How to Make a Genogram: Symbols, Steps & Free AI Maker

A genogram looks like a family tree, but it does a different job. A family tree records who is related to whom; a genogram maps how the family works — relationships, patterns, and history across generations. That's why they're standard tools in counseling, social work, nursing, and family therapy coursework.

This guide walks through how to make a genogram properly, then shows the fast path: describing the family in plain text and letting Infogiph's free AI genogram maker draw the structure for you.

Genogram vs Family Tree

• Family tree: ancestry and descent — names, birth/death dates, marriages.
• Genogram: all of that, plus emotional relationships (close, conflicted, estranged), household boundaries, and recurring patterns (health conditions, divorce, occupations) across usually three generations.

If you only need the structure — for a school project, a reunion poster, or genealogy notes — the same tool works; you'll simply skip the annotation layers.

The Standard Genogram Symbols

• Square = male, circle = female; the person the genogram centers on (the "index person") gets a doubled outline.
• Horizontal line between two people = partnership/marriage; slashes on that line = separation or divorce.
• Vertical lines descend to children, listed oldest → youngest, left → right.
• An X through a shape = deceased.
• Relationship lines (drawn separately from structure): three parallel lines = very close/fused, jagged line = conflict, dashed = distant, a broken line = cut-off.

Don't worry about memorizing these — you can annotate any generated diagram with them — but knowing the conventions helps you read genograms in textbooks and case studies.

Step 1: Decide Scope and Purpose

Three generations centered on one person is the standard: the index person + siblings, their parents + aunts/uncles, and grandparents. Decide up front what you're tracking — just structure? Emotional relationships? Health history? The purpose determines what you collect.

Step 2: Gather the Family Information

Collect, for each person: name, approximate birth year (and death year if applicable), partnerships and their status, and children in birth order. For annotated genograms, also note the relationship qualities and any patterns relevant to your purpose.

Interviews work best — a single conversation with an older relative often fills an entire generation.

Step 3: Draw the Skeleton, Generation by Generation

Start with the oldest generation at the top. Place couples side by side, connect them with a partnership line, and drop lines to their children on the row below. Keep each generation on its own horizontal level — this alignment is what makes a genogram readable.

This is the mechanical, error-prone part when done by hand: spacing families evenly, keeping sibling order, and re-flowing everything when you remember a forgotten aunt.

Step 4: The Fast Way — Generate the Structure from Text

With Infogiph's AI genogram maker, step 3 becomes a paragraph:

1. Write the family out in sentences like that (or paste your interview notes).
2. The AI parses people, partnerships, and parent-child links, and lays out the generations automatically.
3. Edit on the canvas: add birth years, mark deceased members, adjust spacing.

New family member later? Add a sentence and regenerate, or edit the diagram directly — no redrawing.

Step 5: Add Relationship and Pattern Annotations

Now layer on what makes it a genogram rather than a tree:

• Draw relationship lines between key pairs (conflict, closeness, cut-off).
• Color-code patterns you're tracking — e.g., a condition, occupation, or migration.
• Add a small legend so readers can decode your annotations.

In Infogiph, the canvas is a full editor, so lines, colors, and labels are freely drawable on top of the generated structure.

Step 6: Review and Export

Check generation alignment, birth order, and that every annotation appears in the legend. Then export — PNG for documents and assignments, SVG if you plan to print large. On Infogiph both are free, and the diagram stays private in your account.

Who Makes Genograms (and Why)

• Counseling, social work, and nursing students — genogram assignments are standard coursework, usually three generations with relationship annotations.
• Therapists and social workers — quick intake sketches of a client's family system.
• Medical contexts — family health history mapping.
• Genealogists and families — structure-first drafts before committing research to formal genealogy software.

FAQ

What's the easiest way to make a genogram for free? Describe the family in plain text and let Infogiph's AI genogram maker draw the structure — then annotate relationships on the canvas. Free plan includes PNG/SVG export.

How many generations should a genogram show? Three is the convention (grandparents, parents, index generation). More is possible but gets wide fast — split branches if needed.

Can I make a genogram in Word or PowerPoint? You can, with shapes — but aligning generations manually is slow and fragile. Generating the structure and editing it visually is much faster.

Is my family information private? In Infogiph, diagrams are saved to your account and never published; you choose what to export and share.

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Start with a paragraph about your family: build a genogram free with Infogiph.