What's a Cousin?

WHAT'S A COUSIN?

Kissing Cousins:

The term kissing cousins has many definitions. Its meaning is conveyed by connotation according to the setting in which it is used. Depending on cultural environment and mood of conversation, its connotation can be humorous and good natured, pejorative and nasty, or simply informative. The meaning is left to the discretion of the one hearing the term. It can also be used to indicate a relationship or similarity between things rather than human beings.
In the first sense, it could either mean people who are closely enough related so that a kiss is an acceptable form of greeting or, in some states, that they are not so closely related that kissing might lead to an incestous outcome and could therefore be cousins but not a first cousins. These would be people who are allowed by law to get married and have children.

In the second sense, when used pejoratively to denote something base, immoral, and incestuous, it implies that close relatives are sexually active and will produce or have already produced a crop of imbeciles or physically altered mutants. About half of the states in the U.S. ban marriage between first cousins for that reason, but modern science has shown that there is only a very little increased risk of inherited disease or abnormalities when first cousins have children.

That's not to say that there is no risk in groups that are known to have high incidence rates of genetically transmitted conditions like Negroes with sickle cell anemia, Jews with Tay-Sachs disease, or Northern Europeans with hemochromatosis. First cousins in groups where any hereditary condition is prevalent and who intend to marry should get genetic counseling beforehand. The state of Maine, in fact, requires first cousins to do so before they can be legally wed. Still, the risk is only slightly higher than it would be if the couple were not cousins.

Double Cousins:

There is the rare case of double cousins which are are first cousins who share two sets of grandpaents. That occurs when siblings of one family marry siblings of another family. As far as marriage laws go, North Carolina is apparently the only state than allows first cousin marriages but bans double cousins from marrying. Other states that allow first cousin marriages do not make a distinction for double cousins.

First Cousins:

Children of siblings are first cousins to each other.
Children of your aunt and uncle are your first cousins.
Your child and a child of your brother or sister are first cousins.
First cousins have maternal or paternal grandparents as their closest common ancestors.

Second Cousins:

Children of first cousins are second cousins to each other.
Your grandchild and your sibling's grandchild are second cousins.
Second cousins have maternal or paternal great-grandparents as their closest common ancestors.

Third Cousins:

Children of second cousins are third cousins to each other.

Your great grandchildren and your sibling's great grandchildren are third cousins.

Third cousins have maternal or paternal great-great-grandparents as their closest common ancestors.

The simplest way to determine the relationship of cousins is the arithmetical method. For each cousin, count the "greats" and "grands" coming before the nearest common grandparent. The smaller of the two numbers equals the kind of cousin - first, second, third. The difference between the two numbers equals the number of times they are removed.

So, if one cousin's great-great-great grandfather is anothers grandfather, their respective scores are 4 and 1. The lower number is 1; the difference is 3. They are first cousins three times removed.

Cousins Removed:

Are you my second cousin or first cousin once removed?

The simplest way to determine the relationship of cousins is the arithmetical method. For each cousin, count the "greats" and "grands" coming before the nearest common grandparent. The smaller of the two numbers equals the kind of cousin - first, second, third. The difference between the two numbers equals the number of times they are removed.

So, if one cousin's great-great-great grandfather is anothers grandfather, their respective scores are 4 and 1. The lower number is 1; the difference is 3. They are first cousins three times removed.

1^st Cousins:

If the grandparents of one cousin are the great-grandparents of another, they are first cousins once removed.
If the great-grandparents of one cousin are the great-great grandparents of another, they are also first cousins once removed.
If the grandparents of one cousin are the great-great-grandparents of another, they are first cousins twice removed, and so forth.
A child of your first cousin once removed is your first cousin twice removed.
A child of your first cousin once removed is your child's second cousin

2^nd Cousins:

If the great-grandparents of one cousin are the great-great-grandparents of another, they are second cousins once removed.
Your second cousin's child is your second cousin once removed.

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