Ahnentafel

Ahnentafel (German word meaning "ancestor table") is a way of listing the ancestors of a particular person in a numbered list. It begins with the person whose ancestry you want to trace (you) at number 1. Your father is listed at number 2 and your mother is listed at number 3. From there, it continues with your parents’ father and mother being listed at numbers 4 and 5 and so on. For example, if you want to trace your ancestry back to your great-grandfather, he would be listed at number 8 on your ahnentafel.