When you decide to publish your genealogical data in some type of book format, you will need to decide on a numbering system -- how shall each person be numbered? Several choices exist:

Register
Modified Register
Henry (two variations)
Modified Henry
Ahnentafel
d'Aboville
Ascendancy

Register

The Register system was developed in the 1800's by the New England Historic Genealogical Society. It is used for family history articles in the society's publication called "The New England Historic and Genealogical Register". It is basically a listing of all persons in a given generation. The Register System is considered to be a standard, mostly because it was the first numbering system to be widely used. However, it was developed long before computer systems were invented.

Example:


1. Adam Smith, born 1750 in Massachusetts, died 1825 in New York, married 1772 to Mary Jones
	Children:
		i.	Benjamin, born 1776, Boston, died 1842 New York, married 1799 to Elizabeth Williams
		ii.	Sally, born 1778, Boston, died 1798
	2.	iii.	Charles
		iv.	Betty, born 1782, Worcester, Massachusetts, died 1841, Virginia, married 1801 to Zachary Taylor, two children
	3.	v.	David

				Second Generation
2. Charles Smith, born 1780, Boston, died 1852 in Philadelphia, married 1802 to Martha Sewell
	Children:
		i.	Lydia, born 1804, New York, married to Richard Blounton
	4.	ii.	Samuel
	5.	iii.	Peter

3. David Smith, born 1784, Boston, died 1845 in Hartford, married 1805 to Penelope Davis
	Children:
	6.	i.	Adam
		ii.	Jacob, born 1809
	7.	iii.	Matthew

				Third Generation
4. Samuel Smith, born 1806, New York, died 1878, Concord, married 1828 to Maria Greene
	Children:
		i.	Ann, born 1830, New York, died 1881, married to Luke Browne
	8.	ii.	Benajmin
	9.	iii.	Richard

Modified Register

The Modified Register system is similar to the Register System but gives every child an assigned number. Persons who are continued in the next generation have the plus sign (+) to the left of their number.

Example:


1. Adam Smith, born 1750 in Massachusetts, died 1825 in New York, married 1772 to Mary Jones
	Children:
	2.	i.	Benjamin, born 1776, Boston, died 1842 New York, married 1799 to Elizabeth Williams
	3.	ii.	Sally, born 1778, Boston, died 1798
+	4.	iii.	Charles
	5.	iv.	Betty, born 1782, Worcester, Massachusetts, died 1841, Virginia, married 1801 to Zachary Taylor, two children
+	6.	v.	David

				Second Generation
4. Charles Smith, born 1780, Boston, died 1852 in Philadelphia, married 1802 to Martha Sewell
	Children:
	7.	i.	Lydia, born 1804, New York, married to Richard Blounton
+	8.	ii.	Samuel
	9.	iii.	Peter

6. David Smith, born 1784, Boston, died 1845 in Hartford, married 1805 to Penelope Davis
	Children:
	10.	i.	Adam
	11.	ii.	Jacob, born 1809
	12.	iii.	Matthew

				Third Generation
8. Samuel Smith, born 1806, New York, died 1878, Concord, married 1828 to Maria Greene
	Children:
	13.	i.	Ann, born 1830, New York, died 1881, married to Luke Browne
	14.	ii.	Benajmin
	15.	iii.	Richard

Henry (two variations)

The Henry System is named after Reginald Buchanan Henry. He used it in his 1935 book Genealogies of the Families of the Presidents. Basically this is a "birth order by generation" numbering scheme. The starting person (aka. the progenitor) is number 1. His first child is number 11. His second child is number 12. And so on for each child of the progenitor. Then, the first child of the progenitor's first child is number 111. The second child of his first child is number 112. The first child of the progenitor's second child is 121. And so on. If there is a tenth child, the letter X is used. If there is an eleventh through the thirty third child, they use A through W respectively.
Note that a second variation exists. This applies only when a given person has ten or more children. Instead of using the letters X then A through W, the actual two-digit numbers are used. When used, they are enclosed in a set of parenthesis. Thus, instead of Henry number 12X5 it would become 12(10)5.

Example:


1. Adam Smith, born 1750 in Massachusetts, died 1825 in New York, married 1772 to Mary Jones

			Second Generation
	11.	Benjamin, born 1776, Boston, died 1842 New York, married 1799 to Elizabeth Williams
	12.	Sally, born 1778, Boston, died 1798
	13.	Charles, born 1780, Boston, died 1852 in Philadelphia, married 1802 to Martha Sewell
	14.	Betty, born 1782, Worcester, Massachusetts, died 1841, Virginia, married 1801 to Zachary Taylor, two children
	15.	David, born 1784, Boston, died 1845 in Hartford, married 1805 to Penelope Davis

			Third Generation
	131.	Lydia, born 1804, New York, married to Richard Blounton
	132.	Samuel, born 1806, New York, died 1878, Concord, married 1828 to Maria Greene
	133.	Peter, born 1808, New York
	151.	Adam
	152.	Jacob, born 1809
	153.	Matthew

			Fourth Generation
	1321.	Ann, born 1830, New York, died 1881, married to Luke Browne
	1322.	Benajmin
	1323.	Richard

Modified Henry

The Modified Henry System is similar to the Henry System except that the persons are not divided by generation. Instead, all descendants for the first child are given, then all descendants for the second child are given. And so on. In this fashion, all of the numbers are completely in ascending order.

Example:


1. Adam Smith, born 1750 in Massachusetts, died 1825 in New York, married 1772 to Mary Jones

	11.	Benjamin, born 1776, Boston, died 1842 New York, married 1799 to Elizabeth Williams
	12.	Sally, born 1778, Boston, died 1798
	13.	Charles, born 1780, Boston, died 1852 in Philadelphia, married 1802 to Martha Sewell
	131.	Lydia, born 1804, New York, married to Richard Blounton
	132.	Samuel, born 1806, New York, died 1878, Concord, married 1828 to Maria Greene
	1321.	Ann, born 1830, New York, died 1881, married to Luke Browne
	1322.	Benajmin
	1323.	Richard
	133.	Peter, born 1808, New York
	14.	Betty, born 1782, Worcester, Massachusetts, died 1841, Virginia, married 1801 to Zachary Taylor, two children
	15.	David, born 1784, Boston, died 1845 in Hartford, married 1805 to Penelope Davis
	151.	Adam
	152.	Jacob, born 1809
	153.	Matthew

Ahnentafel

The Ahnentafel System is used only for the direct ancestors (ascendants) of a given person. The starting person is assigned number 1. The father is assigned number 2. The mother is assigned number 3. To continue with all other generations, the number of the father of a person is twice the value of the number of the person. The number of the mother of a person is twice the number of the person plus one.

To see an example, click here.

d'Aboville

The d'Aboville System is very similar to the Henry System. The difference is the use of periods between the value for each generation.

Example:


1. Adam Smith, born 1750 in Massachusetts, died 1825 in New York, married 1772 to Mary Jones

			Second Generation
	1.1.	Benjamin, born 1776, Boston, died 1842 New York, married 1799 to Elizabeth Williams
	1.2.	Sally, born 1778, Boston, died 1798
	1.3.	Charles, born 1780, Boston, died 1852 in Philadelphia, married 1802 to Martha Sewell
	1.4.	Betty, born 1782, Worcester, Massachusetts, died 1841, Virginia, married 1801 to Zachary Taylor, two children
	1.5.	David, born 1784, Boston, died 1845 in Hartford, married 1805 to Penelope Davis

			Third Generation
	1.3.1.	Lydia, born 1804, New York, married to Richard Blounton
	1.3.2.	Samuel, born 1806, New York, died 1878, Concord, married 1828 to Maria Greene
	1.3.3.	Peter, born 1808, New York
	1.5.1.	Adam
	1.5.2.	Jacob, born 1809
	1.5.3.	Matthew

			Fourth Generation
	1.3.2.1.	Ann, born 1830, New York, died 1881, married to Luke Browne
	1.3.2.2.	Benajmin
	1.3.2.3.	Richard

Ascendancy

The Ascendancy System lists all ancestral fathers of the person along with a number (usually as a superscript) of the generation number of each father.

Example of two brothers:
Adam⁷ Smith (Benjamin⁶, Charles⁵, David⁴, Edward³, Francis², George¹) born 1750, Boston
Thomas⁷ Smith (Benjamin⁶, Charles⁵, David⁴, Edward³, Francis², George¹), born 1752, Boston

To read some web articles concerning the use of genealogical number systems, see www.cyndislist.com/organize.htm#Numbering.