Cousins or First Cousins-Once Removed
What's the Difference?
A cousin at any distance or level in your family tree is truly your “cousin.” One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about working with Haston family research is getting to know so many cousins. And even though I may never have met him or her in person, there is something special about calling him or her “cousin“–knowing that somewhere back up our Hiestand/Haston family lines we have a common ancestor and that makes us a part of the same big Family.
But genealogically, we can distinguish our degree of cousin-ness by a standard family relationship language.
First, Second, Third, Fourth Cousin, etc.
The starting point is to determine your most recent common ancestor.
That’s MRCA in genealogical terms.
The number associated with your cousin has to do with how many generations away your common ancestor is. For example:
- First cousins share a grandparent
- Second cousins share a great-grandparent
- Third cousins share a great-great-grandparent
- Fourth cousins share a 3rd-great grandparent
Here’s a real-life example from a couple of my related families that are special to me:
My Haston grandfather was Charles Beason Haston. My father, Boyd Haston, was his youngest son. Edna Haston was my father’s oldest sister. She married Byron Moss, so she was Edna Haston Moss. Her oldest son was Arnold Moss. So Arnold and I shared a grandparent—Charles Beason Haston. Arnold and I were first cousins.
Charles Beason Haston, my paternal grandfather, was the son of Charles Thomas Haston. One of my grandfather’s sisters was Ida Ora Haston. She married James Monroe Passons, whose son was known as J.M. Passons. So, my dad and J.M. Passons were first cousins–they shared the same grandfather.
J.M. Passons had four sons, but I’ll just use Bobby for this example. Bobby Passons and I shared the same great-grandparent, Charles Thomas Haston. So, Bobby Passons and I were second cousins.
The Key = First cousins share the same grandparents!
First Cousin-Once-Removed, etc.
Probably like you, I’ve occasionally heard the words “first cousin-once-removed” etc. throughout my lifetime, but never knew what it meant. So, I finally stopped to try to figure it out. It’s really quite simple once you wrap your brain around it and re-train it to think.
Again, the starting point is to determine your most recent common ancestor–your MRCA.
To be “once removed” from a cousin means you are separated by one generation (one level in the family tree chart).
Let’s go back to my first cousin example, from above.
My Haston grandfather was Charles Beason Haston. My father, Boyd Haston, was his youngest son. Edna Haston was my father’s oldest sister. She married Byron Moss, so she was Edna Haston Moss. Her oldest son was Arnold Moss. So Arnold and I shared a grandparent—Charles Beason Haston. Arnold and I were first cousins.
Arnold (& Evelyn) had five children, Kaye, Steve, Jimmy, Nancy, and Richard. We were very close growing up, so I assumed we were first cousins. But I learned later that, genealogically, we are first cousins-once-removed. Here’s what that looks like on a family tree chart.
Arnold and I were in the same generation, that is the same level in the family tree chart. Kaye, Steve, Jimmy, Nancy, Richard, and I are separated by one generation, that is we are one level removed in the family tree chart. We are first cousins-once-removed.
Their children are two levels (generations) removed from me so they are first cousins-twice-removed.
It’s much simpler when you see it on paper, rather than trying to figure it out in your head. So sketch it out on paper, especially for the greater relational distances.
Try it now, see if you can identify a few of your once-removed and twice-removed first cousins.
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2 thoughts on “First Cousin – Or, First Cousin Once-Removed”
Most folks are bewildered but understand when shown a diagram. You may have helped many today.
Wayne, I deeply appreciate the work you put into this article. It is terrific and helps ‘splain things so just about anyone can understand their “cousin-nessâ€. I’m goung to share this with my sister Barbara Woodlee Moss. She married Aaron Levon Moss, Sr. of Sparta. If I’m not terribly mistaken, Levon’s father was Byron “Big Daddy†Moss. Barbara and Levon got married in 1962 or 63, and their first child Aaron Levon Moss, Jr. was born in August 1964. Levon and Barbara live in CHICKAMAUGA, GA and their two children and their families live within 25 miles of them. Their two children have two children each and one of the grandchildren has a child.