Degrees of Kinship
Contents
Defining Relationships
- The Relationship Calculator NOTE: Doesn't work in Firefox.
Kinship - the Right Name for the Distant Cousin
For information only ............. this was found on the web - I have not compiled it myself
Your first cousin is your parents' brother's or sister's child. However, the first cousin's child is not your second cousin, but your first cousin one removed. The child of the first cousin once removed is your first cousin twice removed, and his child is your first cousin three times removed.
Your second cousin is your grandparents' brother's or sister's grandchild. That second cousin's child is your second cousin once removed, and his child is your second cousin twice removed, and so on.
Your third cousin is your great-grandparents' brother's or sister's great-grandchild. The third cousin's child is your third cousin once removed, and his child is your third cousin twice removed.
Occasionally Misunderstood Terms
Siblings: Parents in common, brothers and sisters
Grandnephew and Grandniece: the grandchild of your brother or sister
Grandaunt or Granduncle: the brother or sister of your grandparent
Great-Grandaunt or Great-Granduncle: the sister or brother of your great-grandparents
Stepfather or Stepmother: the husband of your mother or the wife of your father by a subsequent marriage
Stepchild: the child of your husband or wife by a former marriage
Stepsister or Stepbrother: the child of your stepfather or stepmother
Half Sister or Half Brother: the child of your mother and stepfather or the child of your father and stepmother, or of either parent by a former marriage
In-Laws: your connections by the law of marriage (as distinct from relatives by blood) in particular, your husband's or wife's relatives and your own brother's wife or sister's husband
Ancestor: the person from whom you descend directly, such as a grandparent or a great-grandparent
Descendant: the person who descends directly from you, such as a grandson or granddaughter
Lineal Relations: those in a direct line of ascent or descent, such as a grandfather or granddaughter
Collateral Relations: those relatives who are linked by a common ancestor, such as aunts, uncles, or cousins
Connexions: those who have a relative in common but who are not themselves related by blood.
Now the Easy Version
Brothers and Sisters Siblings
Children 1st Cousins
Grandchildren 2nd Cousins
Great grandchildren 3rd Cousins
Gt Gt grandchildren 4th Cousins
Gt Gt Gt grandchildren 5th Cousins
Gt Gt Gt Gt grandchildren 6th Cousins
One generation before or after, is Once Removed
Two generations before/after are Twice Removed etc.
These days most people do not use the term Grand niece or Grand nephew, or Grand Great Niece etc. The word Grand has been popularly replaced by Great.
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