Calculating Cousinhood: Understanding Cousin Relationships

What is a second cousin? What does "removed" mean? Here's a quick overview of how cousins are related. Read the full article here: https://www.familytreemagazine.com/strategies/how-to-calculate-cousinhood/.

1. Calculating
Cousinhood

2. Your first
cousin is
the child of
your aunt
or uncle.
first cousins
The most
recent
ancestor you
and this person
share is your
grandparent.

3. Your second cousins are the children
of your parents’ first cousins.
second cousins
You and your
second cousins
have the same
great-
grandparents.

4. A remove
happens when
two cousins
have different
numbers of
generations
back to their
most recent
common
ancestor.
One
generation
of difference
equals
one remove.
removed cousins

5. That’s a
special cousin
category for
the offspring
of brothers-
and sisters-
in-law.
For example,
your sister
weds your
husband’s
brother.
double cousins

6. Despite how it
sounds, it just
means any
distant relative
you know well
enough to kiss
hello at family
gatherings.
Due to limited
mobility in our
ancestors’ day,
however, most of us
have instances of
cousins who
married.
"kissing" cousins

7. "collateral degree
calculation"
What anthropologists call the
process of figuring out cousin
relationships.
(bonus vocabulary lesson)

8. www.familytreemagazine.com