Deciphering who is nearest relative
I see relatives listed as Third Cousin, Fourth Cousin once removed, 9th cousin 5 x removed, etc. . How does one know what this means? Is there a chart to 'decode' this ?
Best Answer
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Hi @CaroleDavis76.
This chart should help you, and there's also a relationship calculator farther down on the page: https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/cousin-chart
Essentially, these labels are just how you are related to your common ancestor compared to someone else. Your 1st cousins—commonly just "cousins"—share the same grandparent with you. A 2nd cousin shares the same great-grandparent, a 3rd cousin shares the same great-great-grandparents, and so on.
When someone is "removed" it means the two of you are connected at differing generations. For instance, the child of your 1st cousin and you would be 1st cousins once removed because your grandparent is their great-grandfather. Another way of thinking about it is to visualize a family tree. In this case, a cousin's child wouldn't be at the same "level" as your name would appear, rather another generation down, or "removed".
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