Family reunions are absolute chaos for your brain. You’re standing there with a plate of potato salad, looking at a kid who is roughly your nephew’s age, but your Aunt Linda insists he’s actually your "1st cousin twice removed." You nod, smile, and wonder if Linda has finally lost it. She hasn't. But honestly, the terminology we use to describe our kin is about as intuitive as a tax audit. Understanding a 1st cousin twice removed chart isn't just for people obsessed with Ancestry.com; it’s for anyone who wants to stop being confused by their own bloodline.
Kinship is math. It's awkward, biological math.
Most people get stuck because they think "removed" means something happened—like a falling out or a legal bridge being burned. It’s way simpler than that. "Removed" just refers to a generation gap. If you and your cousin are in different generations, you’re removed. If you’re in the same generation, you aren't. Simple, right? Well, sort of.
Why Your 1st Cousin Twice Removed Chart Feels Like a Rubik’s Cube
The biggest hurdle is the word "removed." In genealogical terms, "removed" denotes the number of generations that separate two people. Think of it like a ladder. If you are on one rung and your cousin is on the same rung, you have zero "removals." You’re just cousins. But if they are two rungs up or two rungs down from you, they are twice removed.
Let's look at the "1st" part. That number—1st, 2nd, 3rd—tells you how many generations you have to go back to find a Common Ancestor. For first cousins, your common ancestors are your grandparents. You both share a set of grandparents. That’s the anchor. Once you have that anchor, the "removed" part tracks how far you’ve drifted from that shared level on the family tree.
Imagine your first cousin. You two share grandparents. You are the same generation. Now, imagine that cousin has a grandchild. That child is two generations below you. Because you started as first cousins, and there is now a two-generation gap, that child is your 1st cousin twice removed.
It works the other way, too. Your great-grandparent’s sibling is your great-grandaunt or great-granduncle. Their child is your 1st cousin once removed. Their parent—your great-great-grandparent—is the common ancestor you share with your great-grandparent's sibling. It’s a bit of a headache until you see it laid out.
The Common Ancestor: The Secret to Everything
Everything hinges on the "Most Recent Common Ancestor" (MRCA). If you can't find the MRCA, your 1st cousin twice removed chart is basically useless.
For 1st cousins, the MRCA is a grandparent.
For 2nd cousins, the MRCA is a great-grandparent.
For 3rd cousins, the MRCA is a great-great-grandparent.
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Notice a pattern? The "nth" cousin is always one less than the number of "greats" plus two. It’s clunky. Genealogists like Judy G. Russell, often called "The Legal Genealogist," points out that these distinctions actually mattered historically for things like inheritance and marriage laws. In some cultures and eras, you could marry a 2nd cousin but not a 1st. Today, we mostly just use the terms so we don't have to say "my mom's cousin's grandkid."
The "Twice Removed" Breakdown
To be twice removed from a 1st cousin, there must be a two-generation difference. This happens in two specific directions:
- Descending: Your 1st cousin’s grandchild. (You → Parent → Grandparent ← Parent ← 1st Cousin ← Child ← Grandchild).
- Ascending: Your grandparent’s 1st cousin. (You → Parent → Grandparent → [Shares parents with] → Grandparent's 1st Cousin).
Basically, if there’s a two-generation "offset," you’re looking at a "twice removed" situation. It’s the difference between being peers and being someone’s metaphorical (or literal) grandparent figure.
Breaking Down the Visual Logic
If you were to draw this out, it wouldn't look like a neat square. It looks more like a zigzag.
You share 12.5% of your DNA with a full 1st cousin. By the time you get to a 1st cousin twice removed, that DNA shared percentage drops significantly. According to data from the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG), a 1st cousin twice removed typically shares somewhere between 1.5% and 5% of their DNA. That’s not much. You might share more DNA with a random person from the same ethnic background than you do with a very distant "removed" cousin.
This is why DNA testing sites like 23andMe or AncestryDNA often give you a range. They might label someone as a "3rd to 4th cousin" because the centimorgans (the unit of DNA measurement) overlap between different types of "removed" relationships.
Distinguishing Between 1st and 2nd Cousins
Many people use "2nd cousin" as a catch-all for anyone they don't see often. That’s technically wrong. A 2nd cousin is someone you share great-grandparents with.
A 1st cousin twice removed is actually more closely related to you than a 2nd cousin in terms of the MRCA. You share a grandparent with a 1st cousin twice removed’s ancestor. You only share a great-grandparent with a 2nd cousin. The "1st" part is actually a bigger deal than the "removed" part when it comes to how "close" the branch is to the trunk of your tree.
Real-World Examples to Clear the Fog
Let’s use a famous example, because why not?
Take the British Royal Family—they are the gold standard for messy charts.
King Charles III and his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
Elizabeth’s 1st cousin was someone like Prince Michael of Kent (they shared grandparents, George V and Queen Mary).
Prince Michael’s grandchildren are 1st cousins twice removed to Queen Elizabeth II.
Wait. Let’s do that slower.
- Elizabeth and Prince Michael: 1st Cousins
- Elizabeth and Prince Michael’s kids: 1st Cousins Once Removed
- Elizabeth and Prince Michael’s grandkids: 1st Cousins Twice Removed
It’s just a countdown of births. Every time a new baby is born to your 1st cousin, you add a "removed." First baby? Once removed. That baby grows up and has a baby? Twice removed. It’s a chronological distance, not a physical one.
Why Does This Even Matter?
You might think this is all pedantic. Maybe it is. But in the world of genetic genealogy, these distinctions are the difference between finding a biological parent and hitting a brick wall.
If you’re looking at a DNA match and they share 200 centimorgans (cM) with you, a 1st cousin twice removed chart helps you narrow down where they fit. Are they the same age as you? They might be a 2nd cousin. Are they 50 years older? They might be your 1st cousin twice removed. Age is the "secret sauce" genealogists use to figure out which way the "removed" goes.
Common Misconceptions
- "Removed" means they were taken out of the will. No. Though it sounds like a Victorian drama, it’s just about generations.
- "Double Cousins" are the same as "Twice Removed." Absolutely not. Double cousins happen when two siblings from one family marry two siblings from another. Their kids share both sets of grandparents. That’s a DNA powerhouse, but it’s a different thing entirely.
- 2nd cousins are just 1st cousins once removed. Nope. Again, it’s all about who the common ancestor is. Grandparents vs. Great-grandparents.
How to Read a Relationship Chart Without Fainting
Most charts use a grid system. You find yourself on one axis and your relative on the other. Where they meet is the relationship.
- Locate the Common Ancestor. This is the person you both descend from.
- Count the generations from the ancestor down to Person A.
- Count the generations from the ancestor down to Person B.
- The smaller number determines the "counsiness" (1st, 2nd, 3rd).
- The difference between the two numbers determines the "removals."
If I am 2 generations away from the ancestor (Grandchild) and you are 4 generations away (Great-Great-Grandchild), the smaller number is 2. That makes us 1st cousins (2-1=1). The difference between 4 and 2 is 2. So, 1st cousins, twice removed.
It’s basically subtraction disguised as a family reunion.
Actionable Steps for Your Family Tree
If you’re staring at a list of names and feeling overwhelmed, don't try to memorize the whole chart. It’s useless. Instead, focus on these three steps to identify any "removed" relative:
- Identify the Pivot Point: Find the sibling pair that started it all. If your grandfather and their great-grandfather were brothers, that’s your starting point.
- Use the "Great" Rule: Count the "greats" in your relationship to the common ancestor. If you have one "great" (Great-grandparent) and they have three (Great-great-great-grandparent), you are 2nd cousins twice removed.
- Verify with DNA: Use tools like the Shared cM Project on DNA Painter. You plug in the amount of DNA you share with someone, and it gives you the statistical probability of how you’re related. It’s much faster than manual charting.
Next time Linda mentions a twice-removed cousin, you can actually one-up her. Ask her who the common ancestor is. If she can’t name the grandparent or great-grandparent, she’s just guessing.
Building a family tree is about more than just names; it’s about understanding the specific threads that tie you to the past. Whether those threads are 12.5% of your DNA or a mere 2%, they represent a literal path through history that resulted in you standing there, eating potato salad, trying to make sense of it all.