Historically, the family, as a small social group, was formed and existed much earlier than many other social institutions. The family turned out to be the most stable institution and has existed for many centuries. Over time, the social forms of family organization, its structure, size and number of members, the role of the head of the family have changed. The article examines the traditional, patriarchal form of the family typical for Armenia up to the middle of the last century. As a rule, these were large families, in which representatives of several generations lived under the same roof and led a joint household, and the number of members in Armenian family sometimes reached 10–15 people.In the recent period, the so-called “nuclear family” has become dominant for the Armenian family, which consists only from representatives of two generations: parents and children. Currently, there is a decrease in the number of children in the Armenian family. In general, a historical transformation from a multigenerational, large Armenian family to a simple, “nuclear” model is taking place in nowadays Armenian society. By the way, according to several sociological surveys (including international project EVS 17), done by author in Armenia, the value of family is still very high in Armenian society even among the young generation. In this regard, we can hope that with the improvement of socio-economic conditions and the strengthening of state support for young families, the institution of family will certainly show its historically inherent ability to survive and develop.