Daily AncestorGreat-grandfather
A great-grandfather is the father of one of your grandparents; you have eight great-grandparents in all.
A great-grandfather is a grandparent's father, three generations above you. Everyone has four grandparents and eight great-grandparents.
Each further generation adds one more great: a great-grandfather's father is a great-great-grandfather. Because the greats pile up, genealogists often write numbers instead, so a great-great-great-grandfather becomes a 3rd great-grandfather. The shared great-grandparents are also the key to second cousins.
As seen in a recordRecital in a deed, 1840s
lands which descended to me from my great-grandfather Eliphalet Gorsuch
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Great-grandfather." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/relationships/great-grandfather. Last checked 2026-10-12.