What makes you a 2nd cousin

First, select how you are related to the common ancestor. For example, if the common ancestor is your great-grandparent, select "great grandparent" from the first drop-down menu. Then select your cousin's relationship to the common ancestor. The calculator will use this information to tell you how you are related! The following cousin calculator click to enlarge can also help you figure out what to call your more distant cousins. If you enjoy math, you can also calculate your cousinship using the following method, which starts by asking three questions:.

Who is the common ancestor of my cousin and me? How many generations am I separated from this ancestor? How many generations is my cousin separated from this ancestor? Who is more removed from the common ancestor? The next steps will be different depending on how many generations both you and your cousin are from your common ancestor.

Download Cousin Chart. This will give you the correct number to label your cousin as. Example: You and your relative share great-great grandparents. You now have the correct number label for your cousin. Information Article Body. Cousins First cousins share a set of grandparents. Removed In cousin relationships, the term removed indicates the separation of a generation.

Great and grand Like removed, the terms great and grand indicate the separation of generations. Half People are half siblings when they share one biological parent and not the other. Understanding Kinship Terms. URL Name. Choose a general reason. Number of Views Number of Views 8. So your first cousin once removed is the child or parent of your first cousin. Your second cousin once removed is the child or parent of your second cousin.

And your first cousin twice removed is the grandchild or grandparent of your first cousin. Clearly, it doesn't take many generations before your family tree is a bit unwieldy. Case in point: In , it was revealed that vice president Dick Cheney and presidential hopeful Barack Obama are eighth cousins. Cheney's wife, Lynn Cheney, discovered this tidbit while researching her husband's genealogy for a memoir she was writing, the Associated Press reported.