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Guide

The Kennedy family genogram, with sourced years

This Kennedy family genogram draws Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy and their nine children in birth order, with the family of John F. and Jacqueline Kennedy carried into the next generation. Every year on it comes from a named public source, and it records structure only, with no judgement of relationships and no health information.

Last checked on 5 November 20267 minute read

The chart covers Joseph and Rose Kennedy and their children

The chart begins with Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., born in 1888, and Rose Fitzgerald, born in 1890, who married in 1914. Their nine children are drawn in the order of their births, from Joseph Jr. in 1915 to Edward in 1932. One branch, that of John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier, goes down to the third generation, and the table below lists the spouses and children of the other eight.

The chart is limited to structure on purpose. A genogram of a living or recently living family drawn from public records cannot say how close two people were or what illnesses they had, so it leaves both out. It shows who was born to whom, who married whom and when, and the years of each life.

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Two generations and one branch on the chart

Each square is a man and each circle a woman. An X marks a person who has died, with the years of birth and death above the symbol. The marriage of Joseph and Rose carries its year, 1914, and the marriage of John and Jacqueline carries 1953. Short names such as Jack and Kick appear under the names where the family and the library use them, so that two people called John or Joseph can be told apart.

The symbols carry no age. A genogram often writes the age inside the symbol, but an age worked out from two years alone can be one too high, so this chart gives only the sourced years above each person.

A genogram of the Kennedy family. Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, married in 1914, at the top, their nine children in birth order below, John F. Kennedy married to Jacqueline Bouvier in 1953, and their children Caroline, John Jr. and Patrick in the third row.
The Kennedy family, drawn with the Genogram Builder editor from the sources listed at the foot of this page.Open the full-size diagram

Each of the nine children with spouse and children

The table works as a lookup for the people the chart does not draw. Married names follow the form the library uses.

ChildYearsSpouse and marriageChildren
Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.1915–1944Did not marryNone
John F. Kennedy1917–1963Jacqueline Bouvier, married 1953Caroline, John Jr. and Patrick
Rosemary Kennedy1918–2005Did not marryNone
Kathleen Kennedy Cavendish1920–1948William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, married 1944, died later in 1944None
Eunice Kennedy Shriver1921–2009Sargent Shriver, married 1953Five
Patricia Kennedy Lawford1924–2006Peter Lawford, married 1954, divorced 1966Four
Robert F. Kennedy1925–1968Ethel Skakel, married 1950Eleven
Jean Kennedy Smith1928–2020Stephen Smith, married 1956Four, two of them adopted
Edward M. Kennedy1932–2009Joan Bennett, married 1958, divorced 1982, and Victoria Reggie, married 1992Three with Joan Bennett
The nine children of Joseph and Rose Kennedy, from the library’s family pages and archives, with the Boston Globe for the later marriages of Edward Kennedy.

What the structure shows and what it leaves out

Even without relationship lines, the dates tell a story a reader can check. Four of the nine children died before their father did in 1969, namely Joseph Jr., Kathleen, John and Robert. Five lived into the twenty-first century, and Rose Kennedy outlived four of her children. The nine births span nearly seventeen years, from 1915 to 1932. The family grew to thirty grandchildren, counting Patrick, who lived two days, and the two daughters Jean and Stephen Smith adopted. Twenty-seven of them belong to the branches the chart does not draw.

The chart leaves out several facts on purpose. It does not draw the later marriage of Jacqueline Kennedy to Aristotle Onassis, the grandchildren outside John’s branch, or a daughter who died at birth in 1956. It gives no cause of death for anyone. A reader who needs those details can add them from the same sources, and a family historian drawing their own family would include them.

Every year on the chart has a named source

The years of birth and the marriage of Joseph and Rose come from the library’s page on Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. The other marriages come from the library’s wedding records and family pages. Jacqueline’s years and those of her children come from the library’s life of Jacqueline Kennedy, the National Archives biography of John F. Kennedy and Britannica. Where the sources disagree, the table says which date the page uses and why.

FactWhere the sources differWhat this page uses
Death of Kathleen KennedyTwo library records give 13 May and 14 May 19481948, the year both agree on
Divorce of Patricia and Peter LawfordThe library gives 1965, and TIME reported the decree in Gooding, Idaho, in February 19661966, the date of the court decree
Disagreements found while checking this page on 5 November 2026.

Draw a family history from sources in the same way

The method behind this chart suits any family drawn from records, including your own.

  1. Start with the oldest couple

    Draw the couple at the top and write the year of the marriage on the line between them.

  2. Add the children in birth order

    Hang each child from the couple’s line, oldest on the left, with the years of birth and death above the symbol.

  3. Keep a source for every year

    Note where each date comes from, so that a reader can check it and you can correct it later.

  4. Record where the sources disagree

    Write down both dates and the one you chose, rather than picking one without saying so.

The order used for the Kennedy chart, which suits any family history drawn from records.

Common questions

Why the Kennedy family genogram has no relationship lines

Public records show marriages, births and deaths. They do not show how close two people felt, and drawing a close or hostile line from biographies would present an opinion as a fact. A clinician draws those lines from what the family says.

Why only one branch reaches the third generation

With thirty grandchildren the chart would no longer fit a page at a readable size. John’s branch is drawn because it is the one most readers look for, and the table gives the others.

Drawing a famous family for a class

Name every source, mark where they disagree and keep facts apart from interpretation. The guide on how to write a genogram paper shows how to set the chart as a figure, and the genogram symbols guide explains each mark.

Sources and methodology

We make Genogram Builder. We used the references below for this guide. Last checked on 5 November 2026.

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