Basic Family Outline

• For this example, Joe will be our focal point. Joe has a mother and a father, and they each have siblings. Joe has two sets of grandparents: The father has a mother and a father, and the mother has a mother and a father. This is a basic and widely understood family tree, however, it is important to review to properly explain the degrees of kinship.
  
  

Cousins and First Cousins

• Joe's first cousins are the children who are born within Joe's generation and born to the siblings of Joe's parents. Joe's first cousins share a set of grandparents with Joe.
  
  

Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Cousins

• After the first cousins are born, the second, third, fourth and fifth cousins occur. Joe's second cousins are those who share the same great-grandparents as Joe, but not his same grandparents. For example, Joe's mother's mother, Mrs. Jones, has a sister, Mrs. Smith, who had a child. This child is Joe's second cousin. Subsequent cousin numbers follow the same pattern; cousins who share great-great-grandparents are third cousins.
  
  

Once, Twice, Thrice Removed

• When the word "removed" is attached to "cousin," it is meant that the cousins are from different generations. Joe is related to his father's cousins, however, his father's cousins are Joe's first cousins once removed. "Once removed" refers to one generation's difference between relations. If Joe's first cousin once removed were to have a child, that child would be Joe's first cousin twice removed.