Cousin

A "cousin" has to be one of the most misunderstood or confusing terms especially when talking about which cousin and how many times removed. Below is a table showing the relationship of various cousins.

				Great-Great-Grandparents
			Great Grandparents	Great-Grand Uncles/Aunts
		Grandparents	Grand Uncles/Aunts	1st Cousin Twice Removed
	Parents	Aunts/Uncles	1st Cousins Once Removed	2nd Cousins Once Removed
Self	Brothers/Sisters	1st Cousins	2nd Cousins	3rd Cousins
Children	Nephews/Neices	1st Cousins Once Removed	2nd Cousins Once Removed	3rd Cousins Once Removed
Grand Children	Grand Nephews/Nieces	1st Cousins Twice Removed	2nd Cousins Twice Removed	3rd Cousins Twice Removed
Great-Grand Children	Great-Grand Nephews/Nieces	1st Cousins Thrice Removed	2nd Cousins Thrice Removed	3rd Cousins Thrice Removed
2nd Great-Grand Children	2nd Great-Grand Nephews/Nieces	1st Cousins 4x Removed	2nd Cousins 4x Removed	3rd Cousins 4x Removed

To figure out the relationship of a cousin without the table, you need to count the number of generations to the common ancestor for both yourself and the individual in question. The smaller of the two numbers will give you the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. cousin after subtracting one. For example, if I count four generations between myself and the common ancestor AND three generations between the other relative and the same common ancestor, I take the smaller of the two numbers and subtract one giving two, so they are a second cousin with some number removed. To figure how much removed, I take the larger of the two numbers (3) and subtract the smaller of the two numbers (2) giving 1, so they are once removed.