# How many grandparents do you have? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 3, 2006, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grandparents-do-you-have/351111 "2006-04-03T18:26:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2006, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grandparents-do-you-have/351111/21 "2006-04-04T01:06:14Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > If you tell any of those 14 children (most of whom are grandparents by now and some of whom are not genetically related) that they aren’t brothers, or the next generation that they aren’t cousins, or the third generation that they’re not second-cousins, you’re in for a lot of pain. At the very least you’ll have over 50 people yelling at you at the top of their lungs. My (American) aunt married a Mexican man. His younger sister married an American man, and moved to the United States, where she’s now lived for years and years. She has two kids. I’m not sure if they’re even Mexican citizens, and they certainly don’t speak Spanish. They’re Americans, I’m an American, we all live in the United States, and we’re not related by blood at all, BUT they are “my cousins” because we’re related via Mexicans. It’s just funny - my cousins all have cousins on the other side of their families, but these are the only ones anyone would consider a relation, because the Latino idea of family is so encompassing. Anyway, I have four grandparents. My zeyde I never met, he died before I was born. My grandpa died when I was fifteen. My grandma has Alzheimer’s and doesn’t know who I am anymore. My bubbe is still going strong, but she’s become paranoid in her old age, and she thinks everyone is an anti-Semite. (She’s _just_ like Uncle Leo on _Seinfeld_. She once told me that my dad - her son - is an anti-Semite. Er, okay, Bubbe.) ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2006, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grandparents-do-you-have/351111/22 "2006-04-04T01:40:04Z")
Just the original biological 4, all deceased. I never knew my grandfathers, and my grandmothers died in '74 and '87. > [@ultrafilter](#): > > As long you have an ancestor in common, you’re cousins. If you’re both grandchildren of the common ancestor(s), you’re first cousins once removed. No, I think this is incorrect. If you share grandparents, you’re cousins. (Unless you’re siblings, of course. :rolleyes: ) If you share great-grandparents, you’re second cousins. If you share great-great-grandparents, you’re third cousins. And so on. If your grandparent is the other person’s great-grandparent (or vice versa), you’re first cousins once removed. In other words, my mom’s first cousins are my first cousins once removed. Mom’s cousins’ kids are my second cousins. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2006, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grandparents-do-you-have/351111/23 "2006-04-04T02:22:14Z")
I’m a child of older parents, and all four grandparents had died before I was born. Three died of natural causes, and my mother’s mum was in a car accident, but she would have been very old by the time I’d have gotten to know her properly. She had two sisters, my great aunts, who were the closest I had to grandparents. My aunty Jean was killed by a speeding idiot at a pedestrian crossing when I was twelve (she was on her way to the bus stop to visit us ☹ ). She was a great wit, and good company, and I was only just starting to appreciate her when we lost her. Her sister, my Aunty Peg, who is understandably a bit scared of cars now having lost two sisters that way, is also good company, but a little more straitlaced than Jean was. When her husband died a little over ten years ago, she stayed in her home and was mostly independent (apart from crippling arthritis she’s had since her forties). Late last year, she reluctantly went into a retirement village. Last week, her house was sold, and in the same week, she was admitted to hospital with an undiagnosed weakness, dizziness, etc. She still has all her marbles, but I’m unsure how long we’re going to have her for. She’s 83. Once she’s gone, that’s it for me. Both sisters, Aunty Jean and Aunty Peggy, had very, very boring, conservative husbands, and both only had a few years of widowhood where they basically came out of their shells and made up for lost time. Overseas trips, sneaky glasses of sherry, a sly dirty joke, etc. Good women. There was also ‘Pa’, my stepfather’s dad. A great old bloke, but he was already in his late seventies when I met him as a teenager, and he was very doddery then. Still had most of his wits, but he was a terribly old-fashioned country boy (even by the standards of somebody born in 1909). I visited him in a nursing home about seven years ago, and he had lost it. Didn’t know who I was. He died a few months later. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2006, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grandparents-do-you-have/351111/24 "2006-04-04T06:58:32Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Do you like soap operas? > > 1. Mr García married Miss Pérez. They had 2 kids, whose lastnames are García Potter. > 2. Mr García died. > 3. Mrs Pérez, widow of García, married Mr Sanmartín. They had 4 children, Sanmartín Pérez. > 4. Mrs Pérez died. > 5. Mr Sanmartín married Miss Martínez. They had 3 children, Sanmartín Martínez. > 6. Mr Sanmartín died. > 7. Mrs Martínez, widow of Sanmartín, married Mr Bonilla. They had 5 children, Bonilla Martínez. Hah! There’s a similar version of this story in the entertainment biz (since they’re all well-known celebrities, I’ll use their real names). 1. Ray Davies (The Kinks) had a daughter with Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders) named Natalie. They split up. 2. Chrissie Hynde married Jim Kerr (Simple Mind) and they had a daughter Yasmin. They divorced. 3. Jim Kerr married Patsy Kensit (Eighth Wonder) and they had a son James. They divorced. 4. Patsy Kensit married Liam Gallagher (Oasis) and had a son Lennon. They divorced. 5. Liam Gallagher then had a son with Nicole Appleton (All Saints) named Gene. The children resulting from these unions – Natalie, Yasmin, James, Lennon, and Gene – are all related as a string of half-siblings, each sharing exactly one parent with the child preceeding and succeeding them. All we need now is for Ray Davies and Nicole Appleton to have a child together to make a closed loop. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2006, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grandparents-do-you-have/351111/25 "2006-04-04T07:53:10Z")
I had the standard set of 4, but 3 I never met, and 1 died when I was a baby. The whole grandparent/grandchild dynamic is pretty much lost on me. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2006, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grandparents-do-you-have/351111/26 "2006-04-04T14:52:18Z")
No parents and no grandparents here. I’m an orphan (if a 45 y.o. can be an orphan). ☹ ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2006, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grandparents-do-you-have/351111/27 "2006-04-04T16:10:48Z")
four biological grandparents… my grandfathers both passed before I had a chance to meet them. Gabba poppleton (my mother’s mother) died when I was a teenager. My granny in england is in her nineties, and still getting by pretty well, thank goodness! (Must remember to call her this weekend.) ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grandparents-do-you-have/351111/28 "2006-04-04T16:14:08Z")
4, though one wouldn’t be biological–we don’t actually know who my father’s bio-dad is, and my grandmother took that secret with her to her grave. Only one grandparent is still alive though. ---
**Author:** ![DaddyTimesTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@DaddyTimesTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaddyTimesTwo)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grandparents-do-you-have/351111/29 "2006-04-04T16:20:31Z")
I was going to say just 4, but upon reflection, the more correct answer would be 6. My dad’s parents were married for 47 years until Papaw died of colon cancer in '77, and Mamaw died almost 20 years later. Now, my mom’s mother died when my mother was only 3 or so, and she and the family moved into her aunt’s house. My mother grew up with her dad, her sister, her aunt and uncle and cousins all as one big family. So Wowo (I didn’t make up the names…), whom I considered my grandma was really, what? A great aunt? Wowo’s husband died when I was three and I vaguely remember his funeral. So, 6, but no divorces or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grandparents-do-you-have/351111/30 "2006-04-04T17:05:04Z")
Quattro. They’re all in a band together. . .a harp quartet called “The Daisy Pushers”. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2006, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grandparents-do-you-have/351111/31 "2006-04-04T17:09:25Z")
Five, I guess, but I don’t consider my step-grandma to be my grandparent. In my case that would be disrespectful to my real grandmother (who is dead). ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2006, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grandparents-do-you-have/351111/32 "2006-04-04T17:19:29Z")
Just the standard 4 grandparental ancestors; only the females were alive as of my birth, only 1 of those lived past my early childhood. I lost her when I was around 30. All of them died of heart disease. When people ask if there might be Alzheimer’s in my family, I like to say that we’ve yet to find out… ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2006, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grandparents-do-you-have/351111/33 "2006-04-04T17:25:20Z")
1. Mother’s father (deceased) 2. Mother’s mother 3. Father’s father 4. Father’s mother 5. Stepmother’s father (deceased) 6. Stepmother’s mother 7. First stepfather’s father 8. First stepfather’s mother 9. First stepfather’s stepfather 10. Second stepfather’s father (deceased) 11. Second stepfather’s mother (deceased) 12. Second stepfather’s stepmother ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2006, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grandparents-do-you-have/351111/34 "2006-04-04T17:41:56Z")
3, at the moment (my grandmother on my father’s side passed away when I was very young). ---
**Author:** ![Stainz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Stainz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stainz)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grandparents-do-you-have/351111/35 "2006-04-04T17:45:30Z")
I had 4. But both of my grandfathers have passed away, so I just have 2 left - my Granny and my Grandma. (Although my parents are divorced, my dad married an orphan, and I never met my mom’s husbands’ folks). ---
**Author:** ![Nytewatchyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b38774/32.png) [@Nytewatchyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nytewatchyr)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grandparents-do-you-have/351111/36 "2006-04-04T18:51:21Z")
I guess techinically five: My mother’s biological father died of cancer while Mom was in high school so I grew up with my grandfather (my mom’s step-father) and grandmother. Grandmother died from cancer when I was 9 but Grandfather is going strong at 90+! My dad’s parents are both deceased: Grandpa died of cancer when I was 9 and Grandma died when I was in college. Interestingly enough the step-parent relationship can go from one extreme (rarely talking) to the other (I rarely remember my Grandfather isn’t biologically related to me). My children are step-children and though they don’t call my parents “grandparents” when speaking to them I’ve heard them describe my parents to others as their grandparents… which means they have a whole lot of grandparents since their parents are both divorced and re-married… Which leads me to realize that my dad is re-married and thus I have a step-mom and two step-grandparents. We’re pretty close but it just didn’t occur to me. Abu Kiki and Abu Mandy. (Abu being short for abuelo and abuela, Spanish for grandfather and grandmother… my step-mom is Cuban.) HHhmmm… change that “five” to “seven.” ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grandparents-do-you-have/351111/37 "2006-04-04T19:34:34Z")
Only four and they have passed. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2006, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grandparents-do-you-have/351111/38 "2006-04-04T21:39:39Z")
I had the standard set of four, one is deceased. Father’s parents: Grandfather is still alive, will be 90 this year and is still stong and healthy. I dare say he’s stronger and healthier than I am! He’s followed a strict diet/exercise regimen for over 50 years now and is reaping the benefits. Grandmother struggled with her weight for many years and died a few years ago from complications due to diabetes. Mother’s parents: Both are still alive, although not in the best of health. I don’t recall their ages but it’s somewhere between 75-85. They live a pretty hard and fast lifestyle and are paying the consequnces now. They ran a juke joint for 30 years in their basement, to give you an idea of what I mean by a “hard and fast lifestyle” 😃 I love them all very dearly! ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2006, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grandparents-do-you-have/351111/39 "2006-04-04T21:42:12Z")
My dad’s dad died before I was born, and his mom remarried, so her second husband was the only paternal grandpa I ever knew. Grandma died in 1969m and Grandpa Lloyd a couple years later. On Mom’s side, her mother died when I was 3, and when I was about 5, Grandpa remarried. He lived until I was 18, in 1978, and his second wife lived till 2001. She was 104 years old! So all totalled, I have had 6, all deceased now. I miss them. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grandparents-do-you-have/351111/40 "2006-04-05T02:43:38Z")
I knew 3 out of the standard biological-issue set of 4. I’ve still got both grandmothers and probably will for a little while more because both of them are having far too much fun to give up living qute yet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grandparents-do-you-have/351111.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-grandparents-do-you-have/351111.md?page=3)