Head of the is a term commonly used by family members to describe an au- thority position within their lineage. This paper describes family headship as reported by a repre- sentative sample of adult men and women. It describes the prevalence and social meaning of the position and its distribution by gender, age and kinship position. The position of head of the family is dominated by male incumbents. Attribution of headship is not marked by full consensus and is affected by transitions in the family life course. Data are from a stratified random sample of 458 persons aged 40 and older in Hamilton, Ontario and from a derived sample of their adult children.