Cousin Chart

Did you ever wonder how to find out if little Billy is really your second cousin twice removed?

Last modification 11/28/2005




 









Contact me!

Janice J. Gerda
jgerda at kent.edu

©2001-2005
Janice J. Gerda
Please let me know if you use this information

I did NOT create this chart - I came across it about 10 years ago. There doesn't seem to be a citation of the author, so my apologies to whomever came up with this and isn't getting credit. I'm sure there are little javascripts somewhere that do this automatically, but this chart takes the mystery out of it (which is a good thing.)

Relationship
(Cannon or Common Law)

Common
ancestor

 Son
 gson
 Ggson 2Ggson 3Ggson 4Ggson 5Ggson 6Ggson 7Ggson 8Ggson
Son

 Brother Nephew gnephew Ggneph 2Gneph 3Gneph 4Gneph 5Gneph 6Gneph 7Gneph

Gson

 Nephew 1cousin 1c 1r 1c 2r 1c 3r 1c 4r 1c 5r 1c 6r 1c 7r 1c 8r
Ggrson

 gnephew 1c 1r 2cousin 2c 1r 2c 2r 2c 3r 2c 4r 2c 5r 2c 6r 2c 7r
2Ggson

 Ggneph 1c 2r 2c 1r 3cousin 3c 1r 3c 2r 3c 3r 3c 4r 3c 5r 3c 6r
3Ggson

 2GGneph 1c 3r 2c 2r 3c 1r 4cousin 4c 1r 4c 2r 4c 3r 4c 4r 4c 5r
4Ggson

 3GGneph 1c 4r 2c 3r 3c 2r 4c 1r 5cousin 5c 1r 5c 2r 5c 3r 5c 4r
5Ggson

 4GGneph 1c 5r 2c 4r 3c 3r 4c 2r 5c 1r 6cousin 6c 1r 6c 2r 6c 3r
6Ggson

 5GGneph 1c 6r 2c 5r 3c 4r 4c 3r 5c 2r 6c 1r 7cousin 7c 1r 7c 2r
7Ggson

 6GGneph 1c 7r 2c 6r 3c 5r 4c 4r 5c 3r 6c 2r 7c 1r 8cousin 8c 1r
8Ggson

 7GGneph 1c 8r 2c 7r 3c 6r 4c 5r 5c 4r 6c 3r 7c 2r 8c 1r 9cousin

KEY

Son/brother/nephew - substitute daughter/sister/niece as necessary. It's just that "son" is shortest.
g = grand
G = Great
c = cousin
r = removed

Instructions

To find the relationship between two people, you must know how each of them is related to a common ancestor.

Write the common ancestor's name in the first box.

  1. Write the names of the ancestor's descendants down the 1st column (gray) until you get to Person 1.
  2. Write the names of the ancestor's descendants across the 1st row (gray) until you get to Person 2.
  3. Trace across and down from Person 1 and Person 2 to find the intersecting box.

Example 1: Joyce and Judy have the same grandmother, Clara. Clara had a daughter, LaVerne, who had a daughter, Joyce. Clara also had a daughter, Betty, who had a daughter, Judy. Write it out on the chart.

Common ancestor - CLARA

 Daughter - Betty
 Gdaughter - Judy
Daughter - LaVerne
 Brother Nephew
Gdaughter - Joyce Nephew 1cousin

So, Joyce and Judy are FIRST COUSINS. Easy.

Example 2: Janice and Bob talk about their ancestor, Ernst. Ernst had a daughter Verna, who had a daughter June, who had a son Bob. Ernst also had another daughter Leona, who had a daughter Lois, who had a son Jerry, who had a daughter Janice. Write it out.

Common ancestor - ERNST

Daughter - VERNA
 Gdau - JUNE
 Ggson - BOB
Daughter - LEONA
 Brother Nephew gnephew
Gdau - LOIS Nephew 1cousin 1c 1r
Ggrson - JERRY gnephew 1c 1r 2cousin
2Ggrdau - JANICE Ggneph 1c 2r 2c 1r

So, Janice and Bob are SECOND COUSINS, ONCE REMOVED.

Got it?