Genealogy by the Numbers
In a world where genealogy is increasing in popularity, we thought you'd be interested in a breakdown of genealogy by the numbers! Genealogy by the Numbers You have two parents, four grandparents, and eight great-grandparents. If you count just the direct line ancestors, by the time you go back ten generations, you have 1,024 ancestors. Assuming that a generation is about 25 years, ten generations means going back 250 years to 1761. Then, if you figure that each family had an average of two children, coming forward in time you have 6,227 descendants…for each ancestor. That makes – too many people for my software program. The good news is that it is estimated each of us has only about 10% of that huge number of grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins because quite a few of them married each other (more than a few in some families). But there could still be more than 7,000,000 individuals in just the ten most recent generations of your family tree. We’re going to need a few more gigs …
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