Let's face it though. As your family tree gains deeper roots and the branches stretch to numerous cousins, there is a need to incoporate some system that will keep them all straight. As I searched the genealogy web for articles and help on numbering systems, I didn't find very many. I guess it is a topic that many don't want to tackle. There is no easy way to put down in words a numbering system, and there is no one numbering system that is the accepted practice by the entire genealogical community.
Controversy rages about which one is best.
Nevertheless, it is important to be able to understand numbering systems when we read published genealogies. A numbering system used by a published genealogy and the one you use for your work in progress may be two different things. That is because as you work on your family tree you will be making new discoveries, and not all systems allow for additional branches without an entire rewrite of the numbers. So, for what it is worth, here is what I am looking for in a numbering system that will fit my work in progress. I want one that will start with me, as I am still discovering ancestors.