Monday, October 10, 2016

How Are We Related? Part one


Genealogy is about tracing the line of decent and relationships within a family. Part of my excitement about family tree is discovering family members. I now know about previously unknown relatives.   I call all my new relations “cuz” because I have not figured out our real connections.  We all know the basic relationships of mother, father, sister, brother, aunt, uncle and grandparents. It often becomes confusing when trying to explain a familial relationship beyond the basics. It is even more confusing when there is a blended or step family involved.  I have decided to tackle and decipher the family relationships in my family tree. I would like to mention the familial designations and terms maybe different in other cultures and countries. 


THE BASIC (five generations)
Every child has parents; mother and father
A child may have siblings; sisters and/or brothers which are other children of the same mother and father.
A child has four grandparents; the parents of the mother and the parents of the father
A child has eight great grandparents; parents of the mother’s grandparents and parents of the father’s grand parents
A child has 16 great-great parents; the  8 parents of the mother’s great grand parents and the 8 parents of the father's great grand parents.    


Aunts and Uncles 
A child may have many aunts and uncles or none if both their parents were the only child of their grandparents.
A child may have aunts and/or uncles which are the siblings of the mother and/or father or their spouses.
A great aunt is the sister of your grandfather or grandmother.
A great uncle is the brother of your grandfather or grandmother
A great-great aunt is the sister of your great-great grandfather or great-great grandmother
A great-great uncle is the brother of your great-great grandfather or great-great grandmother

COUSINS
A first cousin is a child of and aunt or uncle. First cousins have the same grandparents
Second cousin share the same  great grandparents.  A second cousin is the grandchild of  your great aunt or great uncle  
Third cousins share the same great-great grandparents (aka second great grandparent)
Fourth cousins share the same great-great grandparents (aka third great grandparents)




The In-laws
In-laws are relatives by marriage.  Usually the term is used for parents, sister and brother of your spouse. The terms aunt in-law, uncle in-law or cousin in-law is generally not used.  I however used the term cousin in-law. It would probably be proper to say my cousin's wife or husband.

More information to come

-----The Tree Gardener

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