what is the difference between 2nd cousin and 1st cousin once removed
In: Biology
I’ll try to give you a more general answer than the others here:
Think of [X] cousin as the ***minimum*** degree of separation between two people and their common ancestor.
* 0th cousin: the closest person in common is a parent to at least one
* Parent to both: “siblings”
* Parent to one, grandparent to another: niece/nephew & aunt/uncle
* Parent to one, great-grandparent to another: grand niece/nephew & great aunt/uncle
* and so on…
* 1st cousin: the closest person in common is a grandparent to at least one
* 2nd cousin: the closest person in common is a great-grandparent to at least one
* and so on…
If the distance to the common ancestor is the same, for 1st and above we just say “[x] cousin” and that’s it.
If the distance to the common ancestor is NOT the same, then the “[y] removed” is the ***difference*** in distance between the two.
* 1st cousin once removed: the common ancestor is a grandparent to one, and great-grandparent to the other
* 1st cousin twice removed: the common ancestor is a grandparent to one, great-great-grandparent to the other
* 2nd cousin once removed: the common ancestor is a great-grandparent to one, great-great to the other
* and so on…
And, while this applies to my family, it doesn’t fully apply to all. For example, due to connections to rural China, my wife has a first cousin who is also a second cousin once removed via another family connection. She also has a second cousin who is also a third cousin via another family connection. Whenever that happens, people tend to use the term reflecting the closest cousin connection, and if more than one at the same level, the closest “removed” connection.
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