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Some Comment About Ancestors and Cousins

(BG, February 4, 1999)

To save a lot of space, the following abbreviations will usually be used when discussing relationships:

"g" means "great" or in certain cases can mean "grand"

We have grandfathers but not greatfathers (this was once OK but is now obsolete), but we do have both grandaunts and greataunts (but Aunt Winkie refused to condone "grand").; also "grand" can only appear as the rightmost "g"; thus we do not have grand-grandaunts or even grand-greataunts.

"c" means either "cousin" or "child"; the context will usually indicate which.

"r" means "removed"

RELATIONSHIP	ABBREVIATION
father	f
mother	m
son	s
daughter	d
child (offspring)	c
parent	p
grandfather	gf
grandmother	gm
great-grandmother	2gm or ggm
great-great-grandmother	3gm
great-great-great-grandmother	4gm
aunt	a
great-grandaunt	gga or 2ga
uncle	u
cousin	c
third cousin twice removed	3c2r

To find the "c" and "r" values for one of your cousins:

Find the nearest common ancestor

Find the number of Steps (generations) to go from You to that ancestor; call this SY.

Find the number of Steps to go from the Cousin to that ancestor; call this SC.

Then the cousin number "c" is the smaller of SY and SC and the removed value is the absolute value of the difference between SY and SC. The simplest way of visualizing "c" and "r" is to set a wide block containing the nearest common ancestor (or ancestor couple) on top of two piles of narrow blocks containing all of the ancestors up to the common one. For example:

Joseph GATELEY — Leveretta WILSON
Sydney GATELEY		Grace GATELEY
Wilson GATELEY		Leo WELLS
Edward GATELEY		Larry WELLS
Alexander GATELEY		Tamara WELLS

Note that Joseph and Leveretta are the nearest—and in this diagram, the only—common ancestors of the eight listed descendants. Ancestors of either of these two would be additional common ancestors but not nearest ones

Thus:

Joseph is Alexander's 3gf (great-great-grandfather) and Alexander is Joseph's 3gs (great-great grandson).

Grace is Edward's ga (grandaunt) and Alexander's 2ga (great-grandaunt).

Alexander and Tamara are 3c (third cousins).

Wilson and Tamara are 1c2r (first cousins two times removed). Note that this nomenclature--nor any other of which I am aware--does not indicate which descendant is closer to the common ancestor.

Note that zero values for "c" and/or "r" are meaningful although I've never seen them used:

You and your brother or sister are 0c0r.

You and your aunt or uncle are 0c1r.

You and your nephew or niece are also 0c1r.

Two 2c0r cousins are simply second cousins.