Gender count

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The gender count is a continuous, mostly numerical count of descendants of a gender .

history

With the increasing occupation and dissemination of family histories, genealogies , family trees and family tables, initially mainly of aristocratic families, since the 18th century, the editors developed unique gender counting systems for numerous sexes. Each descendant of a gender received a unique number, which clearly addresses the person concerned, e.g. B. in descendant lists.

The allocation of gender numbers was usually carried out in continuous counting completely independent of the respective position of the person in the gender sequence. It sometimes follows the treatment of individual people in the often multi-volume family histories, which have appeared in increasing numbers in print since the 19th century, and often documents the state of genealogical knowledge at the time these works were created. In other cases, the descendants (sons and daughters) were counted on the basis of family trees or family tables, with the numbering often taking place on a generational basis.

Many families of the (formerly) aristocratic birth class maintain their gender census to this day and update it as soon as new family members are born. In this way, systems of gender counts were created for individual genders, which often record several hundred, sometimes well over 1000, name bearers. People who have married into one gender are usually not taken into account. In exceptional cases, daughters of one gender were not included in the count, or only if they remained unmarried.

The methodology of gender counting seems to have been well known in the circles of historians and genealogists of the 19th century. Introductions or instructions were not (so far) to be found.

Meaning and limits

Regardless of any details of the respective lineage, gender-related systems of unique person numbers were created, which greatly facilitates the targeted addressing of individual family members and their treatment and identification in genealogical and historical representations. This is particularly helpful if there is a traditional male given name in the aristocratic family and therefore many relatives with the same name.

Systems of gender counting sometimes come up against their limits due to new findings on family genealogy, through which further descendants have to be added for older times. Existing gender censuses were therefore occasionally discarded and newly developed.

Families with a known gender count