In a previous post we have discussed the Sosa system for
numbering ancestors.
Today we will review the system for numbering descendants.
This method was developed by the late Vicente de Cardenas y Vicent, “Chronicler King
of Arms" of the Kingdom of Spain.
His method is very convenient as it allows a unique identifier for each
descendant and at the same time indicates the family relationship.
The system gives
a number to each generation divided by a forward slash. The base person will be
1/ and his first born will be 2/1. The same way his brothers and sisters will
be 2/2, 2/2, 2/4 etc.
In the third
generation, the first grandson of the firstborn of the base person will be
listed with the number 3/11, and his brothers will be 3/12, 3/13 etc. The sons
of the second son will be numbered as 3/21, 3/22, etc. In summary, the 3 before
the slash documents the generation, the first number the descendant of the base
person and the second number the ordinal number of his sons or daughters.
The fourth
generation will follow the 4/ and we can continue as many generations as we
need from the base person.
