Relationship Terms

Family

Sometimes, especially when working on your family history, it's useful to know how to describe your family relationships. These definitions below should help you.

In English, three sets of terms seem to cause the most difficulty: cousin, in-law, and "half" or "step" relations. Just to make things messy, each of these terms can correctly be used for several different relationships.

In discussing relationships, phrases like "brother or sister" and "son or daughter" come up again and again. Here are standard gender-neutral terms that I'll use to shorten the following discussion:

sibling = brother or sister (Some dictionaries call two individuals siblings if they have one or both parents in common. This would include the relationships of half brother and half sister as well as full brother and sister. I'll use the word "sibling" in its more restricted meaning here: an individual who has the same two parents as you.)
spouse = husband or wife
child = son or daughter (even if an adult)
parent = mother or father

But this is where it gets more complex.

Cousin (a.k.a "first cousin")

Your first cousins are the people in your family who have two of the same grandparents as you. In other words, they are the children of your aunts and uncles.

Second Cousin

Your second cousins are the people in your family who have the same great-grandparents as you, but not the same grandparents.

Third, Fourth, and Fifth Cousins

Your third cousins have the same great-great-grandparents, fourth cousins have the same great-great-great-grandparents, and so on.

Removed

When the word "removed" is used to describe a relationship, it indicates that the two people are from different generations. You and your first cousins are in the same generation (two generations younger than your grandparents), so the word "removed" is not used to describe your relationship.

The words "once removed" mean that there is a difference of one generation. For example, your mother's first cousin is your first cousin, once removed. This is because your mother's first cousin is one generation younger than your grandparents and you are two generations younger than your grandparents. This one-generation difference equals "once removed."

Twice removed means that there is a two-generation difference. You are two generations younger than a first cousin of your grandmother, so you and your grandmother's first cousin are first cousins, twice removed.

Relationship Charts Simplify Everything

A relationship chart can be used to help you figure out how different people in your family are related.

Instructions for Using a Relationship Chart

Pick two people in your family and figure out which ancestor they have in common. For example, if you chose yourself and a cousin, you would have a grandparent in common.
Look at the top row of the chart and find the first person's relationship to the common ancestor.
Look at the far left column of the chart and find the second person's relationship to the common ancestor.
Determine where the row and column containing those two relationships meet.

Common Ancestor	Child	Grandchild	G-grandchild	G-g-grandchild
Child	Sister or Brother	Nephew or Niece	Grand-nephew or niece	G-grand-nephew or niece
Grandchild	Nephew or Niece	First cousin	First cousin, once removed	First cousin, twice removed
G-grandchild	Grand-nephew or niece	First cousin, once removed	Second cousin	Second cousin, once removed
G-g-grandchild	G-grand-nephew or niece	First cousin, twice removed	Second cousin, once removed	Third cousin