# Record for most generations living in a family **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 25, 2007, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/record-for-most-generations-living-in-a-family/409256 "2007-06-25T00:31:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/record-for-most-generations-living-in-a-family/409256/21 "2007-06-27T17:03:25Z")
[QUOTE=FatBaldGuy] If you accept the Old Testament as evidence, when Adam died at the ripe old age of 903 there were 9 generations of living descendants. The 9th generation was Methusaleh, who lived to be even older, and was Noah’s grandfather. And please don’t jump all over me for citing the Bible in GQ. I know a lot of people don’t accept it, but it is a possible data point. [/QUOTE] Just out of curiosity, do YOU believe this? Do you believe that anyone in the history of the planet lived to be 903 years old? ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/record-for-most-generations-living-in-a-family/409256/22 "2007-06-27T17:45:58Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] Just out of curiosity, do YOU believe this? Do you believe that anyone in the history of the planet lived to be 903 years old? [/QUOTE] I don’t want this to turn into Great Debates, but to answer your question, Yes, with reservations. I consider myself to be a Christian, and generally believe the Bible to be true, but I am willing to consider one or more of the following possibilities. [ul] [li]In those days “years” may have been calculated in a different manner than we use today.[/li][li]Moses, or some subsequent scribe got the numbers wrong, or they were somehow messed up in translation.[/li][li]In the years before the flood humans had longer lifespans because many/most of the diseases we have today were not yet around, coupled with healthy lifestyle and diet. After the flood, it seems that reported lifespans decreased dramatically, for whatever reason.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/record-for-most-generations-living-in-a-family/409256/23 "2007-06-27T17:49:56Z")
Okay, I would just like to step in and say that “evidence” from scripture is not acceptable for my purposes and ask that any religious discussions take place in a more suitable forum. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2007, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/record-for-most-generations-living-in-a-family/409256/24 "2007-06-28T03:27:41Z")
Chronos writes: \> Into which category would you put modern America? We routinely have both \> people living into their 90s, and mothers in their early teens. Compared with the U.S. as of, say, 200 years ago, we have a much higher percentage of people living into their 90’s and a much lower percentage of mothers in their early teens. ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2007, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/record-for-most-generations-living-in-a-family/409256/25 "2007-06-28T04:39:15Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] Just out of curiosity, do YOU believe this? Do you believe that anyone in the history of the planet lived to be 903 years old? [/QUOTE] You know, if you count age in lunar months rather than years, those start to make a bit more sense, at least to me. ---
**Author:** ![JENSTONE0428](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@JENSTONE0428](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JENSTONE0428)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/record-for-most-generations-living-in-a-family/409256/26 "2010-10-24T05:11:59Z")
Does anyone know what the record for the most generations living in a family is? I am in 4th position of 6 (generation) in my family… I have 2 daughters that have both had children. My oldest daughter had a little girl so that made my family 6 generations of all female then my second daughter had a little boy 3 months later and made my family 5 female 1 male. My great grandmother will be 101 this Feb. 2011 and seems to be in great shape. I promise if you had to guess her age you prob. wouldn’t guess anymore than 75-80! I cant find alot of info on 6 living generations… are we a rare find? Where do I research this or who should I contact? Can anyone help me? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/record-for-most-generations-living-in-a-family/409256/27 "2010-10-24T06:46:00Z")
It appears that the record is seven generations alive at the same time: [http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local\_news/stories/2008/09/04/0\_SIX\_GENERATIONS.ART\_ART\_09-04-08\_A1\_9SB7LFL.html](http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/09/04/0_SIX_GENERATIONS.ART_ART_09-04-08_A1_9SB7LFL.html) ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/record-for-most-generations-living-in-a-family/409256/28 "2010-10-24T08:21:18Z")
With the doubling that occurs as you go back into the grandparents it becomes increasingly likely that someone is alive that you dont know about. Seven generations back there are 128 people responsible for your existence. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@Captain\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/record-for-most-generations-living-in-a-family/409256/29 "2010-10-24T09:23:20Z")
Before my paternal grandmother died, she was a great great grandmother. If my mother in law can live another 15 years (and she is a healthy old Chinese woman) she could also be a double great also. On the show “Raising Hope”, the character of Cloris Leachman (who is 84 years old) is a great great grandmother to the baby on the show named Hope. The grandmother on the show is the beautiful Martha Plimpton who is 40 years old, who had the son who is the father of the baby when she was 15. I wonder in socieities where getting married very young is the norm, or back in ancient times when people had children very young with those children having children and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/record-for-most-generations-living-in-a-family/409256/30 "2010-10-24T18:07:04Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > "The celebration of the life of Mrs. Barbara E. Liles Galloway was held Friday, February 25, 2005 at 2:00 p.m. at Rose Neath Chapel in Logansport. She was a 100. > She is survived by 30 grandchildren, 72 great grandchildren, 54 great great grandchildren and 20 great great-great grandchildren. " > > That makes 176 people alive concurrently through the generations. We attended a wedding of a coworker wedding yesterday. A second marriage for both. Both in their 70s. Both Mormons. During the ceremony the Elder said the two shared 54 grandchildren and about 30 great-grandchildren. First time we were ever inside a LDS church, let alone a LDS wedding. It was amazing by the number of their friends with multi-multi-generations at the ceremony. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/record-for-most-generations-living-in-a-family/409256/31 "2010-10-24T18:26:51Z")
**Wendell** , thanks for the most helpful contemporary reply to my three-year-old question. I suspect that historically there may be examples of seven or eight generations, but this is the best we’ve found so far. [I wasn’t expecting to count zombie generations!] ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/record-for-most-generations-living-in-a-family/409256/32 "2010-10-24T20:44:52Z")
Quoth **groman** , some time back: > [@](#): > > You know, if you count age in lunar months rather than years, those start to make a bit more sense, at least to me. The ages start to look reasonable, but then you end up with folks begetting at too young an age. Maybe there’s been an eight-year-old father at some point in history, but it can’t be very common. ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/record-for-most-generations-living-in-a-family/409256/33 "2010-10-24T21:04:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Quoth **groman** , some time back:The ages start to look reasonable, but then you end up with folks begetting at too young an age. Maybe there’s been an eight-year-old father at some point in history, but it can’t be very common. I guess any sort of reasonable non-year unit would have to be non-linear. Something like the decibel-year, 20\*log(biblical age) = solar age. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/record-for-most-generations-living-in-a-family/409256/34 "2010-10-24T21:13:03Z")
I’m past the editing threshold, but something occurred to me – it’s fairly easy to imagine a culture that only starts counting (or resets) age after some sort of initiation or coming-of-age ritual. Combine with ages in months instead of years, and it becomes a somewhat palatable explanation. Although easily falsifiable if we have evidence to the contrary or it would be somehow inconsistent with other data. ---
**Author:** ![ellesa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4491bb/32.png) [@ellesa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ellesa)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/record-for-most-generations-living-in-a-family/409256/35 "2010-12-31T01:36:50Z")
this is crazy! I was just serching for the average gererations still alive in one family. My Grandmother has not been well and I am worried about her.And I have grandchildren, I thought at one time my grandmother would be still alive to see my grandaughter have her first baby, that could happen in approx 15 years my grandaughter will l be 17 hopefully not till she 30, but if it was to happen it would be nice for my grandmother to see it, she would be 97 hey it seemed possible. But latley she is not well, we are five generations living all women. Great Great Grandmother 83 Great Grandmother 63 Grandmother45 Daughter 24 Grandaughter 2 yr old Lilliah and one one the way !!! > [@commasense](#): > > I was just at the second birthday party for my god-daughter’s son. This boy and his cousins have two living great-grandparents. > > It got me to thinking about the greatest possible “generation gap” (i.e. the largest number of generations separating two related living individuals) that might exist within a family, and what the actual record might be. > > If we assume that a 13-year-old can start a new generation (we’re not discussing the propriety or wisdom of this, you understand, just the physical possibilities) and the limit of human life as about 120 or so, then it would seem theoretically possible for a baby to have a living great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparent, a gap of nine generations: > > 0 child > 13 parent > 26 grandparent > 39 great grandparent > 52 great great grandparent > 65 great great great grandparent > 78 great great great great grandparent > 91 great great great great great grandparent > 104 great great great great great great grandparent > 117 great great great great great great great grandparent > > Of course, this requires two rather contradictory circumstances: many generations having children extremely early in life, and an elder living to extreme old age. Before the last few centuries, the former was probably quite common, but the latter was quite rare. Today, the opposite is the case. > > I did some googling, but couldn’t think of any really good key words to use to track down what I’m looking for, and didn’t find any answers to my question. But I figured my fellow dopers would have some ideas. > > So does anyone know what the record is for largest documented number of generations between two living individuals? ---
**Author:** ![gmaof24now](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@gmaof24now](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gmaof24now)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/record-for-most-generations-living-in-a-family/409256/36 "2011-01-22T17:26:13Z")
i come from a family of 6 generations my great grandmother is still alive at the age of 107 she lives in flint mi and i and my grand children live in greeneville tn and both of them make up our six generations thank you > [@commasense](#): > > i was just at the second birthday party for my god-daughter’s son. This boy and his cousins have two living great-grandparents. > > It got me to thinking about the greatest possible “generation gap” (i.e. The largest number of generations separating two related living individuals) that might exist within a family, and what the actual record might be. > > If we assume that a 13-year-old can start a new generation (we’re not discussing the propriety or wisdom of this, you understand, just the physical possibilities) and the limit of human life as about 120 or so, then it would seem theoretically possible for a baby to have a living great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparent, a gap of nine generations: > > 0 child > 13 parent > 26 grandparent > 39 great grandparent > 52 great great grandparent > 65 great great great grandparent > 78 great great great great grandparent > 91 great great great great great grandparent > 104 great great great great great great grandparent > 117 great great great great great great great grandparent > > of course, this requires two rather contradictory circumstances: Many generations having children extremely early in life, and an elder living to extreme old age. Before the last few centuries, the former was probably quite common, but the latter was quite rare. Today, the opposite is the case. > > I did some googling, but couldn’t think of any really good key words to use to track down what i’m looking for, and didn’t find any answers to my question. But i figured my fellow dopers would have some ideas. > > So does anyone know what the record is for largest documented number of generations between two living individuals? ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@Dave\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Again)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/record-for-most-generations-living-in-a-family/409256/37 "2011-03-12T04:38:33Z")
Yes this is absurd but technically possible. The world’s youngest mother was a child from Peru named Lina Medina. She had a condition called precocious puberty and gave birth to a child at the age of 5 years and 8 months. If she had given birth to a daughter (she actually had a son) and her daughter continued the family tradition of giving birth to a daughter at the same age, by the grand old age of 118 years and 8 months, Lina Medina would the grand matriarch of 20 generations! ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@Dave\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Again)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/record-for-most-generations-living-in-a-family/409256/38 "2011-03-12T04:55:48Z")
The longest family tree in the world today is that of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (551 BC-479 BC) He was a descendant of King Tang (1675 BC-1646 BC). The tree spans more than 80 generations, and includes more than 2 million members. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/record-for-most-generations-living-in-a-family/409256/39 "2011-03-12T05:05:47Z")
> [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > And please don’t jump all over me for citing the Bible in GQ. I know a lot of people don’t accept it, but it is a possible data point. No, it is not. Please don’t argue with me and just accept that you’re wrong.This is GQ and not GD afterall. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/record-for-most-generations-living-in-a-family/409256/40 "2011-03-12T12:38:20Z")
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