An example of a family tree from left to right instead of down to up.

A family tree is a chart showing family relationships in a tree structure form. The more detailed family trees used in medicine, genealogy, and social work are known as genograms.

The family tree of descendants to King Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte

As normally showed, a family tree "grows" down from the top, from the oldest generations at the top to the newer generations at the bottom. A tree showing the descendants of an individual (illustration right) will more closely look like a tree in shape; one showing the ancestors of an individual (illustration below in "The Family Tree of Sigmund") will be wider at the top than the bottom. When looking at the closer to the bottom of the tree, it will show more recent generations, and when looking farther up, there will be older generations.the oldest family members go on the right maybe the left. view more...