Family usage and genealogical usage do not always match. This guide collects the common variations so you can translate between them.
The standard
Genealogists name cousins by degree and removal, as in cousin degree and removal. Kinage follows this standard everywhere.
Variations you will meet
- "Second cousin" for a parent's cousin. Common in speech, but strictly a first cousin once removed.
- "Cousin once removed" without a degree. A shorthand for first cousin once removed. Kinage always writes the degree.
- "Half cousin". Cousins who share only one grandparent, such as when two parents are half-siblings.
- "Double cousin". Cousins through both parents because two siblings married two siblings.
- "Cousin-in-law". No agreed meaning. Kinage describes the route in words instead.
- "Kissing cousin". Informal, and its meaning shifts from place to place.
Another quirk
Some sources use the word "removed" for the generation gap between aunt and nephew or grandparent and grandchild. Genealogical convention keeps "removed" for cousins, and uses "great" for the aunt and niece line. The names in the terms list follow that convention.
If a relative uses a name you do not recognise, count from the shared ancestor and put the numbers in the chart. That settles the matter.