# Great uncle or Grand uncle? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 23, 2024, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-uncle-or-grand-uncle/1009081 "2024-10-23T02:58:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-uncle-or-grand-uncle/1009081/1 "2024-10-23T02:58:17Z")
The [wiki on uncle](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle#/media/File%3AUncles.png) includes a chart that says that your grandparents brother is your Granduncle although some may be referred to as great uncles. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard the term Granduncle or Grandaunt for that matter. Which term would you be more likely to use? _Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-uncle-or-grand-uncle/1009081/1))_ ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-uncle-or-grand-uncle/1009081/2 "2024-10-23T03:23:42Z")
Well, it’s still early in the morning and our UK dopers aren’t up yet. Maybe they’re the ones responsible for Granduncle. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-uncle-or-grand-uncle/1009081/3 "2024-10-23T06:55:55Z")
Nope. I’m a great-uncle (if not necessarily a great uncle) seven times over. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-uncle-or-grand-uncle/1009081/4 "2024-10-23T08:47:27Z")
As a child, it always confused me that my grandfather’s brothers were my great-uncles. I thought they should have been my grand-uncles. I would support the change in nomenclature. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-uncle-or-grand-uncle/1009081/5 "2024-10-23T10:31:46Z")
Grand-aunt and grand-uncle for me, then my great-grandparents’ siblings are great-grand-aunts and -uncles. To add to the confusion, [ancestry.com](http://ancestry.com) claims that there is a distinction between grand-aunts and great-aunts, and that the dictionaries have it wrong. > **[Great-Aunt vs. Grand-Aunt: When To Use Them](https://www.ancestry.com/c/ancestry-blog/great-aunt-vs-grand-aunt-when-to-use-them)** ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-uncle-or-grand-uncle/1009081/6 "2024-10-23T14:34:53Z")
As an amateur genealogist, I prefer the term ‘grand’ over great as prefix for aunt/uncle, as it makes things conform with grandfather/mother terminology. This way, my great grandfather and my great granduncle are of the same generation. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-uncle-or-grand-uncle/1009081/7 "2024-10-23T14:40:40Z")
From the cited link: > According to genealogists, great-aunt is then supposed to be used for relatives who are three generations older than you or more. So, your great-grandmother or great-grandfather’s sister is your great-aunt. This sounds like the way “aunt” (or “auntie”) is used in certain cultures to mean “any non-lineal, non-sibling female relative older than yourself.” ---
**Author:** ![Nyvaak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Nyvaak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nyvaak)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-uncle-or-grand-uncle/1009081/8 "2024-10-23T14:42:50Z")
Long ago I wondered why there _wasn’t_ such a term as grand uncle or grand aunt, just to make things symmetrical with grandfathers and grandmothers. That way, I figured, nobody got the “great” prefix unless they were three generations up from you. I’m surprised to read here that there actually is such a term. Never, in my whole life, have I heard it used in speech. (P.S. Due to a niece who married young and whose kids and grandkids did the same, plus the fact that he lived to age 100, my father was a great-great-great-uncle when he died. He couldn’t have been a great-great-great grandfather, though.) ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-uncle-or-grand-uncle/1009081/9 "2024-10-23T16:22:45Z")
I was the same way. When my parents told me of my great uncles, it seemed like they should be “grand”. But like you, I’ve never heard that usage. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-uncle-or-grand-uncle/1009081/10 "2024-10-23T20:13:57Z")
Growing up in a “grand-aunt” (or more precisely “gran-aunt”) dialect, the term “great-aunt” seemed like something that a posh English person might use, for example a character in an Oscar Wilde play. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-uncle-or-grand-uncle/1009081/11 "2024-10-23T20:17:50Z")
Another vote for never ever having heard the “grand aunt” phrase used in my life. Also, wondered about it, albeit, very superficially. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-uncle-or-grand-uncle/1009081/12 "2024-10-23T22:02:01Z")
I’ve also never heard grandaunt/uncle used, although I would happily accept the usage if it were adopted by my siblings’ grandchildren. It’s much less confusing. My great-uncle Charlie and great-aunt Rose were much older than my grandmother, and when I was a kid I was amazed and confused to find out they were all of the same generation. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-uncle-or-grand-uncle/1009081/13 "2024-10-25T23:03:49Z")
No, it doesn’t say great aunt is supposed to be used for _any_ female relative three generations or more older than you. The entire page is about the differences between “great aunts” and “grand aunts” and it specifically says > A grand-aunt is the name that should be given to the sister of a person’s grandparent, indicating that they are the first generation of an aunt or uncle beyond your parent’s siblings. > According to genealogists, great-aunt is then supposed to be used for relatives who are three generations older than you or more. So, your great-grandmother or great-grandfather’s sister is your great-aunt “Grand” and “Great” specifically apply to siblings of grandparents and great-grandparents. They wouldn’t apply to the children of those people - the child of my grand-aunt is my first cousin once removed and the child of my great-aunt is my first cousin twice removed. The way “aunt” or “uncle” is used in certain cultures means that you call cousins older than you “aunt” or “uncle” (and sometimes completely unrelated people ) so in those cultures, I would most likely call my grand-aunt’s daughter “aunt” although she’s actually a cousin. . ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2024, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-uncle-or-grand-uncle/1009081/14 "2024-10-26T15:46:55Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > To add to the confusion, [ancestry.com](http://ancestry.com) claims that there is a distinction between grand-aunts and great-aunts, and that the dictionaries have it wrong. By the standards of that article, your grandfather’s father should be called your greatfather. No, “great” doesn’t mean “three generations removed”. “Great grand” means “three generations removed”. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2024, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-uncle-or-grand-uncle/1009081/15 "2024-11-23T21:40:07Z")
I was watching the Miyazaki film “The Boy and the Heron” on Netflix and I noticed that the English subtitles use the term “Granduncle” and “Great-granduncle” to refer to one of the characters. Checking the Wikipedia page, I see the character is consistently referred to as “Granduncle”. [The Boy and the Heron - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boy_and_the_Heron) IMDb is inconsistent between language versions: [The Boy and the Heron (2023) - Shohei Hino as Great-Uncle - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6587046/characters/nm0385846?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t14) [The Boy and the Heron (2023) - Mark Hamill as Granduncle - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6587046/characters/nm0000434?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t32)