Cousins
First, please note the term "removed" is in
no way meaning "less related to".
You have more common ancestors to your mother's cousin, (your first cousin,
once removed) than your second cousin (your mother's cousin's children).
"Removed" simply means, removed a generation level.
Another example of a first cousin, once removed would be your first
cousin's child.
Twice removed means that there is a two-generation
difference. You are two generations younger your grandmother's first
cousin. So you and your grandmother's first cousin are first cousins, twice
removed.
To find cousins on your generation level:
-
Your First cousins and you share a grandparent as the closest ancestor.
-
Your Second cousins and you share a common great grandparent as the closest
ancestor.
-
Your Third cousins and you share a common great, great grandparent as the
closest ancestor, and so on...
These cousins are important because they are on the same generation level
as you and are likely still living
(although can vary greatly on age depending on birth order of ancestors).
These living cousins, no matter how distant, may have valuable information
on common ancestors. As I have found.
Double cousins occur when two brothers of one
family marry two sisters of another family, and both
marriages produce children. These children are double first cousins.
An example occurs in this database (you will
need to be logged in previously to view the example). You will
see in this example the same cousins listed in the maternal and paternal
side. This is not an error, rather an indication of double cousins.
Although no examples of cousins marrying
cousins have yet to be found in this database, married cousins of some
level exist (whether it be second, third, fourth...tenth cousins marrying).
An ancestor of yours born in the 1800s could have produced thousands of 7th
cousins of yours. Obviously, if you go back far enough with any
stranger on the street, you would find a common ancestor. (if all lineage
of all persons were known.) Only a few generations back, travel was
limited, and people seldom traveled outside a small radius of where they
lived. If you go back 20 generations (around the 1500s), you would have
over a million family surnames. Go back 33 generations (around the
year 1250), and you would statistically have more than 8.5 billion surnames
- way more than the population of the earth (even currently)! Obviously cousins, of whatever distance, do marry.
Interestingly, if a third cousin married another third cousin, that child
would be it's own double fourth cousin as well!
(and the child would also be the third cousin, once removed to both the
parents)
4 X Great
Grandparents
/ \
3 X Great 4 X Great
Grandparents Uncle-Aunt
/ \ \
2 X Great 3 X Great 1st Cousin
Grandparents Uncle-Aunt 4 X Removed
/ \ \ \
Great 2 X Great 1st Cousin 2nd Cousin
Grandparents Uncle-Aunt 3 X Removed 3 X Removed
/ \ \ \ \
Grand Great 1st Cousin 2nd Cousin 3rd Cousin
Parents Uncle-Aunt 2 X Removed 2 X Removed 2 X Removed
/ \ \ \ \ \
Father Uncle 1st Cousin 2nd Cousin 3rd Cousin 4th Cousin
Mother Aunt Once Removed Once Removed Once Removed Once Removed
/ \ \ \ \ \ \
ME Brother 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
Sister Cousin Cousin Cousin Cousin Cousin
\ \ \ \ \ \
Son Nephew 1st Cousin 2nd Cousin 3rd Cousin 4th Cousin
Daughter Niece Once Removed Once Removed Once Removed Once Removed
\ \ \ \ \
Grand Grand 1st Cousin 2nd Cousin 3rd Cousin
Child Nephew-Niece 2 X Removed 2 X Removed 2 X Removed
\ \ \ \
Great Great Grand 1st Cousin 2nd Cousin
Grandchild Nephew-Niece 3 X Removed 3 X Removed
\ \ \
2 X Great 2 X Great Grand 1st Cousin
Grandchild Nephew-Niece 4 X Removed
\ \
3 X Great 3 X Great Grand
Grandchild Nephew-Niece
\
4 X Great
Grandchild
The diagonal ascending lines are the parents and the diagonal descending lines are the children. For example, if you have the same Great-Great Grandparents as someone, you are 3rd cousins. If your Great Grandfather is his Great Great Great (3 X) Grandfather, you are second cousins, twice removed (2 X).
The chart above can be extended to the upper right and lower right as far
as desired for whatever degree of cousin you want. The term "Great Uncle" is actually your "Grand Uncle" in genealogical terms.