The Ahnentafel is a method for dispalying information about one's ancestors. Its advantage is that it allows for a very concise display of information, able to show many ancestors at a glance (an ancestor chart, or tree, can easily show the relationship between parents and children but can usually only show 16 people on one page). In the Ahnentafel each person is given a number, starting at 1, and their father is twice their own number, and their mother is twice plus one. Thus the person at the top of the table, i.e. the person who the Ahnentafel is for, is given the number 1, and his or her father is 2 and mother is 3. The father's father is number 4 and mother's father is 6, etc. Men always have even numbers (with the possible exception of person number 1) and women always have odd numbers.
While Ahnentafels can vary in their format, the ones on these pages have
adopted the following form:
Number Name, birth year - death year, birth place, death place
If a year is unknown, it will be indicated with a question mark. If a place is unknown, it will usually be left blank. If one place is known but the other isn't, the place will be preceded with a "b." or "d." for clarification.
For an example, see New England Ahnentafel
Send e-mail to Michael Roman