How we grade
The standard
Every parent-and-child link is weighed on its evidence, the way a professional genealogist would weigh it. Two families are Probably Cousins until the link is Proven.
What we ask of every link
- What kind of record supports it? A baptism or birth record that names the parents is the strongest. A census, a will or a death certificate that names them is strong. An index, or another family tree, is weak.
- Does the record name this parent? A record counts only when its own words tie the child to this parent.
- Are the sources independent? One record cited three times counts once. Without a record that names the parents, we need two independent records before a link is Probably.
- Do the dates make sense? A mother of 61, or a child born after a parent’s death, makes a link impossible as recorded.
- Do the sources disagree? A disagreement about the parents, unresolved, makes a link Conflicted.
The grades
At least 99% likely, on a record we have read ourselves.
90–99%. Strong records cited in your tree, not yet read by us.
60–90%. Some evidence; more is needed.
Under 60%, or impossible as recorded.
The sources disagree about the parents, unresolved.
No record we could read in the file speaks to the link. Not a mark against it.
Cited, seen, certified
Records cited in your tree can take a link as far as Probably. Proven needs a record we have read ourselves, which is the next part of Probably Cousins. Certified means an official copy from the office that holds the original.
The three measures
Each ancestor counts for their share of you: a parent is half, a grandparent a quarter, an ancestor ten generations back about a thousandth. Depth is how far back the tree reaches. Completeness adds up, generation by generation, the share of ancestors found, so a tree can be “as complete as 6.8 full generations.” Verified does the same for links graded Probably or better. A weak link near you weighs far more than one in 1650, and a bigger tree is never marked down for its size.
The weights behind each grade are starting values, set by judgement. We will test them against lines already proven to lineage societies and publish the results.