# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/101 "2014-03-15T17:34:09Z")
> [@Motorgirl](#): > > 34 - 8 on my mom’s side and 26 on my dad’s side (two of my dad’s sisters were prolific breeders) How prolific? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Beelzebubba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Beelzebubba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beelzebubba)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/102 "2014-03-15T17:52:32Z")
ZERO for me. Mom and Dad were both ‘only’ children. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/103 "2014-03-17T14:11:12Z")
I put 16-20 but frankly I’m not sure. I have four on my Dad’s side but my Mum is the eldest of eight. I have cousins I wouldn’t recognise in the street. When my Mother relays a family story I have to ask her what my connection to them is. ---
**Author:** ![SerafinaPekala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@SerafinaPekala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SerafinaPekala)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/104 "2014-03-17T14:19:07Z")
“Had” in the biblical sense? Well, there is that aunt in West Virginia that we visited one summer … ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/105 "2014-03-17T14:27:03Z")
I’ve got first cousins that I’ve never met. My dad’s brothers & sisters were 8 years older than him. They lived in other states and raised families. There were 7 first cousins on my mom’s side. She had two sisters. I’ve met all those first cousins. I estimated 14 total. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/106 "2014-03-17T15:03:45Z")
20 on the nose. And my grandparents came from families with many siblings who were even more prolific, so the second cousin count take a really big jump. Because the family tended to stay in the same town, routine family gatherings included all the seconds and thirds, so it was a bit of an effort to count up the 20 first cousins and make sure I wasn’t mixing up anyone’s parents. I have only the one kid, and it was really, really odd when I realized that my brother’s children will only have one cousin. ONE! ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/107 "2014-03-17T17:38:24Z")
12, of whom 11 survive. The one who died, a couple of years ago at age 55, is also the only one I never met. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/108 "2014-03-17T17:44:12Z")
Whaddaya mean, how many first cousins have I _had_? Got something against West Virginia? :mad: ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/109 "2014-03-17T18:18:12Z")
None. My father was an only child; my mother had five half-siblings, and I guess their dozen or so children would be my half-cousins. Right? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/110 "2014-03-17T18:42:37Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > None. My father was an only child; my mother had five half-siblings, and I guess their dozen or so children would be my half-cousins. Right? The several places I have tried for a more comprehensive definition all say > [@](#): > > 1.The child of one’s parent’s half-sibling. or words to that same effect. I have one first cousin who has a half-brother and half-sister, I suppose the term for my relation to her is half-cousin, but I have never thought of her as anything but my first cousin. She has children so I guess that half- thing works into the terms for my kids’ relation to her kids. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/111 "2014-03-17T19:24:04Z")
I had 11 paternal cousins and 50 maternal ones. My mother came from a family of 12 with 10 surviving to adulthood. My father did as well, but they weren’t nearly as prolific. Five of his siblings had no children (that they claimed) at all. ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/112 "2014-03-17T21:49:39Z")
15, of which 11 are still alive. One drowned as a toddler in a neighbor’s pond back in the 1960s. The rest reached adulthood. ---
**Author:** ![Eugene\_of\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c37758/32.png) [@Eugene\_of\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eugene_of_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/113 "2014-03-17T22:45:48Z")
Interesting. Knew there was a slew but never actual tallied them up. 34. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/114 "2014-03-17T22:55:12Z")
Seven total, counting the child that my aunt gave up for adoption who “found” her as an adult. I figured if we weren’t supposed to count children “adopted in,” then we must be supposed to count children “adopted out.” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/115 "2014-03-18T02:49:24Z")
> [@SerafinaPekala](#): > > “Had” in the biblical sense? > > Well, there is that aunt in West Virginia that we visited one summer … > [@Jackmannii](#): > > Whaddaya mean, how many first cousins have I _had_? > > Got something against West Virginia? :mad: Mary had a little sheep With the sheep she did sleep, The sheep turned out to be a ram, Mary had a little lamb. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/116 "2014-03-18T04:08:15Z")
16 that I know of. I say ‘know of’ because we found out about 1 when he was around 16. It’s highly possible that there are more we don’t know about. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/117 "2014-03-18T07:45:41Z")
My father had 8 brothers and three sisters. He couldn’t name them all without using his fingers, and often not even then. I know one name of one uncle for sure, but haven’t even a hint of how many cousins were/are floating about. But I guessed 21-30 ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/118 "2014-03-18T07:57:27Z")
11, though one of them died as a baby, so 10. Edit: Oh, I forgot to count my dad’s side of the family. I don’t know because even before I stopped being in contact with my dad when I was like 8 we didn’t know about one of his siblings, but I think the aunt we did know about had 2-3 kids. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/119 "2014-03-18T10:49:30Z")
Probably about 15. Five from my mother’s side, and probably ten from my father’s side, though I’ve only met four. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695/120 "2014-03-18T15:05:04Z")
One on my mom’s side, a dozen or so on my dad’s side. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-first-cousins-have-you-had/683695.md?page=7)