Calling All Genea-Musings Fans —
It’s Saturday Night again —
Time for Some More Genealogy Fun!!
Your mission, should you choose to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible music), is to:
1) Explore Your Genealogy Management Program (GMP)
Whether you use a desktop genealogy program or an online family tree platform, find out how to locate statistics about your database. We’re talking about the number of people, places, sources, and other details stored in your file. (Hint: the Help button is your friend!)
My RootsMagic Numbers
I use RootsMagic to store my family tree. But let’s be honest—this database holds far more than just my ancestors. It includes information on at least five distinct CRAWFORD lines, plus a variety of FAN club (Friends, Associates, and Neighbors) members.
Here’s how I dig into the data:
- Tools Menu → Count Trees: This reveals how many separate trees are in my file. Not only does RootsMagic count them, but it also lets me print a report. Mine is 13 pages long—so yes, I have quite a few people who aren’t connected to my main line!
- Home Tab → Properties: A quick overview of the database.
- Enhanced Properties: Now we’re talking serious stats!
Snapshot from Enhanced Properties
People
- Total: 27,029
- Male: 14,134
- Female: 12,687
- Unknown: 208
Names
- Total Names: 31,061
- Alternate Names: 4,031
Families
- Total Families: 8,871
- With 1 Parent: 903
- With No Children: 3,472
Fact Types
- Total: 123 (58 user-defined, 31 unused)
- Needing Sentence Templates: 4
Events
- Total: 91,645
- With No Sources: 27,149
- Event Witnesses: 4,814
Associations
- Total: 54
Places
- Total: 16,299
- Not Geocoded: 3,773
Sources
- Total: 6,570
- Citations: 30,803
- Citation Links: 104,475
Media
- Total Media Items: 15,714
- Media Links: 17,127
And that’s just the beginning…
Statistics List Report (Generated August 16, 2025)
RootsMagic also lets me print a Statistics List via the Publish menu. Here’s a highlight of what it includes:
Individual Statistics
- Individuals: 27,029
- With Age at Marriage: 5,785
- Avg. Marriage Age: 24.74 (Male: 26.61, Female: 22.88)
- With Age at Death: 14,081
- Avg. Death Age: 63.51
Marriage Stats
- Married Individuals: 15,732
- Average Marriages per Person: 1.07
- Average Children per Family: 2.12
- Max Children in a Family: 20
A Note About the “Root” Person
Interestingly, I’m not the root person in my file. That’s likely because I didn’t start with RootsMagic. My data was originally entered into The Master Genealogist, and before that, Personal Ancestral File (PAF). Since James Crawford (m. Martha Knight) appears first, I suspect he was the earliest person I entered into PAF when I began this genealogy journey.
So—how big is your tree? What’s hiding in your stats?
Dig in, explore, and share your numbers!
I’ve got 179934 persons in my genealogy file, 5732 of them are likely ancestors. 56,6% male, 43,4% female (found). My largest generation is generation 13 with 866 ancestors. My parents are nr. 2 in longest marriage, despite my father being 30 and my mother 26 when they married. I usually do my statistics on January 1.
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