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