How to Make a Family Relationship Chart: Layout Rules & a Free Template
“What is my cousin’s child to me?” “I need to sort out who is related to whom before a family meeting.” “I want to explain our relatives to my kids.” Family relationships are surprisingly hard to explain out loud. This guide shows how to make an easy family relationship chart: not a formal genealogy record, just a clear picture of the relatives you actually deal with. One page before a reunion or holiday makes conversations much smoother.
Family relationship chart vs. genealogy tree
- Genealogy / family tree: a record of ancestry that goes back many generations, often built from documents.
- Family relationship chart: a working diagram of living relatives across two to four generations, drawn in whatever way is easy to read.
You can make the second kind yourself in about 30 minutes. If you need a legal document, such as for an estate, ask a professional; a self-made chart is for organizing the conversation, not for official procedures.
Family terms that are easy to mix up
Quick reference
Uncle / aunt: a parent’s brother or sister (or their spouse). Cousin: the child of your uncle or aunt. Second cousin: the child of your parent’s cousin. Niece / nephew: the child of your sibling. Great-uncle / great-aunt: your grandparent’s sibling. In-laws: your spouse’s relatives, and your siblings’ spouses. “Cousin once removed”: a cousin’s child, or your parent’s cousin.
On the chart, use the words your family actually uses. “Dad’s brother” is clearer than a formal term.
Three layout rules that make a family chart readable
- Put each generation on one row. Grandparents on the top row, parents on the second, you and your cousins on the third. This is the most important rule.
- Couples get a horizontal line; parents and children a vertical line. Using one line style per relationship type makes the chart readable at a glance.
- Give each side its own color. For example blue for your father’s side, green for your mother’s, orange for in-laws. New readers can then follow the family lines.
Before and after: if you add people in the order you think of them, generations end up at different heights and lines cross at angles. Aligning each generation on a row and coloring the two sides removes most of the crossings.
Make it in 30 minutes
- Place yourself and your partner and children in the bottom row. Open the family template or a blank canvas and start from your own generation.
- Add your parents above, then your grandparents above them. Put aunts and uncles beside your parents and cousins at the end of your row. Growing outward from yourself is easier than building from the top down.
- Label the lines. Use “married”, “parent”, and if needed “adopted”, “remarried” or “separated”. In each person’s note, add things like where they live, or a birthday.
- Save an image and share it. Export a PNG and send it to the family group chat. Corrections from relatives will make it accurate.
Common mistakes
- Drawing in-laws with the same line as blood relatives. Use a different color or label them “in-law” so nobody misreads the family structure.
- Not marking people who have passed away. For memorials or estate talks, add “(late)” to the name or note.
- Sharing personal details publicly. A chart with real names and dates of relatives should be kept private. Charts made in Relationship Chart Maker are saved in your browser unless you choose to share them.
FAQ
Can I make a family tree for free?
Yes. You can make a family relationship chart with up to 6 people for free, with no sign-up. Larger families need Premium.
How many people should a family chart have?
Six to ten is easy to read. For big families, split by side, for example one chart for each parent’s side.
Start from the family template. It’s free and needs no sign-up.
Make a family relationship chart