As I have entered the land of cousins, I figured it was high time I did some quick research to find out exactly what name to give my relation to these folks. Geneology.com was there for me. Here's what they had to say:
Cousin (a.k.a "first cousin"): Your first cousins are the people in your family who have two of the same grandparents as you. In other words, they are the children of your aunts and uncles.
Second Cousin : Your second cousins are the people in your family 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 : When the word "removed" is used to describe a relationship, it indicates that the two people are from different generations. You and your first cousins are in the same generation (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. For example, 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. You are two generations younger than a first cousin of your grandmother, so you and your grandmother's first cousin are first cousins, twice removed.
3 comments:
thank you for this explanation! I've always understood it to be this way, but I've been told otherwise by some family members.
You explained everything but what your cousin's children are to you.
Their great-grandparents are your grandparents.
Hi Second oousin / First cousin once removed !
I was doing a search online this morning to find out the name of one of the siblings of the wife (Marjorie Walker Rice nee' Peach) of (your great uncle) Grandpa James Lowell Rice ...
- I thought it would be good to get in touch with Grandma Marjorie's sister's children and grandchildren to share the Faith -
I was hoping that someone had posted a geneology online and that doing a search for Grandma's name would help me find out her sister's name and grandchildren
I did not obtain the desired result except to discover that there is a Marjorie Rice famous for her discoveries in geometry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjorie_Rice)
I tried searching under Grandpa's name and simply came up with an apparent non-relation by the name of Fox who is related to a person who shares the same full name of my Grandfather (http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=DESC&db=jf5&id=I0925)
Finally, in "desperation" I searched under my own name and came up with a comment I had posted under my full name on your Kami-in-Africa blog which, in reading again, triggered our shared memories of spending time with Uncle Jimmy in Izingolweni in Nov/Dec 2007
I also read, with interest, some bits-and-pieces of your travels since then
Incidentally, it would have been great to have met with you and your extended family this week for "Grandpa" (my Great-uncle) Carl's funeral. My sister Lorna Ruth spent an hour or so on Wednesday relating to me the memories shared at the funeral when she attended.
While doing my arm-chair research I haven't found out the name of Grandma Marjorie's sister ... perhaps I should simply use the old fashioned method of phoning Uncle Jimmy - he would know!
... at least I got motivated to do some writing of my own to my writer/first cousin Kami-in-Africa!
Sincerely,
James LeRoy Rice
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