# How many First Cousins have you had? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 14, 2014, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695 "2014-03-14T15:25:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/21 "2014-03-14T16:34:19Z")
> [@Motorgirl](#): > > Poll wasn’t there yet when I answered - now I voted! Where’s my “I voted” sticker? Thanks. That sticker is in the mail! :D:D ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/22 "2014-03-14T16:35:43Z")
Twenty-seven, I think, I may have missed a couple. What can I say? Catholic family. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/23 "2014-03-14T16:38:55Z")
Two maternally (Mom had one brother) Paternally? Lessee, two, four, nine - so, 15. One of my uncles really really wanted a son. Nine girls later, he gave up. In fact, of the 17 total cousins, only two are male. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/24 "2014-03-14T16:50:00Z")
Just for the record: I tried three times to reply to the posts above and my replies got lost or never went through (board maintenance for one thing). An additional comment I had made in one response was that another thread on the general subject of cousins, to include all the once-removed, step- and half- and other variations of cousinship might be fun to play with. I’ll leave that thread to anybody who wants to start it. I had a high school friend whose family was about as complex as any I have heard of and he had relationships (of the kinship sort) that I doubt anybody could top. Extended family extraordinaire! ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/25 "2014-03-14T16:51:23Z")
I said 11, altho the paternity of one cousin is in question. My uncle’s 5th wife was, well, she was something… ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/26 "2014-03-14T17:02:26Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I said 11, altho the paternity of one cousin is in question. My uncle’s 5th wife was, well, she was something… Yep. That’s another wrinkle! And once we get into the incest side of things, it can really get messy. That friend I mentioned above never was sure how many ways he was kin to some of his “cousins.” My wife and I were just discussing how family trees can be mysterious things to do any real research on, when generations loop back on one another. Those things are rarely reported accurately in the “family Bible” where I grew up. And there’s always that story/joke about being one’s own grandfather! ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/27 "2014-03-14T17:03:14Z")
Per the OP’s instructions and excluding step-cousins, I’ve got four - two a few years older than me (father’s sister’s sons) and two the same age range as my son (mother’s brother’s sons) - the later two I think of and relate to as an aunt, but technically they are my cousins. Including halves and steps? I honestly have no idea. My two young cousins have an older half-sister, and I know her, so there’s one. My stepmother has two living brothers, but I haven’t kept track of their offspring. There are probably another three or four, I think? No matter how you count it, I have fewer cousins than my husband has siblings! (12 kids to one mom, no multiples.) ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/28 "2014-03-14T17:15:00Z")
Ten, but two were adoptees, so not blood related. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/29 "2014-03-14T17:15:37Z")
20 plus - my dad came from a family of seven, my mom from a family of eight. ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/30 "2014-03-14T17:15:44Z")
23 cousins for me - 8 kids on my mom’s side, and 5 on my dad’s. I’m the child of the oldest (my mom), so I’m also in that weird situation where I have cousins that are 42, and cousins that are 10 years old. So practically, I’m more like an aunt to 8 of them. ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/31 "2014-03-14T17:22:33Z")
I remember us counting 57 full firsts not too many years ago. It was uncertain though because my mom, with 11 siblings, and my dad, with 15, didn’t really know if some of them had had more kids after they lost track of one another. I’m an only child–the only only child among my cousins. 🙂 My son is also an only child, and of course, has no first cousins. (As a gift to you all, I won’t link my blog entry about this.) ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/32 "2014-03-14T17:27:40Z")
I count up to 35–26 on my mother’s side and at least 9 on my father’s (I’m not as close to his side of the family and things are a little more complicated). ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/33 "2014-03-14T17:31:11Z")
11 but three have passed away. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/34 "2014-03-14T17:31:40Z")
Three, but I marked two. One on my mother’s side and two on my father’s. I never knew I had cousins on my father’s side until just a few years ago, and one of them is dead. It’s a feeble excuse for a genealogist, but it’s all I’ve got. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/35 "2014-03-14T17:34:42Z")
I’ve got 23 that I know about, since we know almost nothing about my father’s family except that he had at least one sibling. My mother came from a group of 10 kids - 7 girls, 3 boys - and because they all loved coming from a big family, none has an only child. Noe took things as far as our grandparents, though. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/36 "2014-03-14T17:35:25Z")
Six total: four maternal and two paternal. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/37 "2014-03-14T17:35:53Z")
My father’s an only child but my mom had two brothers. One had four kids, one of whom was hit by a car and killed when he was 20. The other had one kid. So, had five, have four. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/38 "2014-03-14T17:36:07Z")
1. My mother was one of 11 children in her family. All but one of her siblings had children; I have 30 first cousins on her side of my family. My father only has one sibling (a brother), but he had eight children. So, 8 first cousins on that side. Of the 38, 37 are still alive (I had one cousin who died in a motorcycle accident just after graduating from high school). I never really processed that this large number of cousins was in any way outside of the norm until I got married. My wife has only 6 first cousins (her mom was an only child, which cut down on the possibilities). My wife’s sister has 3 children, and they have _zero_ first cousins – my wife and I are childless, and their one aunt on their father’s side is 42, single, and childless. ---
**Author:** ![SylverOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SylverOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SylverOne)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/39 "2014-03-14T17:39:48Z")
only 2 on my mom’s side, but my dad was the youngest of 9 kids. I can’t keep track of his… ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/40 "2014-03-14T17:40:41Z")
26: 18 Paternal and 8 maternal. Knew 24 of them personally. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695.md?page=3)