Cousins Explained

Cousins Explained

 

What Is a First Cousin, Twice Removed?

If someone walked up to you and said, "Howdy, I'm your third cousin, twice removed," would you have any idea what they meant? Most people have a good understanding of basic relationship words such as "mother," "father," "aunt," "uncle," "brother," and "sister." But what about the relationship terms that we don't use in everyday speech? Terms like "second cousin" and "first cousin, once removed"? We don't tend to speak about our relationships in such exact terms ("cousin" seems good enough when you are introducing one person to another), so most of us aren't familiar with what these words mean.

Relationship Terms

Sometimes, especially when working on your family history, it's handy to know how to describe your family relationships more exactly. The definitions below should help you out.

Cousin (a.k.a "first cousin")

Your first cousins are the people in your family who have two of the same grandparents as you. In other words, they are the children of your aunts and uncles.

Second Cousin

Your second cousins are the people in your family who have the same great-grandparents as you., but not the same grandparents.

Third, Fourth, and Fifth Cousins

Your third cousins have the same great great grandparents, fourth cousins have the same great-great-great-grandparents, and so on.

Removed

When the word "removed" is used to describe a relationship, it indicates that the two people are from different generations. You and your first cousins are in the same generation (two generations younger than your grandparents), so the word "removed" is not used to describe your relationship.

The words "once removed" mean that there is a difference of one generation. For example, your mother's first cousin is your first cousin, once removed. This is because your mother's first cousin is one generation younger than your grandparents and you are two generations younger than your grandparents. This one-generation difference equals "once removed."

Twice removed means that there is a two-generation difference. You are two generations younger than a first cousin of your grandmother, so you and your grandmother's first cousin are first cousins, twice removed.

Relationship Charts Simplify Everything

Now that you have an idea of what these different words mean, take a look at the chart below. It's called a relationship chart, and it can help you figure out how different people in your family are related. It's much simpler than it looks, just follow the instructions.

Instructions:

This chart attempts to explain the relationships that exist between cousins. It may be extended in either direction for as many generations as is necessary. The parents represent the common ancestors you have with your relative. Count across the top row until you reach your generation. Now count down this column until you reach your relative's generation.

parents	child	g-child	gg-child	ggg-child	gggg-child
child	brother/ sister	nephew/ niece	g-nephew/ g-niece	gg-nephew/ gg-niece	ggg-nephew/ ggg-niece
g-child	uncle/ aunt	first cousin	first cousin once removed	first cousin twice removed	first cousin thrice removed
gg-child	g-uncle/ g-aunt	first cousin once removed	second cousin	second cousin once removed	Second cousin twice removed
ggg-child	gg-uncle/ gg-aunt	first cousin twice removed	second cousin once removed	third cousin	third cousin once removed
gggg-child	ggg-uncle/ ggg-aunt	first cousin thrice removed	second cousin twice removed	third cousin once removed	fourth cousin

  This gives you your relationship to your relative. If you have only one common ancestor with your relative (perhaps this ancestor had multiple marriages), then the same chart applies but the relationships are half blood instead of full blood.  In general, the person in the first row is the ***** of the person in the first column. ***** stands for the appropriate table entry, eg. sister, uncle, second cousin, etc.

  Example: Suppose I want to find out my relationship to the son of my grandmother's brother. Then the common ancestors that we share are my great-grandparents, which are his grandparents. (I am assuming a full blood relationship). Therefore, reading from the chart we find that

parents	child	g-child	ME!
child	brother/ sister	nephew/ niece	g-nephew/ g-niece
RELATIVE!	uncle/ aunt	first cousin	first cousin once removed

I am the first cousin once removed of this relative!

Another Chart for Figuring Relationships

On the top row, find the relationship of one person to the common ancestor and follow the column straight down. Find the other person's relationship to the common ancestor on the left-hand column and follow that row straight across. The relationship is where the projected row and column meet.

Common Ancestor	Child	Grandchild	Great Grandchild	Great Great Grandchild	Great Great Great Grandchild	GGGG Grandchild	GGGGG Grandchild	GGGGGG Grandchild
Child	Sibling	Niece or Nephew	Grand Niece or Nephew	Great Grand Niece or Nephew	Great Great Grand Niece or Nephew	GGG Grand Niece or Nephew	GGGG Grand Niece or Nephew	GGGGG Grand Niece or Nephew
Grandchild	Niece or Nephew	First Cousin	First Cousin Once Removed	First Cousin Twice Removed	First Cousin Three Times Removed	First Cousin Four Times Removed	First Cousin Five Times Removed	First Cousin Six Times Removed
Great Grandchild	Grand Niece or Nephew	First Cousin Once Removed	Second Cousin	Second Cousin Once Removed	Second Cousin Twice Removed	Second Cousin Three Times Removed	Second Cousin Four Times Removed	Second Cousin Five Times Removed
Great Great Grandchild	Great Grand Niece or Nephew	First Cousin Twice Removed	Second Cousin Once Removed	Third Cousin	Third Cousin Once Removed	Third Cousin Twice Removed	Third Cousin Three Times Removed	Third Cousin FourTimes Removed
GGG Grandchild	Great Great Grand Niece or Nephew	First Cousin Three Times Removed	Second Cousin Twice Removed	Third Cousin Once Removed	Fourth Cousin	Fourth Cousin Once Removed	Fourth Cousin Twice Removed	Fourth Cousin Three Times Removed
GGGG Grandchild	GGG Grand Niece or Nephew	First Cousin Four Times Removed	Second Cousin Three Times Removed	Third Cousin Twice Removed	Fourth Cousin Once Removed	Fifth Cousin	Fifth Cousin Once Removed	Fifth Cousin Twice removed
GGGGG Grandchild	GGGG Grand Niece or Nephew	First Cousin Five Times Removed	Second Cousin Four Times Removed	Third Cousin Three Times Removed	Fourth Cousin Twice Removed	Fifth Cousin Once Removed	Sixth Cousin	Sixth Cousin Once Removed
GGGGGG Grandchild	GGGGG Grand Niece or Nephew	First Cousin Six Times Removed	Second Cousin Five Times Removed	Third Cousin Four Times Removed	Fourth Cousin Three Times Removed	Fifth Cousin Twice Removed	Sixth Cousin Once Removed	Seventh Cousin

(Based on the system used by courts and most genealogical societies.)