What does second cousin mean?

 

Advice on spotting your second cousin, first cousin twice removed, and other distant kin

 

You are not alone in your inability to distinguish between your second cousins and your first cousins twice removed. Yet there is a straightforward method of discovering interrelationships.

 

At family get-togethers, it's common to hear someone mutter, "If my mother's aunt was her father's grandmother, then what do we make?" while scratching their heads and counting fingers. The more intermediaries there are between two families, the more complex the relationship might become.

 

A cousin is...well, what exactly is a cousin?

 

It's helpful to get back to basics when trying to wrap one's head around the terminology used to describe an extensive family tree. According to PLOS Genetics, the term "ancestor" represents those who share a common ancestor several generations back. Your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc., are all examples. Siblings of such individuals are not counted among their ancestors. In other words, although cousins such as uncles and aunts (a parent's siblings) are considered blood relations, they are not considered ancestors.

 

The term "cousin" is used to describe any other blood relative, other than an aunt or uncle, who is not an ancestor. As a noun, "cousin" most often designates a first cousin. That's your uncle's or aunt's, kid.

 

Can you define a second cousin?

 

One grandparent is shared by first cousins, two great-grandparents by second cousins, three great-great-grandparents by third cousins, and so on. Depending on how many of their parents share a common ancestor, a person may be considered a "first cousin," "second cousin," etc.

 

The term "removed" is sometimes used to describe a relative further removed from the immediate family.

 

According to ancestry.com, "removed" refers to the number of generations that separate the cousins (opens in a new tab). To clarify, a first cousin once removed is the offspring of a first cousin or a parent of a first cousin. If you have two first cousins and one of them has a child, you have a second cousin once removed. And the grandchild (or grandparent) of your first cousin or the cousin of your grandmother is your first cousin twice removed.

 

Remote relatives

 

Your family tree is bound to become cumbersome after only a few generations. In 2007, it was widely reported that Vice President Dick Cheney and presidential contender Barack Obama were eighth cousins. According to the BBC, Lynn Cheney, Cheney's wife, learned this fact while researching her husband's family tree for a memoir she was writing.

 

Compare and contrast: parallel and cross.

 

Further complicating matters, first cousins can be divided into parallel and cross-cousins. An American anthropologist defines "parallel cousins" as the offspring of parents of the same sex; in this case, your "parallel cousins" would be your mother's sister's offspring. The children of a parent's brother or sister of the opposite sex are considered cross-cousins.

 

For those curious, A's mother's aunt is B's father's grandmother, making them second cousins once removed.

Reference : https://www.livescience.com/32121-whats-a-second-cousin-vs-a-first-cousin-once-removed.html

Image source : https://pixabay.com/id/photos/bayi-anak-ayah-induk-orang-tua-2616673/

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