Vi, Without seeing the actual tree, it would be hard to be sure how the numbers are functioning. But here is my understanding of how a pedigree chart works. Usually in creating a "pedigree chart," a male would begin with himself as number 1, his mother on a line below and to his right as number 2, his father on a line above and to his right as number 3. The direct male line of father/grandfather/g grandfather/ etc continues up and to the right with odd numbers, the direct female line below and to the right with even numbers. So if you've actually got a family tree with numbers that large, you have lots and lots of people in the tree. The purpose of the numbers is that you normally can get only 5 or so generations on one sheet of paper. So these numbers are unique identifiers of people even when, as happened in the old days of patronymics in Norway, names often switched every generation. Also, you could have numerous sheets of pedigrees and identify a person by his or her number on a particular page number. Not so necessary to do that now with our data in genealogy programs. Most of them use their own identification numbers, some having to do with the order in which you entered the people. The fact that John Doe ended in an odd number and Mary Smith in an even number made me guess that your tree is an example of a pedigree chart. Other listers may be able to give you more detailed explanations, and it would help to have a sizable segment of your tree. Doris On Thu, Apr 30, 2015 at 8:16 AM, VIOLET MARTIN via <norway@rootsweb.com> wrote: > A few years ago I received a family tree from Norway. > There were numbers behind the family names; > Example: John Doe ( 139439) > Mary Smith ( 38164) > > There was an explanation for the numbers. > Somewhere I lost it. Could someone > explain to me what the purpose of the numbers > were and how to use them. > Thank You > > Sincerely, Vi Martin > Norwaylist Archiveshttp:// > archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index?list=norway > > RESUBSCRIBE UNSUB > http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/NOR/NORWAY.html > > guidelines http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~norway/guidelines.htm > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NORWAY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >