General Chat

What is my fathers' cousin to me? I believe there is a website where i can get this information, can someone please tell me the address. Thanking you in advance Tricia

Hi folks, The old chestnut, you'd think GC/R might create a linked guidance page for the purpose. Let's go through it again. Your parents' brothers and sisters are your uncles and aunts. Their children are your first cousins. Your children and your first cousins will be first cousins once removed. Your children and the children of your first cousins will be second cousins etc etc. Putting it another way, step by step by each generation from the original parents, the children are brothers and sisters, the grandchildren are first cousins, the great grandchildren are second cousins, and so on. The relationship between people of different generations is determined firstly by the link within the generation, then once removed, (if the folks are one generation apart), twice removed (if the folks are two generations apart) etc. So your father's cousin is your cousin (first cousin) once removed. Abracadabra! Hope this helps, Philip

Cousins OK folks - there are two ways of describing cousins - first/second/third etc describes the nearness in blood. Once/twice/third time removed etc describes the nearness in generational terms. So - your parent and parents' sibling have children - this is you and your first cousin. Your child is your cousin's first cousin once removed (because they are one generation apart). Similarly, you and your cousin's child are first cousins once removed. Your child and your cousin's child are 2nd cousins (because they are less near in blood relationships than you and your cousin are). Their children will be 3rd cousins to eachother, but 2nd cousins once removed to your child and your cousin. Clear?

Phillip and Helen, Thankyou both, its' now as clear as mud, just joking! So my fathers' cousin (James) is my cousin once removed and James' children are my second cousins, am i right? Thanks to all who replied Tricia

Absolutely right, Tricia. James is your father's first cousin, and so you are his first cousin once removed. As you say, James's children are your second cousins (ie first cousins' children on both sides). The reverse is also true, that is that James's children are first cousins once removed to your dad. But, just to complicate things further, any children of yours would be first cousins twice removed to James, and they would also be second cousins once removed to his children. Hmmm... now I know why I prefer to stick to the term "cousin" to cover up all these relationships! lol! Philip

Deidre, Thanks for the website. And again thanks to all for your replies. Tricia

Familytree maker will determine what relationship one person to any other is, in a family listing.........no doubt there are other programs that will do the same......

Joy- my family also seems to have alot of 'sort of cousins'. I have also been side tracked searching for aunties who turned out to be no relation at all- my Grandma was very liberal with the use of the word 'aunt'!!!! She was also very vague about how many generations away a cousin was- with some people who are supposed to be our cousins the connection seems to be lost in time!!!