welcome to the ancestral findings podcast do you know how to determine cousin relationships
it's easier than you may imagine all you have to do is remember to count generations from the
most recent set of cousins in your family tree that match up in the same generation
and count the generations to you or anyone else in your family tree here's how to do it
you have probably heard people refer to such cousin relationships as first cousin two times
removed or third cousin one time removed do you know what they mean as the beginning genealogist
figuring out cousin relationships can seem confusing at first especially with all of
those removed words and numbers coming up along with them what do these words and numbers mean
to you and your cousin's how can you even figure out what kind of cousin you are to someone the
good news is that there is an easy way to pull cousin relationships right out of your head on
the spot if someone asks you the first thing to remember is that cousin relationships are all
about generations you are probably familiar with the easiest and best known cousin relationships
the first cousin a first cousin is simply the child of a brother or sister or one of
your parents so a child of one of your aunts or uncles a first cousin is in the same generation
on the family tree as you your parents are one generation the set of grandparents you share with
your first cousins are another generation and you and your first cousins are a generation see easy
now what if one of your first cousins has a child what is that child to you it is your first cousin
once removed this is because it is a child of your first cousin but not of your same generation it is
one generation removed from you it is in the next generation down the line in the family tree who is
a second cousin to you that would be a child of one of your parents first cousins your parents
and their first cousins are in the same generation as each other you and the children of your parents
first cousins are of the same generation as each other as well but our second cousins because you
are of the generation after the first cousins a child of your second cousin is a second cousin one
time removed from you a good way to always figure out cousin relationship is to start with the most
recent common grandparent or great grandparent you and a person in your family tree share and
count the generations from there you can envision it as a pyramid in your head with the most recent
common ancestor at the top say you want to know how your grandmother's first cousin is related to
you remember that your grandmother and her first cousins share grandparents those grandparents are
your great-great grandparents your great-great grandparents are one generation their children
are another but you start counting with your grandmother and her first cousin as they are
the first cousin generation to match up simply count down to generations from your mom or dad
to you that makes your grandmother's first cousin your first cousin 2 times removed when you know to
count generations you can quickly figure out any cousin relationship on your family tree
thanks for joining me today I'll see you next time on the ancestral findings
podcast and for further info you can visit us at ancestral findings com