What are the differences between first, second and third cousins, and once, twice, etc. removed cousins?
First, second and third without any removal means that you are the same generation as them, and the degree refers to who was your common ancestor. – Your first cousins share one set of grandparents as yourself (ie. your father and your cousin’s father are brothers). – Your second cousins share one set of great-grandparents as yourself (ie. your grandfather and your second cousin’s grandfather were brothers). – Your third cousins share one set of great-great-grandparents as yourself (ie. your great-grandfather and your third cousin’s great-grandfather were brothers) Removal indicates how many generations higher or lower you are relative to your cousin. For example, first cousin once removed refers to both your parent’s first cousin, and your first cousin’s child. In this way, that child will also consider you first cousin once removed, as you are his parent’s first cousin. The way I track my relatives are as follows (I’ll follow relatives according to male relatives to keep it simple):
The first number refers to how far back you must go to a common ancestor from the elder of the two cousins. For example, 1st cousins must jump one generation to get to a common ancestor (i.e. the grandparents): Grandmother | | Mom Aunt | | Me 1st cousin While 2nd cousins must jump two generations to get to the common ancestor: Great Grandmother | | Grandmother Great Aunt | | Mom 1st cousin, once removed | | Me 2nd cousin Note that the “1st cousin, once removed” only has one jump to the common ancestor (hence the 1st), but is one generation removed from me (hence the once-removed).
