Janet CollinsWhen is a Cousin First Removed?
December 27th 2008 01:36
Genealogy relationships can be very confusing. What are second cousins, third cousins or even a cousin first removed?
I have never really understood the definitions beyond first cousins. Even after meeting relatives who are more distantly related than that, I have ever really explored the links, quite content in the knowledge that they are related in some way.
The subject of family relations, cousins, second cousins and lines came up at our family gathering on Christmas Day. It was prompted of course by the fact that our (extended) family had grown this year with the addition of three babies.
The discussion led to us trying to work out what relationship my siblings’ children were to our cousins’ children. Were they second or third cousins? What exactly is a "cousin first removed"?
We all had differing ideas on this and after tossing all our views into the discussion none of us were any the wiser and probably even more confused. This prompted me to do a little investigation into the subject myself.
This is what I learned. My cousins, my siblings and I share the same grandparents. Their children and mine would share the same great grandparents. So my children would be their children’s second cousins. Their children’s children would be my children’s children’s third cousins and so it goes down the line.
My grandparents would be my cousins’ children’s great grandparents so I am a cousin first removed to my cousins’ children. Generally this would distinguish the different generations that I and my cousins’ children belong to. Once removed means one generation difference. Twice removed is two and so on.
If you are intereted in finding out more on the subject, I found the following few sites that also have some pretty good charts pretty helpful Mind you, I think I would need to carry them with me to work out any relationship further down the line than that.
Really Long Link
Really Long Link
Image courtesy of Science News
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Comment by alt_ed
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ArtCombat
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Interesting topic though
Comment by Janet Collins
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Yes my family is reasonably large too but I just haven't bothered to look into this before.
Thanks for the comment and my wishes for a great New Year.
Comment by Waysouth
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Your explanation sounds spot on, but I like to use the visual graphics (han't seen your links yet).
All I know is, my first cousins are the children of my mother or father's sisters and brothers. The next generation down is second cousins. (their grandparent and my grandparent were siblings, as opposed to our parents)
And then if there is a difference in generations, they are first removed, second removed, etc. the children of the second cousin is second cousin once removed.
I don't figure it out often, though, I have a lot of them memorized, all my first cousins and once removed in each direction. The hard part is when steps and in-laws come into the picture.
Comment by Janet Collins
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I think I might leave out the steps and in-laws for the moment. The others are confusing enough to me. The links in my post have some great charts that make it a lot easier to understand.
Thank you for visiting.
Janet
Comment by Anonymous
There is a distant "cousin" in Tasmania who is my husband's sister's son's illegitimate daughter who has been warmly "received" into the family and has instantly become my daughters close relative. But I have failed to explain how she is related as I have been totally confused about this for years. Congratulations, Janet, for tackling such a complicated subject
Comment by Janet Collins
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I imagine for those who take up genealogy it gets very interesting but when you know very little on the subject it certainly is compicated.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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Comment by colocountry
You're messing with my mind on this one!!!! Whenever the matriarchs of my family start talking about family history, they invariably start indulging in the ancient language of belonging that has been shrouded in secrecy for several generations. It is like going to a government meeting without your acronym handbook!! AAAAHH!! Even those who seem most articulate dont seem to have a handle on who is who in the family! Now, Im only a tad smarter than the average idiot but, I dont get it!
Col
Comment by Janet Collins
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Haha, but one thing at a time. I'm quite pleased I've gone this far.
Comment by Janet Collins
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It is a bit like that. And that's with the traditional family lines. As Morgan points out you then go into the halves,steps, etc. I haven't delved that far yet.
Comment by Samantha Elley
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Comment by Janet Collins
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I am still pretty confused about it all but I have learned a bit more through my research. The "removed" term was always baffling to me too.
Thanks for the visit.