Family relationships are described using a common organization of relationships or kinship system.[1] While the meaning of the terms “parent,” “child,” “sibling,” or “grandchild,” are widely known, the terminology can get more confusing when branching out to further generations or steps removed in the family tree.
On the right is a chart of family relationships up to 3rd-great-grandparents and 4th cousins twice removed.
The lines on the chart above indicate a direct line relationship. As is shown, you have a direct biological relationship with both of your parents: your father and your mother. You also have a direct family line relationship with each of your grandparents. Of course, you will have twice the number of grandparents as you go back in each generation.
Great-grandparent
The terms great and grand refer to generations back in time. Your parents are the children of your grandparents, and your grandparents are the children of your great-grandparents. Each additional generation adds a “great.” To avoid saying the word “great” so many times, we often designate the number of greats by saying “my third great-grandparent,” meaning great-great-great grandfather, and so forth.
Cousin
A general definition of a cousin is any relative by blood or marriage with whom you share a common ancestor[2] who is at least two generations away. Individuals who are your parents’ children (the first generation) are your brothers and sisters. Your grandparents’ children in any generation are your aunts and uncles and the children of your aunts and uncles in any generation are your cousins.
Cousins removed
The term first cousin once removed is just a shorthand way of designating the number of generations separating you from a particular cousin.[3] You are always the first generation in counting back by generations. When you count the descendants of an ancestor, the counting is done the same way. Your ancestor is the first generation and his or her children are the second generation and so forth. Because when you are counting generations, in a sense, you skip a relative in designating a first or second cousin, the relationship is said to be removed. For example, a first cousin once removed could be the child of your first cousin. All the children of your aunts and uncles are first cousins, but as you go back, their level of “removal” is determined by counting back the number of generations.
First cousin and second cousin
The degree of a genealogical relationship depends on the generational connection between you and the cousin. A first cousin is related to you through your grandparents. They are the children of your parents’ brothers and sisters (sometimes jointly called siblings). If you trace your relationships back another generation to your great-grandparents, their children are your grand uncles and aunts (or great-aunts and -uncles). Their children would be your parents’ first cousins.
What is the difference between a first cousin once removed and a second cousin?
Your relationship to your parents’ first cousins is “one generation removed” or a first cousin once removed because there is an additional generation. The children of your great-uncles and aunts are your parents’ first cousins, and your first cousins one generation removed. The children of this line from your great-grandparents are your second cousins. The purpose of these designations is to trace the relationships back through the generations to describe the degree of your relationship, or how closely you are related. A second cousin is related to you through your great-grandparents, and a third cousin is related through your great-great-grandparents, and so forth. From a DNA standpoint, you will share more DNA with those relatives who are most closely related to you.
Simplified cousin relationship terms on MyHeritage
On MyHeritage, in the DNA match list, the family tree, and via the cM Explainer™ tool, a simplified terminology is used for cousin relationships that eliminates the concept of "removed." Instead of "first cousin once removed," for example, the relationship will be described as a "mother's cousin," "father's cousin," "cousin's daughter," or "cousin's son." This provides a simpler and more precise indication of kinship than the traditional terms.
Stepchild, stepparent, and stepsibling
The term “step” is generally used to describe a relationship created by a remarriage. For example, if a parent is widowed or divorced and then remarries, their children from the previous marriage are “stepchildren” of the new spouse, and “stepsiblings” to children the new spouse may have had from a previous relationship.
Of course, because there are even more complicated family relationships, the words used to designate these additional relationships become vague and little used. You will seldom hear someone designated as a “step-second cousin.”
See also
Explore more about family relationships
- What Does Once Removed Mean? Untangling Family Relationships on the MyHeritage Knowledge Base
- How Do You Know If Your Genealogy Is Correct? at BYU Family History Library YouTube channel
- First, Second, Third, Removed, Kissing — It’s Complicated! A Cousins Tutorial at How Stuff Works
- What Is a First Cousin Once Removed? | Cousin Once Removed Meaning at Your DNA Guide
- What Is a Second Cousin? Understanding Cousin Relationship Terms at Family Tree Magazine
References
- ↑ Quiles, Carlos. 2020. “Proto-Indo-European Kinship System and Patrilineality.” Indo-European.Eu (blog). October 12, 2020.
- ↑ Chang, Joseph T., and  Joseph T. Chang. 1999. “Recent Common Ancestors of All Present-Day Individuals.” Advances in Applied Probability, no. 31: 1002–26
- ↑ “What Does Once Removed Mean? Untangling Family Relationships.” n.d. MyHeritage Knowledge Base. Accessed February 17, 2023.