what is the difference between 2nd cousin and 1st cousin once removed
In: Biology
The # before cousin and the # before removed are completely different things. The first one is all about the number of generations between you, the other person in question, and your closest common ancestor, which we’ll call CCA. If your CCA is your parents, you’re siblings. If your CCA is your grandparents, you’re 1st cousins. If your CCA is your great grandparents, then you’re 2nd cousins. And so on. It’s very simple if the people you’re comparing (you and your cousin in this example) are in the same generation.
But what if they aren’t in the same generation? What if the CCA is your grandmother but the other person’s great grandmother? That’s where # removed comes into play. So let’s say your first cousin, the child of your uncle, has a kid? What is that kid to you? The CCA, in this case, is still that same set of grandparents as your first cousin. That means that your cousin’s kid is also your first cousin. But they’re a generation down the chain, so you add the Once Removed label to show that you’re not in the same generation. And if that same First Cousin Once Removed has a kid? Well then you’ll be sending a baby gift to your First Cousin Twice Removed.
Unless you’re some type of royalty, I wouldn’t waste much brainpower on anything beyond 2nd cousins and Twice Removals because it probably isn’t relevant. The better term for anyone beyond that is probably “stranger”.
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