You have photos. Paper has nowhere to tie a picture to a person.
You want a backup. Paper burns, floods, and goes missing in house moves. A digital tree can be exported.

If you do switch, you do not have to retype from scratch. Enter the people from your chart one generation at a time, starting with box 1. In Generation Archives you can try the demo first, with no signup, and then create a free account when you want to keep your own tree. Trees are private by default, which matters if your chart includes living relatives. The private family tree guide explains who can see what. If you want to understand the layout before you start, how to read a pedigree chart covers the boxes and numbers in more detail.

Your first software session does not need to be perfect. Enter the fifteen people from your chart, add the dates you wrote in pencil, leave the blanks, and export a GEDCOM backup once you are done. What is GEDCOM? explains the file, and how to start a family tree has a fuller beginner checklist if you are working from nothing.

Frequently asked questions

What is a pedigree chart?

A pedigree chart is a family tree form that lists one person's direct ancestors, usually four or five generations on a page, with numbered boxes for each person.

Is this pedigree chart free?

Yes. Download and print it as often as you like, with no account needed.

What do the numbers on a pedigree chart mean?

Each person has a number. A father is twice his child's number and a mother is twice plus one, so every ancestor gets a unique number that tells you where they sit in the tree.

Can I fill in a pedigree chart online instead?

Yes. Generation Archives is a free online family tree. You can build your tree in the browser, keep it private to invited relatives, and export a PDF, PNG or JPEG image of the tree. The app is free to use; media uploads beyond the free starter credit are paid.

How many generations should I fill in?

Four generations (15 people) fit on this form. Stop when you run out of facts you can state without guessing. If you reach a great-grandparent you want to follow further, start a new chart with that person as number 1 and link the two with the continuation line.

What if I only know one parent?

Fill in what you know and leave the other parent's boxes blank. The numbering still works, because the missing parent keeps their number. Do not invent a name or reuse a different relative to fill the gap.

Should I list step-parents or adoptive parents?

The numbered boxes are built for two parents per person. Decide which parentage the chart records (many people use biological parents on the chart and note adoptive or step relationships in the margin or on a family group sheet), write that decision on the page, and be consistent. See adoptive and step-parents in a family tree.

Can I put living relatives on a chart I plan to share?

You can, but share carefully. Birth dates and places of living people are the details most worth leaving off a chart that leaves your household. See what to record about living people.

How do I read a chart someone else filled in?

Start at box 1 and follow the numbers. How to read a pedigree chart explains abbreviations, empty boxes, and what the chart leaves out.