Do You Know How You Are Related to Your Cousins

MENIFEE, CA—During our reunions I’m sure that I’m not the only one who’s eyes wonder around the room and wonder how I’m related to this person or that person and as a family genealogist I kind of gotten a pretty good handle on it.

Calculating relationships is complicated, intimidating and very interesting all at the same time; especially when you reach the dreaded “once or twice removed”. I thought I would write this piece, as we prepare for next year’s reunion in Chicago, to get us to think about our relationships and hopefully have a little fun with it.
Here are a few basics for us to begin with and then I have included a random sampling of Cornute cousins to spice it up a little.

First Cousin: Your first cousin is a child of your aunt or uncle. While you share one set of grandparents with your first cousin, you do not have the same parents.

Second Cousin: Your second cousin is the grandchild of your great-aunt or great-uncle. While you share one set of great-grandparents with your second cousin, you do not have the same grandparents.

Third Cousin: Your third cousin is the great-grandchild of your great-great-aunt or great-great-uncle. While you share one set of great-great-grandparents with your third cousin, you do not have the same great-grandparents. Fourth cousins have one set of great-great-great-grandparents, but not the same great-great-grandparents. And so on.

Fourth Cousin: Fourth cousins share one set of great-great-great-grandparents, but do not have the same great-great-grandparents. This continues on with fifth cousins and so forth.

Double Cousins: If two siblings in one family marry two siblings from another family and each couple has a child, the children are double first cousins. The word double means they share the same four grandparents. Regular first cousins share only one set of common grandparents, while double first cousins share both sets of grandparents plus all lineal and collateral relatives.

Removed: The relationships of cousins of different generations are explained by using the word “removed”. Cousins who are “once removed” have a one-generation difference. For example, the first cousin of your father is your first cousin, once removed or one-time removed. In that case, your father’s first cousin is one generation younger than your grandparents and you are two generations younger than your grandparents. Likewise, your first cousin’s child is also a first cousin, once removed. This one-generation difference is explained by saying that you are cousins “once removed.”

Twice removed or two-timed removed means that there is a two-generation difference between cousins. If you are two generations younger than the first cousin of your grandparent, then the relationship between you and your grandparent’s first cousin are first cousins, twice removed.

I know it’s still a little confusing so below are a few calculated Cornute relationships and we will add a Genealogy Relationship Chart to the website to help. There will be a quiz at next years reunion.