Most of us get just a little confused when kin gets past first cousins. A common misconception is to simply say second or third cousin, when in fact, they might actually be a once removed cousin. I’ll attempt to clear the confusion here, both with words and a bit of a visual.
We’ll start with two brothers, John and Joe. Their children are first cousins to each other. You knew that already. Then their childrens’ children are second cousins to each other. The childrens’ childrens’ children are third cousins to each other. And so on down the line. You probably already get this, but what happens with Joe’s children and John’s grandchildren? What’s that relationship? This is how I picture it in my mind to keep things straight:
(Click anywhere on the chart below for a larger view)
And it keeps going on and on and on.
The kinship report in Family Tree Maker 2009 makes it all easy. One click and you know how anyone in your tree is related to anyone else. It’s the software I use.
Hope this little tutorial helped and didn’t confuse you further!