What is a Genogram and How to Make One
You might have seen a family tree, depicting generations of lineage and relationships of a family. Conventional family trees might have names and relationships listed next to images or within shapes, however, these type of family trees can often be deprived of a lot of information. For example, you might see a family tree and realize that Jack and Elizabeth are siblings. But are Jack and Elizabeth twins, are the listed parents their biological parents or were they adopted? You can answer all these questions in the form of a Genogram.
What is a Genogram and what hereditary information can it provide?
A Special Visualization for Listing Relationships
A Genogram is a very precise family tree, which lists specific information using visual cues to list relationships of individuals in a family. A Genogram uses a square for male and a circle for female family members. Similarly, the way symbols are represented in a Genogram explains whether children are twins, adopted or are listed with their biological parents.
Determine Love and Hate in Relationships
Another very interesting thing about Genograms is that they might even list the type of relationship that individuals have, ranging from friendship to hate. The latter for instance, can help determine if two siblings were sworn enemies or had a family dispute, which led to the animosity. Genograms when studying the history of historical figures can be quite handy since they can not only help you determine the lineage of those individuals but also the type of relationships they enjoyed with their family members.
Determine Hereditary Diseases and Family Traits
Genograms can also be used to determine diseases within a family or other types of traits. Genograms can therefore be quite useful for understanding not just relationships but also other types of hereditary information in a family-based on health, skills, occupations that run in the family, etc.
A Simple Overview of a Genogram
You can find out more about the basics of a Genogram from the video given below.
Top List of Genogram Maker Software
There are several Genogram software that you can use for creating your own Genograms. Below is a list of a few software with family Genogram examples and templates to help you create Genograms.
1. Gramps [FREE]
Gramps is a free cross-platform software for making a Genogram. Gramps provides options for mentioning detailed information to record your family history including information tied to birth and death dates, places associated with a person, citations, photos, videos and more.
Gramps has versions available for Windows, Mac, Linux and BSD users. The Linux distributions which can support Gramps include; Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Fedora, Mageia, openSUSE, ArchLinux, Slackware and Gentoo Linux. Whereas, the BSD supported operating systems include; NetBSD, FreeBSD, OpenBSD and TrueOS.
Go to Download Gramps
2. Free Genogram Maker [FREE]
The Free Genogram Maker is a Windows-based software for making Genograms. Using this simple application you can list down your family members with relevant information to generate your very own Genogram. The software is particularly useful for making printable Genograms or ones you intend to save on your computer.
Go to Free Genogram Maker
3. Lucidchart [Paid]
Lucidchart is a visualization application which can be used via a web browser for creating diagrams. You can create a Genogram or Kinship diagram using Lucidchart. You can find out more about this web app from our review of Lucidchart or see the detailed instructions from the developer via the link given below.
Go to Lucidchart
4. Edraw [Paid]
Edraw is a cross-platform diagram maker which is compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux based operating systems. You can draw Genograms using the sample templates available at Edraw. To find out more about how Edraw works, see our review of Edraw.
Go to Edraw
Best Genogram Presentation Templates
Other than the software mentioned above, you can create a Genogram with a little effort using presentation software like PowerPoint, Keynote, Prezi and Google Slides. Below are some Genogram templates to help you create Genograms presentations.
1. Free Genealogy PowerPoint Template [Free]
The Free Genealogy PowerPoint template is a simple template for making a Genogram using SmartArt. There are three sample slides in the template which can help you create basic Genograms using sample Genograms.
Go to Download Free Genealogy PowerPoint Template
2. Family Tree PowerPoint Template [Paid]
This premium template by SlideModel can be used for creating a family tree or a Genogram. You can edit the sample slides to create a Genogram or family tree with pictures of family members. There are text placeholders to add relevant information about each family member, and you can also tweak the slides to suit a layout that best represents your desired content.
Go to Download Family Tree PowerPoint Template
3. Animated Family Tree Template (PowerPoint & Keynote) [Paid]
The Family Tree Template is an animated template by PresenterMedia which has versions available for PowerPoint and Keynote. This premium template comes with sample slides that offer editable, animated family trees. You can edit the sample family trees to create Genograms.
Go to Presenter Media – Animated Family Tree Template
4. Medical Genogram Template (PDF & Edraw) [Paid]
This template is available in PDF and Edraw format. You can create a medical Genogram by editing the sample template. For the Edraw version, you will require the Edraw software. The PDF version comes with the same example Genogram medical symbols which can be edited using a PDF editor like Adobe Acrobat PRO DC.
Go to Download Medical Genogram Template
5. Free Genogram Template (Word, PDF & Apple Pages) [Free]
If you’re looking to create a Genogram using a Word processor like Microsoft Word or Apple Pages, you can download this Free Genogram Template. The simple template comes with a sample Genogram that you can edit for making your own.
Got Free Genogram Template [link not working]
With the resources mentioned in this post, you can easily create a Genogram using software and presentation templates. This can help you avoid drawing a Genogram from scratch, which can be quite laborious and difficult to construct accurately using shapes or freehand drawing tools. If you know of an easier method for creating a Genogram, share your ideas with us by leaving a comment below.
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