familial terminology

[low_delta]

Cousin: the most classificatory term; the children of aunts or uncles. Cousins may be further distinguished by degree of collaterality and generation. Two persons of the same generation who share a grandparent are "first cousins" (one degree of collaterality); if they share a great-grandparent they are "second cousins" (two degrees of collaterality) and so on. If the shared ancestor is the grandparent of one individual and the great-grandparent of the other, the individuals are said to be "first cousins once removed" (removed by one generation); if the shared ancestor is the grandparent of one individual and the great-great-grandparent of the other, the individuals are said to be "first cousins twice removed" (removed by two generations), and so on. Similarly, if the shared ancestor is the great-grandparent of one person and the great-great-grandparent of the other, the individuals are said to be "second cousins once removed."

Comments

[the-99th-aisle.livejournal.com]

I'm gonna have to draw out a pedigree for this to make sense. Always wondered about that though, so thanks!

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

See my comment to Rivendweller, below. I think I explained it a little better.

[cynnerth.livejournal.com]

If the shared ancestor is the grandparent of one individual and the great-grandparent of the other, the individuals are said to be "first cousins once removed" (removed by one generation)

So Kristen is your "first cousin once removed", rather than the "second cousin" that was the answer Laurie was sure was correct.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Yes. Alex would be my second cousin, since we only share great-grandparents.

[rivendweller.livejournal.com]

So, my mother's first cousin is my second cousin? I'm confused.

Okay, I have a first cousin. This first cousin is Shipoopee's first cousin twice removed? Or not?

I was never good at this.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

If the shared ancestor of one of the persons in question is a grandparent, then they're first cousins. If the other person is of a different generation, then the two are considered to be "removed."

So your first cousin's ancestor that is shared with the boy, is that cousin's granparents. So that makes him or her first cousins with Shipoopee. The boy is two generations younger, so yes, that makes them first cousins, twice removed.

The first test is the common ancestor. The second test is the generational gap.

[rivendweller.livejournal.com]

Wait a minute! A first cousin once removed is the same thing as a second cousin. I e-mailed this to Ray and now we're both so confused we gave up.

It's a good post, though!

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

It is kinda weird. My dad's cousin is my first cousin, once removed. But her son is my second cousin.

[emschin.livejournal.com]

When I was a freshman in college I worked part time also. One of my co-workers explained this to me one day by drawinng little stick figures in diagrams like a family tree. I tucked it away and kept it so I'd remember. I think I still have that, tho it's in a small box of papers I haven't opened in decades.

[banana.livejournal.com]

So I have some first cousins. We share grandparents. My the relationship between my cousins and my children is "first cousins once removed". If my cousins have children, the relationship between my children and theirs would be "second cousins".

It seems unnecessarily confusing that we use "cousin" for a whole set of relationships. A few extra terms would help.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Yes. I found this in Wikipedia. They have some interesting information on how other cultures handle this.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

And it's interesting that my cousin's husband is not my cousin, but aunt's husband is my uncle.

[rivendweller.livejournal.com]

Your cousin-in-law?

[emschin.livejournal.com]

If Nikki were married (just pretend!!) would her husband be your nephew? I always feel awkward with that. My brother's son is my nephew but I usually refer to "my nephew's wife".

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Your aunt's husband is your uncle, so wouldn't your niece's husband be your nephew?

It makes sense, but I think that it's not that way.

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

whew--I totally understood what you were saying before I read the comments. i think I'll just stick to the post, instead.

Oddly enough I've been thinking about this (it's FLLW stuff, don't you know).

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

whichever works!