Genogram Templates: Free Downloads + Symbol Key

A genogram looks like a family tree and does a different job. A family tree records who descended from whom; a genogram records what the relationships were actually like — who was close, who was cut off, who was in conflict, and which medical or behavioral patterns run through the family. It uses a standard symbol set, which means a genogram drawn by one person can be read by another. That standardisation is the whole point, and it is why a genogram is worth building properly rather than improvising. This page gives the full symbol key, a three-pass method for building one, and the cases where an ordinary tree is the better tool. To work out how two people are related before you plot them, use the cousin calculator.

What a genogram is for

Worth being clear about, because the two documents look similar on the page.

A family tree answers a factual question: who is descended from whom, and what are the dates.

A genogram answers a relational one: what were these connections actually like, and what repeats across generations.

It was developed for clinical use — in family therapy, medicine and social work — where the pattern of relationships matters as much as the lineage. That origin is why the symbol set is standardised: a genogram is meant to be handed to a colleague and read without explanation.

Which makes it useful outside clinical settings too, for anyone trying to understand a family rather than just chart it. Recurring estrangements, marriage patterns, inherited conditions and family roles all become visible when drawn.

Three generations is the standard depth. Enough to show a pattern repeating; few enough to stay legible. More than four and the page becomes unreadable — the trade-offs between chart formats are in family tree chart types.

The symbol key: people

The basic shapes, which are consistent across almost every genogram convention.

Square = male. Circle = female. These are the two standard shapes and they are used regardless of anything else on the chart.

A diamond is used where sex is unknown or unrecorded — commonly for a pregnancy, or an unidentified sibling.

Double outline (a square inside a square, or a circle inside a circle) marks the index person — the individual the genogram is centered on. Every genogram has one, and marking it is what tells a reader whose perspective they are looking at.

A cross through the shape, or a filled shape, indicates the person has died. Convention varies; pick one and note it in the legend.

Age or birth year goes inside the shape. Names go beneath it.

Order matters. Siblings are drawn left to right by birth order, oldest on the left. This is a real convention rather than a preference, and readers will assume it.

The symbol key: relationships

The lines connecting people, which carry most of the information.

Horizontal line between two people = a partnership.

• Solid line — married
• Dashed line — cohabiting or unmarried partnership
• One diagonal slash through the line — separated
• Two diagonal slashes — divorced
• Marriage date written above the line, separation or divorce date below

Children hang below the partnership line on short vertical drops, oldest on the left.

Twins are drawn on two lines converging to a single point on the sibling line. Identical twins have a horizontal bar joining them.

Adopted children are shown with a dashed vertical line rather than solid.

A pregnancy is a triangle; a miscarriage a small filled circle; a termination a cross. These conventions vary between sources more than the others, so a legend matters.

Remarriages are drawn as additional partnership lines from the same person, usually placed to the side, with children hanging from the correct partnership. Blended structures get complicated quickly — blended family tree template covers laying them out clearly.

The symbol key: emotional relationships

The layer that distinguishes a genogram from a family tree, and the reason to build one.

These are drawn between individuals, not between couples, and they cut across the structural lines. A genogram often has a structural layer in black and an emotional layer in color for exactly this reason.

They are subjective, and that is fine — a genogram records a perspective, and it is normal for two family members to draw different emotional layers over the same structure.

Date the genogram and note whose perspective it represents. A relationship map is a snapshot, and relationships change.

Do not try to draw every emotional line. A genogram with a line between every pair becomes noise. Mark the ones that carry meaning and leave the rest as plain structural connections.

Building one in three passes

Trying to do everything at once is why most attempts fail. Work in layers.

Pass one: structure. Draw the people and the descent lines only — squares, circles, partnership lines, children. No emotional lines, no shading. Get three generations onto the page and check the layout fits.

Pass two: facts. Add names, birth years, death markers, marriage and divorce dates, adoptions. Now it is a family tree with genogram symbols.

Pass three: relationships. Add the emotional lines and any shading for medical or behavioral patterns. This is the layer that turns it into a genogram.

Draw the first pass in pencil, or on scrap. Layout almost always needs redoing once you see how wide a generation is — a large sibling group in generation two pushes everything sideways.

Work on paper before software for a first attempt. Paper is faster for figuring out the shape, and the software options are compared in free genogram makers.

And add a legend. Every genogram needs one, because conventions vary and a chart nobody else can read has lost most of its value.

Marking medical and behavioral patterns

The other reason genograms exist, and the one with practical consequences.

Shade or pattern part of the shape to mark a trait — a filled lower half, diagonal hatching, or color.

Use a consistent fill per trait and list them in the legend. Two traits on one person means two fills on the same shape, which is why quarters and halves are used rather than filling the whole thing.

Common uses: heart conditions, diabetes, cancers, mental health conditions, addiction, or any pattern that repeats.

What this is good for: seeing that a condition appears in three generations on one side of a family, which is genuinely hard to notice from a list and obvious on a chart.

What it is not: a medical record or a risk assessment. A genogram can show that something recurs; it cannot tell you what that means for you. If a pattern emerges that concerns you, that is a conversation with a doctor, who can interpret family history properly.

Be careful with sensitive information. A genogram containing mental health details, addiction or paternity information about living relatives is a document to handle thoughtfully — and to think twice about sharing or posting.

Genogram or family tree?

Choosing correctly saves a lot of unnecessary work.

Use a family tree if you want to record lineage, dates and descent — a standard chart does that better and more readably. The printable options are in printable family tree.

Use a genogram if you want to understand relationship patterns, map a blended or complex family, record a medical family history, or prepare for family therapy.

Use both if you are doing serious family history. Many people keep a conventional tree as the record and a genogram as the interpretation.

Depth differs too. Family trees go as deep as the records allow; genograms rarely go beyond three or four generations, because the emotional layer stops being knowable and the page stops being readable.

And breadth differs. A genogram includes siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins as a matter of course, because patterns show up sideways — the layout for that is in extended family tree template.

Common mistakes

Skipping the legend. Conventions vary; an unlabelled genogram is guesswork for anyone else.

Trying to do all three layers at once. Structure first, always.

Drawing too many generations. Three is standard, four is a stretch, five is unreadable.

Drawing an emotional line between every pair. Mark what matters.

Ignoring birth order. Oldest on the left is a convention readers rely on.

Not marking the index person. Every genogram is drawn from someone's perspective and should say whose.

Not dating it. Relationships change; an undated relationship map is of limited use in five years.

Using color as the only distinction, which fails as soon as it is photocopied in black and white.

And recording sensitive details about living people without thinking about who will see the chart — worked examples of what a finished one looks like are in genogram examples.

FAQ

What is a genogram template?

A pre-drawn structure using standard genogram symbols — squares for men, circles for women, specific line styles for marriage, divorce and emotional closeness — that you fill in with your own family. The standard symbol set is what makes one readable by someone else.

What is the difference between a genogram and a family tree?

A family tree records descent — who came from whom, with dates. A genogram records the quality of relationships as well: closeness, conflict, estrangement, and medical or behavioral patterns that repeat across generations.

What do the symbols on a genogram mean?

Squares are male and circles female, with a double outline marking the index person. Solid horizontal lines are marriages, dashed lines cohabitation, one slash separation and two slashes divorce. Emotional relationships use double lines for closeness and jagged lines for conflict.

How many generations should a genogram show?

Three is standard — the index person, their parents and their grandparents. That is deep enough to reveal a repeating pattern and shallow enough to stay readable. Four is possible; five rarely works on one page.

How do you make a genogram?

In three passes: draw the structure first (people and descent lines), then add facts (names, dates, marriages), then add the emotional and medical layer. Doing all three at once is why most attempts have to be restarted.

Can a genogram show a medical family history?

Yes — shade or pattern part of each shape to mark a condition, with a legend explaining each fill. It is good for spotting that something recurs across generations, but it is not a risk assessment; interpreting that is a conversation with a doctor.

Structure first, relationships last

A genogram is a family tree with a second layer: the same descent structure, plus a standardised way of recording what those relationships were actually like. Build it in three passes — structure, then facts, then the emotional and medical layer — keep it to three generations, mark the index person, and always include a legend, because the conventions vary enough that an unlabelled chart is guesswork. If all you need is who descends from whom, a plain family tree is the better tool. And to establish how two relatives connect before you plot them, the cousin calculator will name the relationship in seconds.