Understanding family connections is essential for genealogy. But keeping track of cousin relationships gets tricky with terms like “once removed” or “twice removed.”
Put, a cousin once removed shares a common ancestor one generation older than you. And their children are your first cousins once removed, too.
First Cousin
Most people asked, what is a 1st cousin once removed? A first cousin once removed shares the same set of grandparents as you. If your common ancestor is your grandmother, you are both first cousins. The “once removed” part refers to the generational difference between you and your cousin. You and your cousin are closer together if you are the same age.
A quick way to determine the degree of your relationship is to count how many “greats” are in your common ancestor’s title. For example, if your grandmother is Ann’s great-grandmother and hers is James, they are both first cousins because 0 + 1 = 1.
If you and your first cousin have children together, those children are also your first cousins because they belong to the same generation. However, if your first cousin’s child has a child with their first cousin, that child becomes your second cousin because they belong to the next generation.
To get an even more precise idea of your relationship, you can use a cousin chart that shows how each relative is categorized based on the number of shared grandparental generations. These charts are beneficial for determining your relationship with a first cousin once or twice removed. Other cousin relationships can be confusing, too, such as parallel and cross cousins. Parallel cousins are the children of identical-sex siblings, while cross cousins are the children of opposite-sex siblings.
Second Cousin
If you’ve discovered a family connection with someone who shares one of your parents or even just one of your grandparents, you’re considered second cousins. This is because you have the same great-grandparents and, therefore, share a common ancestor with this person.
But, as with the first cousin once removed relationship, you and your second cousin will be separated by a generation. If your shared ancestor was the father of your first cousin, then you are “once removed” from this person (meaning that there is a generation between you). If your shared ancestor was the mother of your second cousin’s grandmother, you are “two times removed” from this person (meaning that there are two generations between you).
The concept of “removals” can get quite complicated. Some online sites use more straightforward relationships in our DNA Matches and Family Trees. For example, a relative will be called either their mother’s cousin or their father’s cousin, and this information will appear in their Relationship Summary. This makes it much easier to understand how these relationships work. This simple terminology will also help you make sense of your DNA matches and their Family Tree results. You’ll be able to see if you are a first or second cousin or a first or second cousin once removed, and you’ll be able to count the number of generations you have in common with your relative.
Third Cousin
When describing cousin relationships in family trees, the terms “once removed” and “twice removed” can be confusing. Remember that each “removed” refers to a generational difference, not a change in the relationship itself.
Let’s say your first cousin has children. The child of your first cousin is your first cousin once removed because they share the same parent generation as you. But if your first cousin has grandchildren, then their grandchild is your first cousin once removed again. This is because the second cousin is one generation younger than you.
Keeping this in mind will help you distinguish between your first cousins and their children and between your grandparents’ grandchildren and their grandchildren. This will make navigating complicated family trees and understanding DNA matches much more accessible.
The critical thing to remember is that the fewer generations between you and your cousin, the closer the relationship. So the next time you discover a famous name like Thomas Edison or George Washington in your genealogy software, know that you’re probably looking at a first cousin once removed. But don’t worry; they have simplified these kinship terms in DNA Matches and the tool so you can understand your family connections without all the added complications! This will make connecting with your distant relatives and preserving your family history more accessible.
Fourth Cousin
Navigating familial relationships is a complex task, even with the help of terms like “first cousin once removed.” However, it’s also crucial to unlocking a family’s story.
A first cousin once removed shares a common ancestor with you but is one generation younger or older than you. It can be challenging to understand how these numbers work out at a glance, so here’s an example:
Your dad has a first cousin named Fred. Fred’s son, Sonny, is your first cousin once removed because he shares the same grandfather as you.
When figuring out the cousin relationship for DNA matches in your Family Tree, there is a simple way to determine how many generations you are apart from your relative: add up the number of greats shared between you and the other person. Then divide that by two and add one to get your cousin’s relation.
Understanding cousin relationships is vital for accurately tracing genealogy and recognizing kinship for personal, cultural, or legal reasons, like inheritance or health history.
