What Is A Family Tree - A Complete Guide

What is a Family Tree?

Family tree - the very phrase arouses curiosity in one’s mind, especially among the new generation. What seems a simple tree-like chart, representing one’s family history, is a great source of pride for youngsters who gradually come to know about the achievements of their ancestors and feel fortunate enough to be connected to such kin. Not just this, it proves beneficial to youngsters in three different situations:

Offer the joy of experiencing a ‘Eureka’ moment

Digging into one’s family history resembles solving a giant puzzle, where there’s no definite solution but innumerable Eureka moments. By this, we hint at the sudden discovery of a secretive grandfather or a cousin, which you might have never known, had you overlooked the family tree. This evokes in people a great sense of satisfaction earned from discoveries.

Let them pass on family traditions and untold stories to the next generation

What makes a personality interesting is knowledge, be it of the world around or the family one belongs to. If you wish to be a great storyteller to your next generation, start by discovering your kin tree. In the process, you would get to know about the lifestyles of your ancestors, their personal favorites in recipes, songs, and other choices. Such details are not just interesting to note down but also captivating enough to be passed on to the next generation.

Reward one a sense of connection

Recognizing ancestors and family members often create awareness about significant historical events and places from where they originate. This, in turn, generates a sense of connection to people across the world and incidents that have occurred in far off places.

In short, by a family tree, one understands a graphical chart depicting the complex relationship binding one member to another. Enriched with family history such as photos, dates of birth, names, etc, it offers all with basic information to make them feel connected.

Why Family Tree Matters?

Etching a pedigree chart is, in reality, a rewarding process, accompanying the following set of benefits:

As you can check, it does play a role in the lives of both youngsters and elders, reminding them of their large close-knit family and keeping them informed about it all.

Family Tree Vs Genograms

This tree structure, in the discussion, representing a family, might resemble a Genogram in terms of structure but in reality, serves an entirely different purpose altogether. While the former portrays only a lineage, the latter creates contrast by speaking volumes about interactions, apart from relationships. In simple terms, Genogram reports in-depth, revealing about the interaction between two family members, whereas a pedigree chart only shows how one is connected to the other. So, never confuse yourself when expressing your interest in creating a family diagram for yourself.

Family Tree Examples

A guide is almost incomplete without decent family tree examples. To clear your understanding of the same, take a cue from the list of cases given below and grab an idea about how it’s designed and represented.

Source: Matt Baker's Twitter

The most-watched web series, entitled ‘Game of Thrones’, might interest viewers with its fantasy-themed drama but confuses every fan with its characters. A structured chart, however, saves one the hassle and arouses curiosity right away.

Source: www.geoawesomeness.com

It’s easy to take interest in British Monarchy but hard to keep the same alive. This is primarily because of the endless list of members in the royal family, heading different ceremonial positions and exercising representational duties. A structured chart here simplifies everything!

Source: www.usefulcharts.com

As you can check from the chart illustrated above, it’s a long list of Primordial Gods, Titans, and Olympians, and it’s very hard to remember all. Segmenting them into three diverse groups saves the hassle.

Source: www.pinterest.com

Even if you hadn't seen "Keeping Up with the Kardashians", you must have heard this name - Kardashian Family. What is the most famous family in the US recently? I bet 99.9% of American people will tell you the Kardashian family. No one remembers why they are so well-known, but the truth is they are everywhere. Whenever you're looking through the internet, you will possibly come across this kind of news - one of the Kardashian sisters is hooking with an NBA superstar now. Are you still confused by their complicated family relationships? Just check the picture below and you will find the answer to your question.

How to Draw Your Family Tree with EdrawMax

Drawing a pedigree chart all by yourself is incredibly easy! All you need to do is download and install the latest version of the smart software, named EdrawMax. Once done, you can go ahead by collecting records of your family members from your relatives to save time. Arrange all the documents and try out Edraw’s built-in template for your first ever family chart. Unleash your creativity by exploring myriad shapes from the free of cost template and let it stand out from the rest.

As you can check, there are plenty of pre-drawn photo shapes given above, offering you choices galore to make it attractive.

Now that you have drawn inspiration from the family tree examples and the pre-designed shapes, let’s teach you the basic steps to a beautiful tree-structured chart, depicting the richness of your relationships.

Tips for Drawing a Family Tree

Before ending this guide, we would love to usher you with some of our invaluable suggestions. While it’s not mandatory to follow them, you can always take a cue to render a professional touch. So, here goes the tips: