Legend and Advice
by John P. DuLong, Ph.D.

Genealogical Symbols Key

Symbol

German

English

When known place names usually proceed dates.

Dates are represented thus 24.XI 1754 for 24 November 1754.   Often only the year is known. 

Slashes separating elements of a date mean that there is a conflict in the sources.   For example, 22/25.VII 1637, means that the event took place between 22 and 25 July 1637. 

Slashes between years is also used to indicate when a person flourished or was known to hold a piece of land or title.  For instance, if you see 1182/1204 after a person's name, then this means they were observed in the sources as living in both of these years.  The evidence for this life span is often derived from them coming into tenure of a piece of land or a title. 

A dash between two dates, as in 1396-1415, would indicate more certainty about a person's life span. 

In the case of a date recorded as 1689-1724/1728, it means that the earlier date before the slash is firm, but the later date indicates when the tenure on the piece of land finally ended.

Dates like these examples, "11.III ^. or ^. X. 1753", include a raised dot.  This is used to indicate that part of a date is not known.  It is used to make sure the reader understand that it is missing and not a mistake.  In the first example, it means that the event took place on 11 March, but the year is unknown, not just missing.  In the second example, the event took place in October 1753, but the exact day is not known.

When the marriage contract date is shown in parentheses preceded by the symbol of  two linked circles, the date is a betrothal or a marriage contract.   This date is not to be equated with the date of the marriage ceremony.  The actual  date of the marriage might be days, months, or even years away.

When a date appears in parentheses after a symbol for birth or death it indicates that this is an approximation of the date.  The approximation is usually based on the person's probable age at the investiture of land or a title.  The word "um" is used to indicate around, like the use of the Latin circa.  It is used when there is even less certainty about an estimated date, for example, with assumed marriage dates. 

If two dates appear adjacent to one another and the second date is in parenthesis, as in 13. IV 1236 (8.IX 1257), then this probably means that the first date is more likely, but the second date is mentioned because some source suggests it.  The date in the parenthesis is possible, but less likely.

Each table displays a descending family tree for a particular family.   Generations are kept on separate levels usually with a line just above each generation.  For each individual there is a block of data including names, vital events, lands and titles, marriages, names of spouses, names of fathers-in-law, etc.

The genealogical symbol normally appears before the the place and date of an event.   However, when the symbol is shown after the date, this indicates that the concerned event occurred already by that date.

Married couples are separated in their data by a semicolon.

Additional marriages for a mate are shown in parenthesis. 

Connections between generations are show either by vertical lines or a rising point on the horizontal generation line beneath the parent.

A Roman numeral is assigned to each marriage of a person.  On the top of the line for the next generation level is shown that marriage Roman numeral for the children of the corresponding marriage listed under the line.  When the Roman numeral changes on a line, it means that the children under it and to the left descend from that marriage.

Dashed lines indicate that a relationship is uncertain.

Surnames are underlined to facilitate looking up families on other tables. 

For wives, their father is usually named.  The mother is only named if the wife's family does not have its own table.

The main family of interest on a table has its surname in all capital letters.

The main line of descent for a title in a family is easy to trace because the given names and surname well all be in capital letters.

Alternatives spellings or interpretations appear in parentheses, for example Epirus (Epeiros).

A bolded number with dashes, for example, -89-, is used to indicate that you should consult the table with that number to find a person's ancestors or descendants. 

Be prepared for some puzzling variations and exceptions to the use of these rules.

Abbreviations Key