Double Your Ancestors, Double Your Fun

We have HOW many ancestors?

Mary Ward and John Culbert: just TWO of our thousands of ancestors

You're aware that you have 2 parents (obviously) and 4 grandparents. But have you ever considered how many more ancestors you have?

Starting with yourself, double the number as you go back with each generation.

You = 1 person
Parents = 2 people
Grandparents = 4
Great-grandparents = 8
2xGreat-grandparents = 16
3xGreat-grandparents = 32
4xGreat-grandparents = 64
5xGreat-grandparents = 128
6xGreat-grandparents = 256
7xGreat-grandparents = 512
8xGreat-grandparents = 1,024
9xGreat-grandparents = 2,048 
10xGreat-grandparents = 4,096

By the time you get to your 38xGreat-grandparents, you have over a MILLION ancestors.

The mind boggles. At least MINE does.

I'll leave it up to you to do the math if you want to go back further with this chart since I can only go so far without losing count (and losing my mind.)

It's been said that our ancestor John Culbert wasn't good at math, and that his wife, Mary Ward ran the household finances. So if math skills are inherited, all I can say is "Thanks for nothin', John. Of all these ancestors I have, I got your math skills."

I know the names of my 4 grandparents and my 8 Great-grandparents. I know all 16 of my 2xGreat-grandparents but there's one whose last name I haven't been able to confirm. However, once I get to my 3xGreat-grandparents, I can name only 22 of the 33. And beyond that, the names and numbers start to dwindle. How many of your ancestors can you name?