Making a simple family tree
A family tree diagram reads top-down: the oldest generation at the root, each indent level one generation later. Put a couple on one line ("George & Mary"), indent their children beneath them, and indent again for grandchildren. The layout engine keeps every generation aligned on its own row, however lopsided the branches are — no box-nudging required.
- Start with the ancestor (or couple) you're tracing from.
- Indent one line per child, in birth order if you know it.
- Keep indenting for each new generation; add spouses on the same line.
- Pick a theme, then export a PNG for printing or sharing.
Tips that keep family trees readable
- Trace one direction. A tree shows descendants of one root cleanly. To show ancestors of one person instead, make that person the root and treat each indent level as "parents of".
- Add years sparingly. "Emma (b. 1998)" is helpful; full birth-marriage-death data belongs in a genealogy record, not on the picture.
- Use left-to-right layout for deep trees. Five or more generations fit a page better sideways — one click on the layout toggle.
When you need more than a simple tree
This page is built for quick, presentable family trees — school projects, a reunion handout, the family group chat. If you need marriage links between branches, medical history notation, or the standard clinical symbols used by therapists and social workers, that's a genogram, a different diagram with its own conventions — a dedicated genogram maker handles those properly. If the question is which relatives count as second cousins and what "once removed" means, the cousin chart sets out the counting rule with a chart to match. And for hierarchies that aren't families at all, the general tree diagram maker, the hierarchy chart maker, and the examples gallery cover org charts, category trees, and more.