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Most
people understand the family relationship terms such as aunt, grandfather,
or great grandmother, but they may not be familiar with terms
such as second cousin or third cousin twice removed.
Hopefully this page, a modified version of a page originally on
the Genealogy.com site,
explains what those terms mean.
- Cousin (first cousin)
- Your first cousins are relatives
who have the same grandparents as you, i.e. they are the children
of your aunts and uncles.
- Second Cousin
- Your second cousins are relatives
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
- The word removed indicates
that two relatives are from different generations. You and your
first cousins are in the same generation, i.e. 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, e.g. 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. If you are two generations
younger than a first cousin of your grandmother, you and
your grandmother's first cousin are first cousins, twice removed.
Use the chart below to simplify
working out a relationship.
- Pick two people in your family
and work out the common ancestor.
- Look at the top row of the chart
and find the column for the first person's relationship to the
common ancestor.
- Look at the far left column of
the chart and find the row for the second person's relationship
to the common ancestor.
- Where the row and column cross
is the relationship between the two people.
Common
Ancestor |
Child |
Grandchild |
Gt-grandchild |
Gt-gt-grandchild |
|
Child |
Sister or Brother |
Nephew or Niece |
Grand-nephew or niece |
Gt-grand-nephew or niece |
|
Grandchild |
Nephew or Niece |
First cousin |
First cousin, once removed |
First cousin, twice removed |
|
Gt-grandchild |
Grand-nephew or niece |
First cousin, once removed |
Second cousin |
Second cousin, once removed |
|
Gt-gt-grandchild |
Gt-grand-nephew or niece |
First cousin, twice removed |
Second cousin, once removed |
Third cousin |
Example: If the first person
is a grandchild of the common ancestor and the second
person is a great-great-grandchild of the common ancestor,
then the relationship between the first & second person is
first cousin, twice removed.
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Last updated: March
2005
(C) M.T. Gibbs
2005
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