Cousins

What is a second cousin?

Second cousins share a set of great-grandparents and are the same number of generations below them. Their parents are first cousins.

You both descend from the same great-grandparents, each of you 3 generations down.

An example

Find the ancestors you share and count the generations from them down to each of you: 3 and 3.
The smaller number minus one gives the cousin degree: 3 minus 1 is 2, so "second".
The difference between the two numbers is how many times "removed": 3 minus 3 is 0, so not removed.

The second cousin square is marked. Rows are you, columns your relative.

You are the ancestor's…	Child	Grandchild	Great-grandchild	2x great-grandchild	3x great-grandchild	4x great-grandchild
Child	Sibling	Niece or nephew	Grandniece or grandnephew	Great-grandniece or nephew	Great-great-grandniece or nephew	Great-great-great-grandniece or nephew
Grandchild	Aunt or uncle	First cousin	First cousin once removed	First cousin twice removed	First cousin three times removed	First cousin four times removed
Great-grandchild	Great-aunt or uncle	First cousin once removed	Second cousin	Second cousin once removed	Second cousin twice removed	Second cousin three times removed
2x great-grandchild	Great-great-aunt or uncle	First cousin twice removed	Second cousin once removed	Third cousin	Third cousin once removed	Third cousin twice removed
3x great-grandchild	Great-great-great-aunt or uncle	First cousin three times removed	Second cousin twice removed	Third cousin once removed	Fourth cousin	Fourth cousin once removed
4x great-grandchild	Great-great-great-great-aunt or uncle	First cousin four times removed	Second cousin three times removed	Third cousin twice removed	Fourth cousin once removed	Fifth cousin