Kissing Cousins -
Deciphering Family Relationships in your
Ancestral Tree by Paul Duxbury and Kevin
Cook
Joining
the world of genealogy research can be quite
exciting at times. At other times, though, it
can be confusing and difficult. Not only can
it be hard to locate sources of information
about your family, it can also be hard to
figure out who is related to
whom.
Joining the world of genealogy research can
be quite exciting at times. At other times,
though, it can be confusing and difficult.
Not only can it be hard to locate sources of
information about your family, it can also be
hard to figure out who is related to whom.
There are so many terms for relationships
that most people do not know how do deal with
the inundation of information. Hopefully,
though, the below text will help sort a few
things out.
Let's start with cousins, because there are
so many different terms in this area, it can
be really hard to sort things out. If someone
came up to you and said they were your fourth
cousin three times removed, it would be
complicated to figure out whom they belonged
to. Cousin, at its very base, means people
who have the same grandparents. These people
can also be referred to as first cousins.
They are the children of aunts and uncles.
Second cousins are people who have the same
great-grandparents, but not the same
grandparents. So if you think about your
children and the children of your cousins,
they are considered to be second cousins. It
follows that third, fourth, and fifth cousins
would have a very similar pattern. Third
cousins would share the same great-great
grandparents. Fourth cousins would share the
same great-great-great grandparents. Fifth
cousins would share the same
great-great-great-great grandparents. It's
rare to actually know your fifth cousins, but
genealogy research can certainly uncover them
for you.
In addition to cousins, you also have cousins
who have been "removed." This does not mean
they were excommunicated from the family or
anything. It means that these particular
cousins are from two different generations.
Once removed means one generation of
difference, twice removed means two
generations of difference, and so on. Take
this example to sort things out. Your
mother's first cousin is your first cousin
once removed. Here's another one. Your
grandmother's first cousin is your first
cousin twice removed. It still seems a bit
complicated, doesn't it? It not only seems
complicated to you, it can seem
extraordinarily complicated to anyone who
plans to read the research you are so
carefully compiling. In addition to the other
documentation you should consider using; you
might want to think about downloading or
copying a relationship chart to sort things
out.
A relationship chart is a simple document
that can help you figure out who is who in
your family and how they are related to each
other. Both the top and the left side labels
will mirror each other. They should be:
child, grandchild, great grandchild, and
great-great grandchild. The middle of the
chart gets a bit more complicated, as the
relationships get more complicated. The first
column, moving down, should read "sister or
brother," "nephew or niece," "grand-nephew or
niece," and "grand-grand-nephew or niece."
The second column, moving down, should read
"nephew or niece," "first cousin," "first
cousin, once removed," and "first cousin,
twice removed." The third column, moving
down, should read "grand-nephew or niece,"
"first cousin, once removed," "second
cousin," and "second cousin, once removed."
The final column should read, moving down,
"grand-grand nephew or niece," "first cousin,
twice removed," "second cousin, once
removed," "third cousin." This sounds
incredibly complicated, and to some degree it
is and always will be. In reality, most
people simply aren't going to care when it
hits this degree of complication, but a
relationship chart like this one can really
help you sort things out as you try to write
your own family history.
To further complicate the family
relationships you are trying to determine,
don't forget that some families may have a
situation with double-cousins. This means
that the siblings from one family married the
siblings from another family. For example,
perhaps your grandmother and her sister
married your grandfather and his brother,
respectively.
You should be aware that the word "cousin,"
and many other familial terms have changed
over the course of time. Some are even Latin.
As a result, it is not a bad idea to check
with a standard family term glossary as you
are trying to complete your research. There
are many of these in your local library. You
can also look around online to find a
standard familial term glossary.
About the Authors
Paul Duxbury and Kevin Cook own
http://www.amateur-genealogist.com and
http://www.our-family-trees.co.uk two of the
leading Genealogy Websites. In addition Paul
owns a wide range of exciting websites which
can be viewed at
http://www.our-family-trees.co.uk