Ancestor Numbers
An Ancestor Number (the proper name is an Ahnentafel number) says exactly where a direct ancestor sits in your family tree. You are always number 1. Anyone's father has double their number, and their mother double plus one: so your father is 2 and your mother 3, your father's parents are 4 and 5, your mother's parents 6 and 7, and so on. That's why every man in your tree (apart from you) has an even number and every woman an odd one.
Entering the Ancestor Numbers of your direct ancestors on My Ancestors keeps your records accurate, helps your cousins work out how they're related to you, and tells apart two lines that happen to share a surname.
Print our Ancestor Chart Every box on the chart shows its number, five generations back from you.
Peter Calver, who founded LostCousins, explained Ancestor Numbers in his newsletter of 25 December 2023 (Why are your female ancestors odd?).
Find a number by stepping back from you
Choose father or mother, one generation at a time, until you reach the person you want.
- 1 You
- 3 Your mother
- 7 Your mother's mother
- 14 Your mother's mother's father
- 28 Your mother's mother's father's father
- 56 Your mother's mother's father's father's father
- 113 Your mother's mother's father's father's father's mother
- 227 Your mother's mother's father's father's father's mother's mother
- 454 Your mother's mother's father's father's father's mother's mother's father
- 909 Your mother's mother's father's father's father's mother's mother's father's mother
- 1819 Your mother's mother's father's father's father's mother's mother's father's mother's mother
- 3639 Your mother's mother's father's father's father's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's mother
- 7278 Your mother's mother's father's father's father's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's mother's father
- 14557 Your mother's mother's father's father's father's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's mother's father's mother
- 29115 Your mother's mother's father's father's father's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's mother's father's mother's mother
- 58230 Your mother's mother's father's father's father's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's father
- 116461 Your mother's mother's father's father's father's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's father's mother
- 232923 Your mother's mother's father's father's father's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's father's mother's mother
- 465847 Your mother's mother's father's father's father's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's mother
- 931694 Your mother's mother's father's father's father's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's mother's father
- 1863388 Your mother's mother's father's father's father's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's mother's father's father
- 3726776 Your mother's mother's father's father's father's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's mother's father's father's father
- 7453552 Your mother's mother's father's father's father's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's mother's father's father's father's father
Your mother's mother's father's father's father's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's father's mother's mother's mother's father's father's father's father, a 20x great-grandfather, is number 7453552.