# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/41 "2014-03-14T17:46:43Z")
Over 100. I think it’s 104. My mother was one of 12 kids (I think 56 cousins) and my dad one of 11 (I think 48 cousins). ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/42 "2014-03-14T17:51:20Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > That’s twenty two aunts and uncles producing an average of over six kids each. . .surely that 140 includes removes, or spouses? I suppose it’s possible she’s inflating the number a little or including removes, but she’s always said “140 first cousins.” I can’t say I’ve ever checked the records to confirm it, but with French-Canadian Catholic families back then it wouldn’t be that unrealistic. I’ll ask her for clarification tonight! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/43 "2014-03-14T17:56:14Z")
Six for me. Three on my mother’s side, three on my father’s side. None for my kids. My wife is an only child and my brother has no kids. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/44 "2014-03-14T18:03:57Z")
Six. Father’s sister had 2 kids. Mother’s sister had 4 kids. 12 1st cousins once removed (1st cousins’ children) though. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/45 "2014-03-14T18:06:32Z")
Once 7, now 6. Five paternal ( one family, only one of my father’s three sisters had children ) and two maternal ( again one family - only one of my mother’s two siblings had kids ). The generation previous on my mother’s side was huge with something like twelve siblings of my maternal grandmother, so I apparently have a shit-ton of second cousins but I know almost none of them. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/46 "2014-03-14T18:07:55Z")
I have nine - five maternal, four paternal. But my parents generation had zillions! My grandmother was the youngest of 16 children and granddaddy had three siblings, so my mother had something like 80 first cousins. Grandma and Grandpa had a total of thirteen siblings between them, and Daddy had over 60 first cousins. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/47 "2014-03-14T18:34:11Z")
My parents each had one sibling. My mother’s brother had 3 kids, and my father’s sister had 4, total 7. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/48 "2014-03-14T20:23:43Z")
I have three. My dad’s brother has two girls a few years younger than me, and my mom’s brother has a boy two years older. ---
**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, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/49 "2014-03-14T20:35:06Z")
Yeah, with some of these higher numbers, people may not know the technicalities between first, first once removed, full second, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/50 "2014-03-14T20:35:23Z")
1. 14 living, as one was stillborn. Age range: 15-44. All of Dad’s siblings had two children, for a total of six. All of Mum’s siblings had three children, for a total of nine. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/51 "2014-03-14T20:36:30Z")
> [@tapu](#): > > Yeah, with some of these higher numbers, people may not know the technicalities between first, first once removed, full second, etc. And then some of us just have really big families. ---
**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, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/52 "2014-03-14T20:37:25Z")
Didja know you could marry your first cousin in many US states? ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/53 "2014-03-14T20:41:04Z")
21–9 paternal, 12 maternal. Mom was the oldest of six, Dad the oldest of four, and each sibling had two to four children. Adding in removes, I’ve probably got a hell of a lot more than that. One cousin has six kids already, but they finally got a girl on the last try and I think they’re done. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/54 "2014-03-14T20:41:44Z")
Eighteen on my mum’s side (she was one of six kids). Just one on my dad’s. So, 19 all up (18 living as far as I know. One cousin died in infancy). ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/55 "2014-03-14T20:43:56Z")
1. 18 on my dad’s side (he was one of nine,) and just 2 on my mom’s side (she was just one of two.) And I’m one of three children, so on my father’s side there are 21 of us “cousins” total. We are pretty close, always tend to know what’s going in in each other’s lives and such. Of the 21, all but 4 live in either the small Vermont town we all grew up in, or merely “one town over.” Of the 4 that don’t live within a two town radius, I’m the next closest at about 35 miles away. My sister and another cousin live a few hundred miles away near Boston, and finally I have one cousin in the Navy and is currently stationed in Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/56 "2014-03-14T20:46:49Z")
Four. My dad was an only child. My mom has three sisters, but one never married or had kids. The other two sisters have two children each, all 6-8 years older than me. Sometimes I wish I had more cousins, and that I wasn’t the only granddaughter on my dad’s side of the family. But generally it’s good. ---
**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, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/57 "2014-03-14T20:57:23Z")
> [@tapu](#): > > Yeah, with some of these higher numbers, people may not know the technicalities between first, first once removed, full second, etc. If that’s the case, and I do know that some families don’t go by these same names, then at least the relationships in [this consanguinity chart](http://www.chickasawcoia-geniesoc.org/chart_page01.htm) can help sort out one version of the terminology. YMMV. ---
**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, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/58 "2014-03-14T21:13:17Z")
Here’s a snapshot that may be fun to look back at after another batch of replies have come in: ```auto View Poll Results: How many First Cousins have you had? This poll will close on 04-03-2014 at 10:27 AM None 3 2.63% 2.63% One 3 2.63% 5.26% Two 4 3.51% 8.77% 3-5 18 15.79% 24.56% 6-10 31 27.19% 51.75% 11-15 17 14.91% 66.66% 16-20 11 9.65% 76.31% 21-30 15 13.16% 89.47% 31-50 10 8.77% 98.24% Over 50 2 1.75% 99.99% Voters: 114 ``` ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/59 "2014-03-14T21:36:24Z")
I have (or had) 23 maternal first cousins and 12 paternal first cousins for a total of 32. ( Three are on both sides of the family:) ) ---
**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, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/60 "2014-03-14T21:42:35Z")
> [@missred](#): > > I have (or had) 23 maternal first cousins and 12 paternal first cousins for a total of 32. > ( Three are on both sides of the family:) ) You mean, “double cousins”? Lots of people have never heard of that, as I found out after leaving Appalachia. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695.md?page=4)