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GEDCOM

FamilySearch GEDCOM, or simply GEDCOM (/ˈdʒɛdkɒm/ JED-kom, acronym of Genealogical Data Communication), is an open file format and the de facto standard specification for storing genealogical data. It was developed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the operators of FamilySearch, to aid in the research and sharing of…

[EN, English, English]

Standards, File structure & Versions

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Explore the main themes, entities and connections around GEDCOM. Start with the topic map, then use the sections below for research and deeper semantic analysis.

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Key facts & relationships

High-confidence facts extracted from structured source data. Use them as anchors for further research.

Developed by
LDS FHD
Initial release
1984; 42 years ago (1984)
Internet media type
application/vnd.familysearch.gedcom application/vnd.familysearch.gedcom+zip
Latest release
7.0.18 17 February 2026; 6 months ago (2026-02-17)
Open format?
yes
Standard
De facto

Topics to explore

A structured outline of related entities, concepts and subtopics. Open any item to build a new map centered on it.

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Overview

Data model

File structure

Versions

Limitations

GEDCOM X

Alternatives

Advanced semantic analysis

Deeper signals for content research, entity SEO and topical coverage. The plain-language headings explain what each technical view is useful for.

Map overview Semantic statistics

Number of nodes, edges, triples, density and central hubs. Use it to gauge the size and connectivity of the map.

GEDCOM

Nodes44
Edges43
Triples145
Avg. degree1.95
Density0.045455
Components1

How this topic connects Entity context

Quick relationship hints grouped by predicate. Useful for spotting recurring semantic connections around the current entity.

See the strongest relationship patterns around the current topic before diving into the raw triples.

GEDCOM

Top relations

related to File structure · 18
GEDCOM → Although, Every, FAM, For, Gedcheck, HEAD, INDI, LDS Church, NOTE, OBJE, PhpGedView, REPO, SOUR, SUBM, SUBN, The Windows GEDCOM Validator, TRLR, Within
related to Versions · 18
GEDCOM → An, ANSEL, Chinese, CJK, Despite, East Asian, FamilySearch, Its, Japanese, Korean, Lineage-linked GEDCOM, November, PAF, The, Unicode, Uniform, UTF-8, UTF-8 GEDCOM
related to Alternatives · 13
GEDCOM → Although, Commsoft, Event GEDCOM, Event-Oriented GEDCOM, Gramps, Gramps XML, However, InterGED, PhpGedView, Roots, Ultimate Family Tree, With Roots, XML-based
related to External links · 10
GEDCOM → April, Archived, GEDCOM StandardFamilySearch GEDCOM GuideGEDCOM, LDS Church's Adoption, More, November, Project, Retrieved, THE GEDCOM STANDARD Release, XML Standard
related to Ordering of events that do not have dates · 10
GEDCOM → But, FAM, FAMS, For, GEDCOM's INDI, In, In Aldfaer, The, The GEDCOM, XML GEDCOM
related to Internationalization · 9
GEDCOM → Finally, First, FONE, NAME, ROMN, Secondly, The GEDCOM, Unicode, UTF-8
related to Data model · 8
GEDCOM → AFAMrecord, Although, FAM, ID, INDI, The, TheFAMrecord, These
related to GEDCOM X · 8
GEDCOM → Apache, API, FamilySearch, In August, In February, It, RootsTech, Ryan Heaton
related to Support for multi-person events and sources · 8
GEDCOM → CENS, Gramps, In, Some, The GEDCOM, The Master Genealogist, This, When
related to Conflicting information · 6
GEDCOM → BIRT, For, January, The, The GEDCOM, This

Important terminology Word statistics

Frequent words and multi-word phrases across the lead, headings, infobox and body. Useful for terminology coverage.

Use these terms to understand the vocabulary surrounding the topic, not as a checklist for keyword stuffing.

Important terminology

standard file data familysearch records genealogical specification information events family genealogy format release software version support event example also used

Entity relationships Subject–Predicate–Object triples

Extracted RDF-like relationships with confidence and source. The table includes structured facts and lower-confidence contextual relations.
SubjectPredicateObjectConfidenceSrc
GEDCOMDeveloped byLDS FHD1.00infobox
GEDCOMFilename extension.mw-parser-output .monospaced{font-family:monospace,monospace} .ged1.00infobox
GEDCOMInitial release1984; 42 years ago (1984)1.00infobox
GEDCOMInternet media typeapplication/vnd.familysearch.gedcom application/vnd.familysearch.gedcom+zip1.00infobox
GEDCOMLatest release7.0.18 17 February 2026; 6 months ago (2026-02-17)1.00infobox
GEDCOMOpen format?yes1.00infobox
GEDCOMStandardDe facto1.00infobox
GEDCOMType of formatGenealogy data exchange1.00infobox
GEDCOMWebsitegedcom.io github.com/familysearch/GEDCOM1.00infobox
GEDCOMis adeliberate de facto common denominator0.90text
namesinstance ofThis file contains genealogical information about individuals0.80text
eventsinstance ofThis file contains genealogical information about individuals0.80text

Related concept clusters Concept neighborhoods

Clusters of nearby vocabulary surrounding the topic. Scan them for adjacent concepts and language you may have missed.

These clusters group vocabulary that occurs around closely connected concepts in the source material.

    Connections between topic areas Semantic bridges

    Bridge nodes connect otherwise separate parts of the map. Expand a row to inspect the topic groups on each side.

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