Genogram Maker
Reference

Genogram Symbols

Genograms use squares for males, circles for females, lines for marriages and children, slashes for separation and divorce, and special line styles for emotional relationships. These are the standard McGoldrick–Gerson symbols, with what each one means.

Walter1938–2011Ruth85Daniel60Claire58Sam56Nora30Leo27Ivy18
Fig. 1 — Most of the symbols below, in one genogramOpen in Genogram Maker

People

  • Male
    A square is a male. Draw the oldest sibling on the left.
  • Female
    A circle is a female.
  • Nonbinary / unknown
    A diamond marks a person who is nonbinary, or whose gender is unknown (with a question mark).
  • Deceased
    An X through the symbol means the person has died. Write birth and death years under it.
  • Identified patient
    A double outline marks the identified patient: the client or person the genogram is about.
  • Health condition
    A half-filled symbol marks a health condition such as diabetes, depression or substance use. Name it in the key.

Couples

  • Marriage
    A solid line joining two partners, dropping down and across, is a marriage. Male partner on the left.
  • Living together
    A dashed partner line means the couple lives together without being married.
  • Separated
    One slash across the partner line means the couple separated.
  • Divorced
    Two slashes across the partner line mean divorce. Add the year next to them.

Children and pregnancies

  • Adopted
    A dashed line from the parents to a child means the child was adopted.
  • Foster
    A dotted line from the parents to a child means a foster placement.
  • Twins
    Twins hang from the same point on the sibling line, so their lines converge.
  • Identical twins
    A short horizontal bar between the converging lines marks identical twins.
  • Pregnancy
    A triangle is a pregnancy.
  • Miscarriage
    A small filled circle on a line hanging from the couple marks a miscarriage (spontaneous abortion).
  • Stillbirth
    A small square or circle with an X through it marks a stillbirth.
  • Induced abortion
    A small X on a line hanging from the couple marks an induced abortion.

Life events

  • Immigrated (year, from)
    There is no single standard immigration symbol. The clearest convention is to write the year and place next to the person, e.g. "1998 from Mexico", and say so in the key.

Emotional relationships

  • Close
    Two parallel lines between people show a close relationship.
  • Fused
    Three parallel lines show a fused or enmeshed relationship.
  • Distant
    A dotted line shows a distant relationship.
  • Conflict
    A zigzag line shows conflict.
  • Hostile
    A zigzag with a straight line shows a hostile relationship.
  • Close–hostile
    Close lines with a zigzag over them: close but also openly conflicted.
  • Fused–hostile
    Fused lines with a zigzag: enmeshed and conflicted at the same time.
  • Distant–hostile
    A dotted line with a zigzag: little contact, and hostile when there is.
  • Cutoff
    A line broken by two bars shows an emotional cutoff: no contact.
  • Focused on
    An arrow from one person to another: one is focused on, or preoccupied with, the other.
  • Neglect
    A dashed arrow: one person neglects the other.
  • Abuse
    A heavy dashed zigzag marks abuse. Use it only when it is documented.
  • Physical abuse
    A heavy zigzag with an arrow pointing at the person harmed.
  • Emotional abuse
    A dashed zigzag with an arrow pointing at the person harmed.
  • Sexual abuse
    A double zigzag with an arrow pointing at the person harmed.

Symbol guides

Rules that apply to every symbol

  • Each generation sits on its own row, oldest generation at the top.
  • Siblings go left to right from oldest to youngest.
  • In a couple, the male partner is usually drawn on the left.
  • Write age (or birth–death years) under each symbol, and the name or initials beside it.
  • Always include a key that explains every symbol and line style you used.

Genogram Maker draws all of these for you and builds the key from the symbols your genogram actually uses. Start a genogram.