Do you have that one cousin who is always referred to as ‘twice removed’? How many times do you have to remove the guy before he is actually gone? Will the third time be the charm?
Cousins Chart
The chart below is what is commonly called a Cousins Chart or a Relationship Chart. They come in a variety of formats and what we present to you here is one which we built. We feel is pretty easy to understand as it is centered around You.
Each layer of the chart is the same generation. The layers below are descendant generations. The layers above are ancestor generations.
- Find You
- Trace up, down or over to determine the name of the relationship you have with another person. Of course you have to know who was born to whom beforehand to use this diagram.
Hopefully you find this chart helpful however it only shows common ‘blood relationships’ also referred to as ‘consanguinity’.
Complications
If your family is more complex where cousins married cousins or there are remarriages and blended families in the tree then you need more terms than I am prepared to present in a diagram.
Here are some interesting complexities for cousins:
- Double cousins are relatives who are cousins from two different branches of the family tree. This occurs when siblings, respectively, reproduce with different siblings from another family. This may also be referred to as “cousins on both sides”.
- Half cousins are descended from half siblings and would share one grandparent. The children of two half siblings are first half cousins. If half siblings have children with another pair of half siblings, the resulting children would be double half first cousins.
- Step-cousins are either stepchildren of an individual’s aunt or uncle, nieces and nephews of one’s step-parent, or the children of one’s parent’s step-sibling.
- Cousin-in-law is the cousin of one’s spouse or the spouse of one’s cousin.
Maybe you have some people which have more complexity? We suggest that you read this Wikipedia cousins article.
Common ancestor
If you are looking for a chart that would allow you to identify the relationship of two people based on their connection to a common ancestor you need to search for an example of what is called a Canon Law Relationship Chart. It’s cool!
