Speaking of kinship, what's a third cousin twice removed?

Question:

Speaking of kinship, what's a third cousin twice removed?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: This seems so confusing for many people, but doesn't have to be.

The terms, first cousin, second cousin, etc. explain how far removed two people are from a common pair ( one male, one female) of ancestors. A person who has the same parents as you is your sibling, that is brother or sister. The child of your father or mother's sibling is your FIRST COUSIN. First cousins share the same pair of grandparents. Second cousin is someone who has the same pair of great grandparents as you, third cousin the same pair of great great grandparents and so on.

Now, what about the removed part? Let's say your first cousin, who has the same pair of grandparents as you, has a child. The relationship between you and your first cousin's child is FIRST COUSIN ONCE REMOVED. Your First cousin once removed has a child and that child is your FIRST COUSIN TWICE REMOVED.

Now a little review work. Your first cousin's child and your child are second cousins. Why ? Because the most recent common pair of ancestors were their great grandparents.

OK. To to the grain. Third cousins ( nothing removed) have a common pair of great great grandparents. Your third cousin once removed is the child of your third cousin OR the third cousin of one of your parents. Your THIRD COUSIN TWICE REMOVED is the GRANDCHILD OF YOUR THIRD COUSIN (child of your third cousin once removed) OR THE THIRD COUSIN OF ONE OF YOUR GRANDPARENTS.

Sometimes it is easier to explain by drawing a chart, which I can't do in this format. But there IS a chart on Wikipedia. There is a lot of BS on Wikipedia , but this is actually right! So take a look. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cousin_char...

Hope this helps.