Genealogy.com: What is a First Cousin, Twice Removed?

What is a First Cousin, Twice Removed?

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Figuring Out Family Relationships At Genealogy.com, we get asked about how to determine relationships all the time. Here, you'll learn how to figure out the relationships between family members using a simple chart.
If someone walked up to you and said "Howdy, I'm your third cousin, twice removed," would you have any idea what they meant? Most people have a good understanding of basic relationship words such as "mother," "father," "aunt," "uncle," "brother," and "sister." But what about the relationship terms that we don't use in everyday speech? Terms like "second cousin" and "first cousin, once removed"? We don't tend to speak about our relationships in such exact terms ("cousin" seems good enough when you are introducing one person to another), so most of us aren't familiar with what these words mean.