Cousins

I perceive that this is an area of confusion in a lot of households.

Remember the three folks who created and are maintaining this web site? Well, Charles Ernest Templer and Becky Templer Breazeale (brother & sister) are the fifth cousins of the WebMaster, Joe L. Templer, Jr.! 5th cousins!!! How does one know someone is a 1st, 2nd, 5th or 7th cousin??

A simple rule is to count the G's.

This kinship is easy to establish, especially when you and your kin are of the same generation. Just go back through both of your ancestors until you find the one common to you both. In the case of Charles/Becky and myself, we have to go back to our Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandparents before we discover a kinfolk common to us. That is 5 Gs. That makes us 5th cousins!!!

It gets a little more difficult when the two of you are not of the same generation. But, you can handle it. Take Charles & Becky's father, Charles Gaylord Templer. What kin is he to my sons? When you go back to a common ancestor of two people to establish kinship, the one with the shortest route to that ancestor establishes the kinship. For example, Charles Gaylord and my sons have to go back to James Templer (1755-1846) to find a common kin or ancestor. Now, James is Charles Gaylord's Great-Great-Great-Grandfather and my sons' Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather. Since Charles Gaylord's route has only 4 Gs and my sons' has 6 Gs, that makes them 4th cousins. And since my sons have an extra 2 Gs that means they are twice removed. WOW!!! TWICE REMOVED !! Yep, Charles Gaylord and my sons are 4th cousins, twice removed.

I can remember my mother telling me that her 1st cousin (Mary Jo) was my 2nd cousin. How many of you have been told that? Well, that simply isn't right and can be demonstrated when you count the Gs. To find Mary Jo's and my common ancestor we have to go back to her Grandmother who was my Great-Grandmother. So Mary Jo's route has only one G and mine has two Gs. The shortest route has one G, so we are first cousins once removed, because I have one more G. She would be my sons' first cousin twice removed, because they would have two more Gs

ILLUSTRATION

The following illustrates the above explanation. It might intimidate you at first, but study it a minute and it follows the above explanation exactly and is really simple !

			Great Great Grandfather
			|
Great Granduncle			Great Grandfather
|			|
1st Cousin Twice Removed	Granduncle		Grandfather
|	|		|
2nd Cousin Once Removed	1st Cousin Once Removed	Uncle	Father
|	|	|	|
3rd Cousin	2nd Cousin	1st Cousin	THIS IS YOU	Brother
	|	|	|	|
	2nd Cousin Once Removed	1st Cousin Once Removed	Son	Nephew
	|	|	|	|
	2nd Cousin Twice Removed	1st Cousin Twice Removed	Grandson	Grandnephew
		|		|
		1st Cousin 3 Times Removed		Great Grandnephew

Why not copy the above and keep it for reference?

Use the Arrow to return to previous page.