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Does any one know of a good cousin relationship chart that moves horizontally as well as vertically?

itsmesotmhg
itsmesotmhg ✭
April 18, 2023 edited July 9, 2024 in General Questions

I understand how to calculate my cousin relationships but I'm stumped when it comes to adding my children. Example, my first cousin once removed is what to my daughter? Some charts says 2nd cousin.

Please, lets develop a chart where we can just say "oh, that's my 1st cousin 2x removed so that would be your ??? to my children

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Best Answer

  • Julia Szent-Györgyi
    Julia Szent-Györgyi ✭✭✭✭✭
    April 19, 2023 edited April 19, 2023 Answer ✓

    "Once removed" in a cousin relationship means "off by one generation":

       B - D - F
    A -|
       C - E - G - H
    

    Here, G and D are first cousins once removed, because they're one different in their distance from their common ancestor (A). D is the older generation, G is the younger generation. D's child F is G's second cousin, while G's child H is D's first cousin twice removed.

    (Note that the direction of the generational offset is totally unrelated to age difference. My spouse has a second cousin once removed who is one generation further from their common ancestor, i.e. in the younger generation, but is twenty years older.)

    I find that instead of trying to make sense of a cousin chart (like the ones in https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/cousin-chart) to figure out a relationship, it's easier for me to just write down the names and then count/name the generations:

    common ancestors: Imre & Mária
            siblings: Imre - Miklós
                  1C: András - Albert
                  2C: David - Cornelia
                  3C: Julianna - Michael
    

    To figure out a relationship, I note the line label for my first person, then count lines until I get to my second person. For example, András is in the 1C (first cousin) line, and Michael is two lines down from there, so András and Michael are first cousins twice removed.

    2

Answers

  • Julia Szent-Györgyi
    Julia Szent-Györgyi ✭✭✭✭✭
    April 18, 2023

    Your children aren't horizontal on a cousin chart. They're simply one further down, vertically.

    How your first cousin once removed relates to your children depends on the direction of that "removed": if you're the older generation, then yes, your children are that person's second cousins. If you're the younger generation compared to your cousin, then your children are his or her first cousins twice removed.

    (If someone hasn't replied with a visual aid by tomorrow, I'll go look, but it's past bedtime right now.)

    1
  • LuciaV
    LuciaV ✭✭
    April 18, 2023 edited April 18, 2023
    Untitled Image

    I think this is a great chart (from familysearch itself). Instead of "your grandparent" on the top of the chart you just move one generation to the right for your child (i.e.: your 2nd great-grandparent = your child's 3rd great-grandparent) and then search for the same ancestor on the left for your cousin. The intersection is the relationship you're looking for. You can calculate for yourself, your kids, grandkids, whoever basically.

    2
  • itsmesotmhg
    itsmesotmhg ✭
    April 19, 2023

    Thank you for the answers. Julia, I appreciate your explanation however, I'm still a little confused. Please help me to understand about older and younger generation. (This is my child so, of course I'm older)

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  • LuciaV
    LuciaV ✭✭
    April 19, 2023

    I think Julia meant whether you're younger or older than the cousin, not your child.

    If you are older than your cousin (we're still talking about the first cousin once removed) that would make that cousin and your child the same generation thus... They are not "removed" at all. It would make them second cousins because they share the same great-grandparent.

    If you're younger than your cousin, there are 2 generations between your child and said cousin. The ancestor they share is your kid's 2nd great-grandparent (your great-grandparent) but the cousin's grandparent. Thus making them 1st cousins twice (2 generations) removed.

    Hope it makes sense.

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