The phrase “second cousin twice removed” has become cliche for a very distant relative, but what does it actually mean? I have been told that a second cousin would be the children of my cousin, is this correct? What of the “removed” part?
AFAIK:
Your father’s brother’s son is your first cousin.
Your father’s brother’s grandson is your first cousin once removed.
Your grandfather’s brother’s grandson is your second cousin.
Your grandfather’s brother’s great-great-grandson is your second cousin twice removed.
Your grandparent’s cousin is your second cousin twice removed also.
I hope this drawing turns out o.k.
Persons A and B are siblings (brothers, sisters)
A ----------- siblings ------------ B
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child A1 ---- cousins ------- child B1
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A2 -- 2nd cousins -- B2
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A3 -- 3rd cousins --- B3
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A4 4th cousins B4
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A5 5th cousins B5
The vertical lines represents a parent-child relationship. We all know cousins are the children of siblings. The children of cousins are second cousins. The grandchildren of cousins are 3rd cousins, and so on.
The “removed” refers to how many generations apart you are. The child of your cousin is your first cousin once removed. The grandchild of your cousin is your first cousin twice removed.
The child of your second cousin is your second cousin twice removed. The grandchild of your second cousin is your second cousin twice removed.
In the diagram above, if you are represented by A2, B2 is your second cousin. Your second cousin’s child (B3) is your second cousin once removed. Your second cousin’s grandchild (B4) is your second cousin twice removed.
Looking at it the other way, if you are B4, of course A2 (your grandparent’s cousin) is also your second cousin twice removed.
If you are B2, A4 is your second cousin twice removed. And of course if you are A4, B2 is your second cousin twice removed.
Are we confused yet?
To put it in more general terms, first cousins are those that are related through one generation above you (your parents). second cousins are those related through two generations above you (your grandparents) etc. The “removed” is an indication of how many generations removed they are from your generation.
I should have previewed. Let’s try this again, the vertical lines did not come out right.
Persons A and B are siblings (brothers, sisters)
A1 is the child of A, A2 is the grandchild of A, and so on. Similarly, B1 is the child of B, B2 is the grandchild of B.
Obviously, A and B1 are aunt or uncle and neice or nephew.
A1 and B1 are cousins. A2 and B2 are second cousins.
The numbers represent the generations. People with the same number and the opposite letter are a type of cousin. If the number is off by one, they are “once removed.” If the number is off by two, they are “twice removed.”
A ----------- siblings ------------ B
child A1 ---- cousins ------- child B1
A2 -----------2nd cousins ------B2
A3 -------- 3rd cousins ----------B3
A4---------- 4th cousins-------- B4
A5 --------- 5th cousins --------B5
Of course, this simplified “family tree” is assuming that each of two siblings had one child, and that each of those children had one child, and so on. If you put in multiple children and spouses, and so on it gets more complicated, but the principle is the same.
There’s a great chart here. The purpose of the chart is to determine degree of consanguinity in event of a person dying without a will, but if you substitute “me” for “decedent”, you’ll get an idea of who your second cousins are.
Let me explain it simply:
You and your sister are siblings.
Your children, and your sister’s children, are first cousins.
Your grandchildren, and your sister’s grandchildren, are second cousins.
Your grandchildren, and your sister’s great-grandchildren, are second cousins, once removed.
Your grandchildren, and your sister’s great-great-grandchildren, are second cousins, twice removed.
“Removed” is short for “generations removed”, and is used to describe when cousins belong to different generations.
The question has been answered well enough by all of you. But I thought that I might hijack this long enough to tell you a true story:
My father’s sister’s husband’s nephew’s half-brother’s wife’s mother’s brother’s daughter is ME!
I didn’t find that out until recently.
See, this is why southern people and African-Americans just call everyone cousin. It’s easier.
Zoe, I’d always heard that one as “my mother’s brother’s only sister’s father’s daughter’s son”. Mine trips off the tongue more easily, but yours manages to work a few more levels into it. Either way, it’s cool.
**LoadedDog **, of course I could take your shorter route, but this longer version is no joke and doesn’t work for everyone. My ears get lower every time I get on genealogy.com 
I like your version too though.
This is a real story. Two teenagers: Her father marries his mother. So the two of them are, strictly speaking, step-siblings. They fall in love, marry, and have a baby girl. The child is simultaneously the child AND the neice of both parents. Later a baby brother is born. Since the new baby is the child of the first child’s aunt and uncle, her brother is also her cousin.
If your parents were third cousins, then one of your grandparents is your second cousin twice removed.
Since things are already a mess:
Lewis Carroll once posed this riddle:
A man is holding a dinner party. He wishes to invite his father’s brother-in-law, his brother’s father-in-law, his father-in-law’s brother, and his brother-in-law’s father.
Assuming there is no incest involved, what is the smallest number of people he can invite and have all of the people identified above attend?
Answer: one.
This was listed in an Estates textbook when I was in law school, and I remember a number of us went nuts trying to figure out how it was possible, as the answer was given in the book, but no explanation. I eventually looked up the collected works of Lewis Carroll and found the answer. It depends on first cousins being able to marry, a possibility we had excluded; the rules for incest having been different in Lew Carroll’s time in England than they are in contemporary America.
I can’t believe I’m the first to mention the song I’m my own grandpa.
Gah…so confusing. The easy way -
Removal is based on descendants - Once your first cousin, always your first cousin, but removed. The child of your first cousin is your first cousin once removed, etc. (Your first cousin once removed is your child’s second cousin - see below).
Degree is based on ancestry. If you share a set of grandparents, you are first cousins. If you share a set of great-grandparents, you are second cousins, etc.