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eLearning Series: Geneology
My Family Tree is Important to Me
( 50 articles in this series )
Deciphering
Cousins in Your Ancestral Tree
Joining the world of genealogy research can
be quite exciting at times. At other times, though, it can
be confusing and difficult. Not only can it be hard to locate
sources of information about your family, it can also be hard
to figure out who is related to whom. There are so many terms
for relationships that most people do not know how do deal
with the inundation of information. Hopefully, though, the
below text will help sort a few things out.
Let's
start with cousins, because there are so many different
terms in this area, it can be really hard to sort things out.
If someone came up to you and said they were your fourth cousin
three times removed, it would be complicated to figure out
whom they belonged to. Cousin, at its very base, means
people who have the same grandparents. These people can also be referred
to as first cousins. They are the children of aunts and uncles.
Second cousins are people who have the same great-grandparents,
but not the same grandparents. So if you think about your children
and the children of your cousins, they are considered to be
second cousins. It follows that third, fourth, and fifth cousins
would have a very similar pattern. Third cousins would share
the same great-great grandparents. Fourth cousins would share
the same great-great-great grandparents. Fifth cousins would
share the same great-great-great-great grandparents. It's rare
to actually know your fifth cousins, but genealogy research
can certainly uncover them for you.
In addition to cousins, you
also have cousins who have been “removed.” This does not mean they were excommunicated from
the family or anything. It means that these particular cousins
are from two different generations. Once removed means one
generation of difference, twice removed means two generations
of difference, and so on. Take this example to sort things
out. Your mother's first cousin is your first cousin once removed.
Here's another one. Your grandmother's first cousin is your
first cousin twice removed. It still seems a bit complicated,
doesn't it? It not only seems complicated to you, it can seem
extraordinarily complicated to anyone who plans to read the
research you are so carefully compiling. In addition to the
other documentation you should consider using; you might want
to think about downloading or copying a relationship chart
to sort things out.
A relationship
chart is a simple document that can help you
figure out who is who in your family and how they are related
to each other. Both the top and the left side labels will mirror
each other. They should be: child, grandchild, great grandchild,
and great-great grandchild. The middle of the chart gets a
bit more complicated, as the relationships get more complicated.
The first column, moving down, should read “sister or brother,”
“nephew or niece,” “grand-nephew or niece,” and “grand-grand-nephew
or niece.” The second column, moving down, should read “nephew
or niece,” “first cousin,” “first cousin, once removed,” and
“first cousin, twice removed.” The third column, moving down,
should read “grand-nephew or niece,” “first cousin, once removed,”
“second cousin,” and “second cousin, once removed.” The final
column should read, moving down, “grand-grand nephew or niece,”
“first cousin, twice removed,” “second cousin, once removed,”
“third cousin.” This sounds incredibly complicated, and to
some degree it is and always will be. In reality, most people
simply aren't going to care when it hits this degree of complication,
but a relationship chart like this one can really help you
sort things out as you try to write your own family history.
To further complicate the family relationships you are trying
to determine, don't forget that some families may have
a situation with double-cousins. This means that the siblings from one
family married the siblings from another family. For example,
perhaps your grandmother and her sister married your grandfather
and his brother, respectively.
You should be aware that the word “cousin,” and many other
familial terms have changed over the course of time. Some are
even Latin. As a result, it is not a bad idea to check with
a standard family term glossary as you are trying to complete
your research. There are many of these in your local library.
You can also look around online to find a standard familial
term glossary. # # # # #
SolveYourProblem.com
: 2006
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