Printable family tree templates, free and blank
Five templates to print on A4, from three to five generations. Download the PDF, print it, fill it in by hand with the family. Free, no sign-up.
The templates to download
3 generations
You, your parents, your four grandparents. The template to start with, with room to write.
3 generations with photos
The same seven boxes, each with a frame to glue a passport photo or draw a portrait.
4 generations
Up to the eight great-grandparents, in landscape. Fifteen numbered boxes.
5-generation fan chart
Thirty-one people on one page, back to the great-great-grandparents. The densest format, to enlarge to A3 if you write big.
Drawn tree, 3 generations
A trunk and branches connect the boxes. For a tree to hang on the wall, to give as a gift, or to hand in at school.
The numbers in the boxes follow Ahnentafel numbering, also called Sosa numbering, the same in every family tree. You are 1, your father 2, your mother 3. A person's father has double their number, their mother double plus one.
How to fill in a family tree
1. Start with yourself
Fill in box 1 with what you know without looking anything up. Birth name, exact date and place, as they appear on your birth certificate. It is the only box that needs no questions.
2. Go back one generation at a time
Your parents, then your grandparents, then theirs. Don't skip a box, each generation helps you find the next. For women, write their maiden name rather than their married name, it is the one that leads to their family.
3. Ask the oldest relatives first
Grandparents, great-uncles and great-aunts know what is written nowhere. Bring the printed template, show them the empty boxes, and ask who is missing. Family record books (in France, the livret de famille), birth and funeral announcements, and the backs of old photos often give the exact dates.
4. When a date is missing
Write what you know, "around 1920" or "before 1945", followed by a question mark. A flagged estimate is better than an empty box, it can be corrected later. For French ancestors, old civil registration records are digitized and free to browse on the website of the departmental archives (archives départementales) in most departments. Birth and marriage records there are open to the public after 75 years.
5. Pencil first
Fill in a first version in pencil, while the dates get confirmed. Then copy it out neatly on a second print. To print, choose "actual size" in the print dialog, not "fit", so the margins stay intact. The templates are A4. On US Letter paper, which is shorter, choose "fit" instead so nothing gets cut off at the bottom.
The same thing online, with photos and voices
A sheet of paper stops at the edge of the page and at whoever has it in front of them. Parenthèse is a free online family tree where each person carries their photos, recordings of their voice, videos and the stories told about them.
Brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts and cousins all have their place, over as many generations as you know. You send a link, the family views the tree without creating an account, and those with the contribution password fill in what is missing. For photos, the guide making a family tree with photos explains how to scan and organize them.
Your tree, online and shared
An account, a family name, and you invite your relatives with a link.
Start your treeFrequently asked questions
How many generations should a family tree have?
Three for a first tree or a school project, four if you know your great-grandparents, five in a fan chart to go back to your great-great-grandparents. Each generation doubles the number of boxes, so 2, 4, 8, then 16 people.
How do you make a family tree yourself?
Print a blank template, fill in your own box, then those of your parents and grandparents by asking the family. Family records give the exact dates, and online archives give the older records. In France, that means the livret de famille and the departmental archives.
Are the family tree templates free?
Yes. All five templates download without sign-up or email address, and you can print and share them as much as you like.
How do you print a family tree on A3?
Open the PDF, choose A3 in the print dialog and the "fit to page" option. The template scales up without losing sharpness, which gives more room to write, especially on the five-generation fan chart.