Second Cousin Once Removed

If someone came up to you and told you they were your second cousin once removed, would you understand what they mean?

Sandy Sparks McCurley and I got to talking about this one day. We've been working together on family history on and off for a few years now. Sandy was trying to figure out how she was related to Uncle Ray Witham. I wasn't much help, as I didn't know much about figuring out how you're related to someone else in the family beyond the obvious everyday relationships that we're all familiar with. But I became determined to figure it out.

I found a little webpage that proved quite informative:
http://www.genealogy.com/16_cousn.html

First, it lists some terms we need to familiarize ourselves with:

Cousin (a.k.a "first cousin")

Your first cousins are the people in your family who have two of the same grandparents as you. In other words, they are the children of your aunts and uncles.

Second Cousin

Your second cousins are the people in your family who have the same great-grandparents as you., but not the same grandparents.

Third, Fourth, and Fifth Cousins

Your third cousins have the same great-great-grandparents, fourth cousins have the same great-great-great-grandparents, and so on.

Removed

When the word "removed" is used to describe a relationship, it indicates that the two people are from different generations. You and your first cousins are in the same generation (two generations younger than your grandparents), so the word "removed" is not used to describe your relationship. The words "once removed" mean that there is a difference of one generation. For example, your mother's first cousin is your first cousin, once removed. This is because your mother's first cousin is one generation younger than your grandparents and you are two generations younger than your grandparents. This one-generation difference equals "once removed." Twice removed means that there is a two-generation difference. You are two generations younger than a first cousin of your grandmother, so you and your grandmother's first cousin are first cousins, twice removed.

They also list a handy chart with instructions on how to figure out your relationship to someone else in the family. Let me demonstrate the chart for you now. Let's figure out how I'm related to Charlene Smith, Aunt Myrtle's daughter.

 According to the instructions for the chart, I'm supposed to find the ancestor we have in common. That would be Charles Washington Witham. The next thing I do is determine how Charlene and I are related to Charles Washington. Charlene is his grandchild, so I'll find the GRANDCHILD column at the top of the chart. I am Charles Washington's great grandchild, so I'll find the G-GRANDCHILD row on the left. Now to see where they intersect....it appears that Charlene and I are first cousins once removed.

Go ahead...you try!