Different GEDCOM versions support different GEDCOM tags. Newer versions of GEDCOM do not just introduce new tags, but drop support for older tags as well.
The GEDCOM specification has a Introduction in front of Chapter 1. That introduction lists changes with respect to earlier versions. It even explicitly lists which tags were added or removed. Sadly, these statements are neither entirely correct nor complete.
This article documents all the discrepancies I've noted over the years, and presents an overview of GEDCOM tags that incorporates all these observations. I do not claim that this overview is entirely accurate, but it certainly addresses a lot of misinformation published by FamilySearch itself. Additions and corrections are very welcome.
The GEDCOM 5.0 draft specification was introduced in 1991. It was followed by GEDCOM 5.5 in 1995. In between several more draft were published, most notably GEDCOM 5.3.
For a long time, the GEDCOM 5.0 specification was not publicly available. Last year (2010), I asked FamilySearch about copies for older GEDCOM specifications, and after several delays and evasive replies, they admitted that they are unable to find their own standards…
The GEDCOM 5.0 column below was originally a provisional column, based on a reading of the GEDCOM 5.3 and GEDCOM 5.4 specifications, later slightly improved by a reading of the GEDCOM 4.0 specification. It is now based on the GEDCOM 5.0 draft specification of 1991 Sep 25, contributed early in 2016 by Peter Glassenbury.
| GEDCOM tag | brief description |
|---|---|
| _IIC | Individual Record Count |
| _FIC | FamilyRecord Count |
| _RUL | RULes used |
| ADFA | ADoption by FAther |
| ADMO | ADoption by MOther |
| DIVO | DIVOrce. |
| EOF | End Of File. |
| FAMI | FAMIly. |
| PARE | PAREnt record |
| SYST | SYSTem section |
Information on earlier GEDCOM specifications is hard to come by. The table to the right lists some of the tags that earlier versions of GEDCOM included, but this table is not complete.
Early in 2016, Brian C. Madsen, co-developer of Genealogical Information Manager (GIM), a shareware genealogy application for MS-DOS, made a scan of the GEDCOM 3.0 specification (1987) available as a PDF.
The appendix GEDCOM Tags Definitions - Department Use (all definitions) lists more tags than those defined within the GEDCOM 3.0 specifciation proper. As most of these occur in GEDCOM 4.0 as well, all these tags have been included in the table below.
Late in 2014, Gisbert Berwe, the author of Gen-Plus, made a scan of the GEDCOM 4.0 specification (1989) available as PDF. Mid 2015, the table was updated to include all GEDCOM 4.0 tags. GEDCOM 4.0 contains literally hundreds of tags dropped in later GEDCOM versions. GEDCOM 4.0 includes tags that are commands, all of which starts with a dollar sign, and even a tag that starts with digits instead of a letter.
The GEDCOM 5.0 specification contains a section listing changes, but does not specify which tags were removed or added.
It would a very large list, because GEDCOM 5.0 has considerably fewer lineage-linked tags than GEDCOM 4.0.
Tags not present in version 5.0 include tags that are listed as removed in the GEDCOM 5.4 specification, for example ARVL and AUDIO,
which are absent from the 4.0 and 5.0 specification, introduced in GEDCOM version 5.3, and removed again in version 5.4.
The GEDCOM 5.0 grammar includes CONT but still lacks CONC.
The GEDCOM 5.0 lineage-linked grammar uses DECI, while both earlier and later versions of GEDCOM use DESI.
The GEDCOM 5.0 Appendix A, the overview of tags includes DESR, that is an error, it should be DSCR, as in the specification itself.
GEDCOM 5.0 Appendix A lacks MARS and WAC, while these do occur in the specification itself.
The GEDCOM 5.3 specification does provide a list of Some changes in
Version 5.2 - 5.3 that were not in previous 5.x versions, but does not provide simple
enumerations of the tags that were added or removed like later GEDCOM versions
do.
The only explicitly mentioned change in this section is the addition of the
MSTAT tag. The MSTAT tag does not appear in later
versions of the GEDCOM specification.
GEDCOM 5.3 is remembered for the introduction of SCHEMA tags;
SCHEMA, DEFN, LABL and ISA.
This mechanism for declaring vendor-defined tags was dropped in GEDCOM 5.4,
but is present in many Family Tree Maker GEDCOM files.
The GEDCOM 5.3 tag overview in Appendix A presents an alphabetical lists of GEDCOM tags, but
is neither accurate nor complete. Appendix A lists the tag ISSUE,
while the actual tag documented in the rest of the GEDCOM 5.3 specification is ISSU.
The tags AUDIO, PHOTO and VIDEO are missing from the list.
The tags CPLR, XLTR and INFT
tags do occur in the GEDCOM 5.3 introduction and Appendix A, but they do not occur in the specification itself.
Thus, these three tags were actually dropped in GEDCOM 5.3.
The last two bullet points of the section Changes introduced or Modified in Version 5.4 are:
- The following tags were eliminated:
ARVL, BROT, BUYR, CEME, CNTC, CPLR, DEFM, DPRT, EDTR, FIDE, FILM, GODP, HDOH, HEIR, HFAT, HMOT, INFT, INDX, INTV, ISA, ISSU, ITEM, LABL, LCCN, LGTE, MBR, NAMS, NAMR, OFFI, ORIG, OWNR, PERI, PORT, PWIF, PUBR, RECO, SELR, SEQU, SERS, SIBL, SIGN, SIST, SITE, TXPY, XLTR, WFAT, WITN, WMOT, AUDIO, IMAGE, PHOTO, SCHEMA, VIDEO- The following tags were added:
BLOB, CTRY, CREM, EOBJ, FCOM, GIVN, NPFX, NSFX, OBJE, PEDI, RELA, RESI, RESN, SUBN, SURN, STAT, END
Notice that neither of these two lists of tags is in alphabetical order.
The MSTAT tag introduced in GEDCOM 5.3 does not appear in the GEDCOM
5.4 specification, yet is not listed as one of the tags that has been removed.
The GEDCOM 5.4 specifications lists the non-existing MSTA tag as removed
instead.
The GEDCOM 5.4 specification supports multimedia through the BLOB tag. This
tag allows multimedia objects to be encoded inside the GEDCOM. For compatibility
with earlier GEDCOM versions, the BLOBs appear after the TRLR tag. The
end of a BLOB object is indicated by the EOBJ tag, while actual
end of the GEDCOM file is indicated by the END tag.
The GEDCOM 5.4 draft lists the following tags as removed from GEDCOM: ARVL, AUDIO, BROT, BUYR, CEME, CNTC, CPLR, DEFM,
DPRT, EDTR, FIDE, FILM, GODP, HDOH, HEIR, HFAT, HMOT, IMAGE, INFT, INDX, INTV,
ISA, ISSU, ITEM, LABL, LCCN, LGTE, MBR, NAMR, NAMS, OFFI, ORIG, OWNR, PERI, PHOTO,
PORT, PWIF, PUBR, RECO, SCHEMA, SELR, SEQU, SERS, SIBL, SIGN, SIST, SITE, TXPY,
VIDEO, WFAT, WITN, WMOT and XLTR.
The GEDCOM 5.4 specification states that it ended support for DEFM, but
it actually ended support for DEFN. There never was a DEFM tag.
The GEDCOM 5.4 specification lists the IMAGE tag as removed in
version 5.4, but there is no IMAGE tag in GEDCOM 5.3.
Present in GEDCOM 5.3, but not in 5.4, yet like MSTAT not included in the list of removed tags are CLAS, PHUS, REFS, and SOUND.
The list of tags removed in 5.4 lists LGTE as removed,
while it should list LEGA as removed.
The GEDCOM 5.3 specification is the last GEDCOM form that the LEGA tag
actually occurs in. The GEDCOM 5.3 specification uses LEGA
in the GEDCOM form, yet lists LGTE in the Appendix.
Both GEDCOM 5.4 document and GEDCOM 5.5 list LEGA in their
Appendix, without listing either LEGA or LGTE in the GEDCOM form.
The GEDCOM 5.4 introduction list ORDL as new in GEDCOM 5.4,
and lists the tag in the Appendix, but ORDL does not appear in the GEDCOM form.
Although the CPLR, XLTR and INFT
tags do occur in the GEDCOM 5.3 specification, they only occur in the
introduction and the Appendix, not in the specification itself. Thus, these
three tags were actually dropped in GEDCOM 5.3 already.
The GEDCOM 5.4 draft introduced the tags BLOB, CREM, CTRY, FCOM, GIVN, NPFX, OBJE, PEDI, RELA, RESI, RESN, SUBN, SURN and STAT. These remained in GEDCOM 5.5.
The GEDCOM 5.5 specification is the official successor to the GEDCOM 5.0 specification. The GEDCOM 5.3 and 5.4 specifications were drafts only. The GEDCOM 5.5 introduction lists changes between the various versions.
The section Modification in Version 5.5 as a result of the 5.4 (draft) review list a number of bullet points that summarise the changes. The text of the last bullet point is
- The following tags were added:
ADR1, ADR2, CITY, NICK, POST, SPFX
This list of added tags is not complete. As mentioned in another bullet
point, GEDCOM 5.5 also introduced the RIN tag.
The last two bullet points of the section Changes introduced or Modified in Draft Version 5.4 are:
- The following tags are no longer used in the Lineage-Linked Form:
ARVL, BROT, BUYR, CEME, CNTC, CPLR, DEFM, DPRT, EDTR, FIDE, FILM, GODP, HDOH, HEIR, HFAT, HMOT, INFT, INDX, INTV, ISA, ISSU, ITEM, LABL, LCCN, LGTE, MBR, NAMS, NAMR, OFFI, ORIG, OWNR, PERI, PORT, PWIF, PUBR, RECO, SELR, SEQU, SERS, SIBL, SIGN, SIST, SITE, TXPY, XLTR, WFAT, WITN, WMOT, AUDIO, IMAGE, PHOTO, SCHEMA, VIDEO- The following tags were added:
BLOB, CTRY, CREM, FCOM, GIVN, NPFX, NSFX, OBJE, PEDI, RELA, RESI, RESN, SUBN, SURN, STAT
Notice that neither of these two lists of tags is in alphabetical order.
Note that those two lists should be, but are not identical to those in the
GEDCOM 5.4 specification itself. The GEDCOM 5.5 specification does not mention the END
or EOBJ tags introduced in GEDCOM 5.4. Both seem to have been
silently withdrawn after FamilySearch realised that both tags are superfluous.
The section Changes introduced in Draft Version 5.3 does not provide
a list of new or removed tag. Other bullet points do mention that the MSTA tag
and the SCHEMA tags were introduced in 5.3 and removed again in
5.4, and that use of the CPLR, XLTR and INFT
tags in source substructures was discontinued.
Those statements are not entirely correct; GEDCOM 5.3 did not introduce the
MSTA tag, but the MSTAT tag.
The GEDCOM 5.5 document does not correct, but repeats misinformation from
GEDCOM 5.4 document. Although the CPLR, XLTR and INFT
tags do occur in the GEDCOM 5.3 document, they only occur in the
introduction and the Appendix, not in the specification itself. Thus, these
three tags were actually dropped in GEDCOM 5.3 already.
The GEDCOM 5.4 draft dropped support for the SCHEMA stuff introduced in GEDCOM 5.3, and several other tags. The statements provided about this in the GEDCOM 5.5 document are not accurate.
The GEDCOM 5.4 draft introduced BLOB, CREM, CTRY, FCOM, GIVN, NPFX, OBJE, PEDI, RELA, RESI, RESN, SUBN, SURN and STAT. These remained in GEDCOM 5.5.
GEDCOM 5.5 additionally added the tags ADR1, ADR2, CITY, NICK, POST and SPFX as result of the GEDCOM 5.4 draft review.
The list of tags introduced in 5.5 is not complete. The GEDCOM 5.5
specification additionally introduced RIN. The inclusion of this new tag is
mentioned in one of the introduction's bullet points, yet the tag is missing from the list of
new tags.
GEDCOM 5.5.1 removed the tag BLOB and added EMAIL, FAX, FACT, FONE, ROMN, WWW, MAP, LATI and LONG.
GEDCOM 5.5.1 is the de facto GEDCOM standard. Most genealogy applications, even those that claim to support GEDCOM version 5.5, use some or all of these tags.
The section Modifications in Version 5.5.1 ends with the following two points:
The following tags were added:
electronic mailing address FAX FAX address FACT A fact or characteristic. FONE Phonetic variation of a text. ROMN Romanised variation of a text. WWW Web home page address. MAP Pertaining to maps. LATI value of a latitudinal coordinate pertaining to the place of an event LONG value of a longitudinal coordinate pertaining to the place of an event. The following tag was removed:
BLOB
Notice that the list of tags added in 5.5.1 is not in alphabetical order.
GEDCOM 5.5.2 (also known as GEDCOM 5.6) was never officially released.
It became public early in 2011,
more than a decade after its creation. It is historically interesting because it
introduced the GEDXML format.
The article GEDCOM 5.6 examined the changes introduced in
GEDCOM 5.5.2 and concluded that although GEDCOM readers should be updated to
support GEDCOM 5.5.2, the recommended output default remains GEDCOM 5.5.1
(that wss before the publication of the GEDCOM 5.5.1 Annotated Edition,
and the GEDCOM 5.5.5 standard).
The section Modifications in Version 5.6 ends with the following two points:
The following tags were added:
CLNDR Calendar type Electronic mailing address FAX FAX address FACT A fact or characteristic. FONE Phonetic variation of a text. MAP Pertaining to maps. LATI value of a latitudinal coordinate pertaining to the place of an event LONG value of a longitudinal coordinate pertaining to the place of an event. ROMN Romanised variation of a text. URL Web page address. WAC LDS Temple ordinance event. The following tag was removed:
BLOB decision not to allow imbedded multimedia objects. LEGA not used in any valid substructures.
Notice that most of the tags that the GEDCOM 5.5.2 specification lists as added in version 5.6 were actually added in version 5.5.1.
The GEDCOM 5.5.2 specification additionally added ORDL,
a tag first mentioned in the GEDCOM 5.4 specification.
GEDCOM 5.5.2 contains a small table that highlights the differences
between GEDCOM version 5.5, 5.5.1 and 5.5.2.
The only truly new tags are CLNDR and
WAC; URL is not really a new tag, but a new name for the WWW tag, which was introduced in GEDOCM 5.5.1.
The BLOB and LEGA tags were dropped in GEDCOM 5.5.1 already.
The EMAIL, FACT, FAX, FONE,
LATI, LONG, MAP and ROMN tags
were all introduced in GEDCOM 5.5.1.
| 3.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.3 | 5.4 | 5.5 | 5.5.1 | 5.5.2 | 5.5.5 | GEDCOM tag | brief description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | $ADD | Add. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | $DELETE | Delete. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | $EOD | End of Data. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | $QUERY | Query |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | $UPDATE | Update. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | 19D | Duplicate Override. |
| Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | + | Synonym for CONT. |
| N | Y | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | ABBR | Abbreviation. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ACTI | Action Code. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ACTN | Actual Name |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ADDI | Additional. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | ADDR | Postal address. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ADMI | Admistrator |
| N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | ADOP | Adoption. |
| N | N | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | ADR1 | Address line 1. |
| N | N | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | ADR2 | Address line 2. |
| N | N | N | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | ADR3 | Address line 3. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | AENT | A Entry |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | AGE | Age at time of event. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | AGEF | Age Female |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | AGEM | Age Male |
| N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | AGNC | Government agency. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | ALIA | alias link to another record. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ALPH | Alpha Code |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ALSO | Also From |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ANCE | Ancestor |
| N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | ANCI | Ancestral interest. |
| N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | ANUL | Annulment. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | AREF | Also Reference |
| N | N | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | ARVL | Arrival. |
| Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ASSI | Assistent. |
| N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | ASSO | Associates. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ATLA | Atlas |
| N | N | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | AUDIO | Audio. |
| N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | AUTH | Author. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | BAPM | Baptism. |
| N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | BARM | Bar Mitzvah (Jewish boy). |
| N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | BASM | Bas Mitzvah (Jewish girl). |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | BATC | Batch |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | BEN | B Entries Flag |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | BENT | B Entry |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | BIRT | Birth. |
| N | N | N | N | Y | Y | N | N | N | BLOB | Binary Large OBject. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | BOOK | Book |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | BRID | Bride |
| N | N | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | BROT | Brother. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | BURI | Burial. |
| N | N | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | BUYR | Buyer. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | BYTE | Byte |
| N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | CALN | Call number within repository. |
| N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | CAST | Caste |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | CAUS | Cause. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | CDAT | Completion Date |
| N | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | CEME | Cemetery. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | CENS | Census. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | CHAN | Change. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | CHAR | Character set or encoding. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | CHEC | Checksum. |
| Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | CHEK | Name of the examiner. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | CHIL | Child. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | CHR | Christening. |
| N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | CHRA | Adult christening. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | CIFF | Child in Family Family Record File Number |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | CITA | Citation |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | CITY | City. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | CIVI | Civil Condition |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | CIVIL | Civil Data |
| N | N | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | CLAS | Classification. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | CLRK | Clerck (recorder). |
| N | N | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | CNTC | Contact person. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | CNTR | Contributor |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | CO | Country |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | CODE | Code |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | CODI | Codicil |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | COFN | Research Coordinator Individual Record File Number |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | COLO | Color |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | COMM | Comment |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | COMP | Computer Identification |
| N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | CONC | Concatenate lines. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | COND | Condition |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | CONF | Confirmation. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | CONT | Continue on next line. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | COON | Research Coordination Flag |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | COOR | Coordinator |
| N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | COPR | Copyright statement. |
| N | Y | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | CORP | Corporation. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | CORR | Correction |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | COST | Cost |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | COUN | Count |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | COUP | Couple |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | COUR | Court |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | COVE | Coverage |
| N | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | CPLR | Compiler (person, not program). |
| Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | CREA | Creation. |
| N | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | CREM | Cremation. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | CRIM | Criminal |
| Y | Y | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | CTRY | Country. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | DATA | Data. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | DATE | Date. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | DAU | Daughter |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | DCHR | Disk Characteristics |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | DEAT | Death. |
| N | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | DECI | DEsCendants interest. |
| N | Y | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | DESI | Descendant Interest Level. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | DEST | Destination system. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | DIR | Direction |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | DISC | Disc |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | DISK | Disk identification |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | DIV | Divorce. |
| N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | DIVF | Divorce filed. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | DOCS | Document Source Code |
| N | N | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | DPRT | Departure. |
| N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | DSCR | Physical description. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | DUP | Duplicate. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | DWEL | Dwelling. |
| N | N | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | EDTR | Editor (person). |
| N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | EDUC | Education. |
| N | N | N | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | email address. | |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | EMIG | Emigration. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | EMPL | Employment |
| Y | Y | N | N | Y | N | N | N | N | END | END of file. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | END | End |
| N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | ENGA | Engagement. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ENTR | Entry. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ENUM | Enumeration District. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ENUR | Enumerator. |
| N | Y | N | N | Y | N | N | N | N | EOBJ | End of OBJect. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | EOF | End of File. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | EVAL | Evaluation. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | EVEN | Event. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | EXCE | Exception |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | EXCO | Excommunication. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | EXEC | Executor. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | EXPL | Explanation. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | EXTD | Extended Relatives |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | EXTR | Extractor. |
| N | N | N | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | FACT | Fact. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | FAM | "Family". |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | FAMC | Child within "family". |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | FAMO | Family Organisation. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | FAMP | Family Parent |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | FAMR | Family Representative. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | FAMS | Spouse within "family". |
| N | N | N | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | FAX | fax (phone) number. |
| N | Y | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | FCOM | First communion. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | FEMA | Female. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | FGR | Family Group Record |
| N | N | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | FIDE | Fidelity (of a record). |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | FILE | Filename. |
| N | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | FILM | Film number. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | FLAG | Flag |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | FOFN | Family Organisation File Number |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | FOLI | Folio |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | FONE | Phonetic spelling. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | FORE | Forename |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | FORG | Family Organisation |
| N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | FORM | Format. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | FOST | Foster |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | FRAM | Frame |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | FRFN | Family Record File Number |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | FROM | From |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | FSUB | Form Subdivision |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | FUNC | Function |
| N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | GEDC | GEDCOM details. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | GENE | Genealogy |
| Y | Y | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | GIVN | Given name. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | GNRL | General. |
| N | N | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | GODP | Godparent. |
| N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | GRAD | Graduation. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | GROO | Groom. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | GUAR | Guardian |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | HAML | Hamlet. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | HAND | Handicap. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | HDOF | Head of Family. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | HDOH | Head of household. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | HEAD | GEDCOM header. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | HEAL | Health |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | HEIR | Heir. |
| N | N | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | HFAT | Husband's father. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | HIST | History (story). |
| N | Y | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | HMOT | Husband's mother. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | HUSB | Husband in "family". |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | IBRZ | Individual Browse |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ID | Identification. |
| N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | IDNO | Identity number. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ILLE | Illegitimate. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ILLU | Illustrated |
| N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | IMAGE | Image |
| Y | Y | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | IMMI | Immigration. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | INDE | Index |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | INDI | Individual record. |
| N | N | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | INDX | Indexed. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | INFA | Infant |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | INFO | Information |
| N | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | INFT | Informant. |
| N | N | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | INTV | Interviewer. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | IRFN | Individual Record File Number |
| N | N | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | ISSU | Issue (periodical). |
| N | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | ITEM | Item. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | LANG | Language. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LAST | Last Update. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | LATI | Latitude. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LDAT | Log-in Date |
| N | N | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | LCCN | Library of Congress Call Number. |
| N | N | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | LEGA | Legatee (LGTE). |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LEN | Length. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LINE | Line |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LINK | Linkage. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LIVE | Living Indicator. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LOC | Locality Key |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LOCA | Locality. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LOCC | Locality Call |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LOCD | Locality Direct |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LOCG | Locality General |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LOCH | Locality High |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LOCI | Locality Information |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LOCL | Locality Low |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LOCM | Locality Middle |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LOCN | Locality County |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LOCO | Locality Coutry |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LOCQ | Locality Diref |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LOCR | Locality Reference |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LOCC | Locality See |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LOCU | Locality Use |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LOCS | Locality Scope |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | LONG | Longitude. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LSF | Locality Subject |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | LVG | Living |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | MAID | Maiden |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | MALE | Male |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | MAP | Map coordinates. |
| N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | MARB | Marriage Bann (announcement). |
| N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | MARC | Marriage Contract. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | MARD | Married. |
| N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | MARL | Marriage License. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | MARR | Marriage. |
| N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | MARS | Marriage settlement. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | MARY | Married in Year. |
| N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | MEDI | Media. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | MESS | Message |
| N | N | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | MBR | Member. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | MICR | Microform Number. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | MILI | Military |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | MINR | Minor. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | MISC | Miscellaneous |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | MONT | Month |
| N | Y | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | MSTAT | Marriage Status. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | MTD | Month to Date. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | NAME | Name. |
| N | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | NAMR | Religous name. |
| N | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | NAMS | Name sake (godparent). |
| N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | NATI | Nationality. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | NATU | Naturalisation. |
| N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | NCHI | Number of children. |
| N | N | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | NICK | Nickname. |
| N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | NMR | Number of "marriages". |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | NOTE | Note. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | NOTI | Notification. |
| N | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | NPFX | Name prefix. |
| N | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | NSFX | Name suffix. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | NUMB | Number |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | NUMP | Number of Pages |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | NXTB | Next Buffer |
| N | Y | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | OBJE | Object. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | OCCU | Occupation. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | OFFI | Officiator. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | OLD | Old |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | OPER | Operator |
| Y | Y | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | ORDI | Ordinance. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | ORDN | Ordination. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ORG | Organisation |
| N | N | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | ORIG | Origination. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ORPH | Orphan |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | OTHE | Other |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | OUT | Out of Sequence |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | OVER | Override |
| N | N | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | OWNR | Owner of property. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PACK | Packet Number |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | PAGE | Page number. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PARE | Parent. |
| Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PARI | Parish. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PART | Part. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PASL | Passenger List |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PATC | Patronymic Flag. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PATR | Patron. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PBRZ | Parent Browse |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PED | Pedigree. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PEDC | Pedigree Chart. |
| N | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | PEDI | Pedigree. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PENS | Pension |
| N | N | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | PERI | Period in time. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PERS | Personal |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | PHON | Phone number. |
| N | N | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | PHOTO | Photograph. |
| N | N | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | PHUS | Previous husband. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PID | Personal Identification |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PIFF | Parent in Family Family Record File Number |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | PLAC | Place. |
| N | Y | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | PORT | Port. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | POST | Postal code. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | POVE | Poverty |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PREF | Prefix. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PREV | Previous. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PRIN | Principal. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PRIO | Priority. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PRNT | Printout Call Number |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | PROB | Probate. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | PROP | Property (land). |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PROT | Prototype |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PROV | Provided |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PROX | Proxy. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PRTR | Printer Identfication |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PRVB | Previous Buffer |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PSUB | Patron Subject |
| N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | PUBL | Publication. |
| N | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | PUBR | Publisher. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PVMG | Previous Marriage |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PVRL | Parish and Vital Recordds List |
| N | N | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | PWIF | Previous wife. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | QAUL | Qualified. |
| N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | QUAY | Quality of data. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | RACE | Race. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | RANG | Range |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | REAL | Real Estate |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | REBA | Rebaptism |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | RECD | Received |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | RECO | Recorder. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | RECR | Record |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | REFN | Reference number. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | REGD | Registration District. |
| N | N | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | REFS | Referenced source. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | REGI | Region. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | REJE | Rejection |
| Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | REL | Relationship |
| N | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | RELA | Relationship. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | RELI | Religion. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | REMA | Remarks |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | REPO | Repository. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | REQD | Required |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | EQU | Request. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | RES | Restriction |
| Y | Y | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | RESI | Residence. |
| N | Y | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | RESN | Access restriction. |
| N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | RETI | Retirement. |
| N | N | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | RIN | Record Identification Number. |
| N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | ROLE | Role. |
| N | N | N | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | ROMN | Romanisation. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | SCHO | School in Year |
| N | N | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | SELR | Seller. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | SEQU | Sequence. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | SERI | Serial Number |
| N | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | SERS | Series (volume within a series). |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | SEX | Gender. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | SHEE | Sheet Number. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | SHIP | Ship |
| Y | Y | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | SIBL | Sibling. |
| N | N | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | SIGN | Signature. |
| N | N | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | SIST | Sister. |
| N | N | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | SITE | Site (specific building). |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | SON | Son |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | SORT | Sort |
| N | N | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | SOUND | Sound bytes. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | SOUR | Source. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | SPEI | Specific |
| N | N | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | SPFX | Surname prefix. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | SREF | See Reference |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | STAC | Statistics |
| N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | SSN | Social Security Number. |
| Y | N | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | STAE | State. |
| Y | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | STAT | Object Status. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | STDN | Standard Name |
| N | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | STIL | Stillborn |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | SUB | Subordinate |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | SUBJ | Subject |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | SUBM | Submitter (creator of GEDCOM file). |
| Y | Y | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | SURN | Surname. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | SURO | Surname Organisation |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | SYMB | Symbol |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | SYST | System |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | TAPE | Tape |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | TASK | Task |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | TEXT | Text. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | TIME | Time. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | TIMP | Time Period |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | TITL | Title. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | TMPL | Template |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | TOWC | Town/Township |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | TOWN | Town |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | TRAK | Tracking System |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | TRAN | Transmission. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | TRAS | Transcription |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | TRLR | Trailer. |
| N | N | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | TXPY | Taxpayer. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | TWP | Township |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | TYPE | Type. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | UNIF | Uniform Title |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | UPDA | Update. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | VALU | Value. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | VERI | Verify. |
| N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | VERS | Version number. |
| N | Y | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | VIDEO | Video. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | VITA | Vitals. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | VOID | Void |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | VOLU | Volume. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | WARD | Ward. |
| N | N | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | WFAT | Wife's father. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | WIDO | Widow. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | WIFE | Wife. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | WILL | Will. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | WITN | Witness. |
| N | Y | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | WMOT | Wife's mother. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | Y | N | Y | WWW | World wide web address (URL). |
| N | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | XLTR | Translator. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | YEAR | Year. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | YOUN | Youngest's Child Individual Record Pointer. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | YTD | Year to Date. |
| GEDCOM 5.3 SCHEMA tags | ||||||||||
| N | Y | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | SCHEMA | Schema. |
| N | Y | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | DEFN | Definition. |
| N | Y | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | LABL | Label. |
| N | Y | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | ISA | is-a: inherits characteristics. |
| GEDCOM 5.5.2 tags | ||||||||||
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | Y | N | CLNDR | CaLenDaR. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | Y | N | URL | URL. |
| LDS tags | ||||||||||
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ABY | Abeyance |
| N | Y | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | ANCE | Ancestors. |
| N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | AFN | Ancestral File Number. |
| Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | AREA | LDS Area. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | ASSD | Assigned. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | BAPL | LDS baptims. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | BIC | Born In Convenant. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | BLES | Blessing. |
| Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | BUC | Born Uncder Convenant. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | BLSL | Blessing LDS |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | CANC | Cancellation of sealing. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | CLEA | Cleared for proxy ordinances. |
| Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | CONE | Confidential code. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | CONL | LDS confirmation. |
| Y | Y | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | DESC | Descendant. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | ENDL | LDS Endownment. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | N | FAMF | Family File. |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | FHC | Family History Centre. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | FONL | File Only. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | GSC | Genealogical Service Centre. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | HEIL | Heir LDS |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | HEPR | Heir or Proxy |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | INFL | Infant LDS |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | INST | Instance of. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | NULL | Nullify. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | Y | N | ORDL | LDS Ordination. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | POLY | Polygamous (multiple sealings). |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | PRES | Presumed Cancellation |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | RARS | Receiving and Routing System |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | RATI | Ratification and Reconfirmation |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | RESE | Reseal. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | REST | Restoration. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | RFN | Record File Number (within a file). |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | SBID | Submission Identification |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | SEAR | Sealing Restriction. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | SELF | Self |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | SERV | Service |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | SIS | SIS Flag: restricted information. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | SLGC | Sealing of Child. |
| Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | SLGP | Sealing Parent. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | SLGS | Sealing of Spouse. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | SPEC | Special Attention. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | SPEP | Special Processing. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | SPLI | Split Flag. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | SPUR | Spurious Records |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | STAL | Stake LDS |
| N | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | STAT | Search Status. |
| Y | Y | Y | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | SUBN | Submission. |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | TEMP | LDS Temple code. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | TOR | Temple Originated Record |
| N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | UDER | UDE record |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | VOIL | Void Living |
| Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | Y | N | WAC | Washing And Clothing. |
| Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | WARL | Ward LDS |
GEDCOM 5.3 introduced the MSTAT tag,
yet newer specifications erroneously state it introduced the MSTA tag.
GEDCOM 5.3 also introduced the ISSU tag,
yet the Appendix lists it as the ISSUE tag instead. GEDCOM 5.5.1 introduced the EMAIL tag,
but some products use EMAI instead.
The GEDCOM specification takes precedence over implementations.
The specification that actually introduced the tag takes precedence over mentions in other specifications.
The actual specification takes precedence over the introduction and the Appendix.
The actual tag names are MSTAT, ISSU and
EMAIL; MSTA, ISSUE and EMAI aren't GEDCOM tags,
but misspellings of these three GEDCOM tags.
A GEDCOM reader should recognise GEDCOM tags and produce errors for anything else. For these three misspellings, the GEDCOM reader should produce a non-fatal error to let the user know the input is erroneous, and then continue parsing the GEDCOM file as if the correct tag was used.
The original text and table were created from personal notes, which reference the GEDCOM specifications mentioned.
The relatively recent documents, GEDCOM 5.5 and GEDCOM 5.5.1 are easy to find, older ones are hard to come by.
Several genealogy software authors contributed corrections to the original table.
Please report any additions and corrections you may have.
David A. Knight, author of Gedcom.NET and the GedView application for iOS, spotted that all the check marks and crosses in the FACT row were switched around.
Louis Kessler, author of Behold, reported corrections for ADR3, EMAIL, INDX, MSTAT, NAMR, RIN and WAC. Noted a few tags that were missing, out of order or misspelled.
Added a brief paragraph about the GEDCOM 5.3 SCHEMA tags.
FamilySearch has removed the GEDCOM 5.5 and 5.5.1 specifications from their site. These and other specifications can now be found on the FamilySearch GEDCOM Specifications page.
Added GEDCOM 4.0 tags.
Reviewed and updated the formerly provisional GEDCOM 5.0 tags column.
Added GEDCOM 3.0 column.
Removed FATH, MOTH, and SPOU rows: these are roles, not records. A thank you to Jeff Bonevich for pointing this out.
Finally added the GEDCOM 5.5.5 column.
Copyright © Tamura Jones. All Rights reserved.