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When your cousin has a baby, you will probably wonder what you are to the child. In this practical tip, we explain the family relationship between you and your own child.
Your cousin’s child: What am I to the child?
After your cousin has had a child, you will probably wonder what your relationship is to the baby. While various terms are used to describe this relationship, only one designation is clear and correct.
- From your point of view, your cousin’s child is your second cousin or second cousin once removed.
- For the child, you are therefore the second cousin’s aunt or second cousin’s uncle.
- Other terms such as “second cousins” are also common, but they are not official or unambiguous. The term is used colloquially for both second cousins and second nieces/nephews or second aunts/uncles in both directions.
- For your own children, your cousin’s offspring is their second cousin.
Degrees of kinship: What’s behind degrees in the family tree
Basically, the “degrees” in kinship refer to the distance between two branches in the family tree.
- If you and a person of your generation are not siblings but have the same grandparents, you are first cousins. In short: cousins.
- If you do not share the same grandparents but do share the same great-grandparents, you are one degree further apart and are therefore second cousins.
- The same logic also applies to other family members such as nephews and nieces.
