What does "once removed" mean?
"Removed" is a generation counter. When two cousins sit on different generations of the family tree, each generation between them is one removal.
Try it: move the two cousins
Both of you descend from the same ancestors at the top. Step each person up or down their own branch. The plum row marks the closer person's generation, which sets the cousin number; the gold band is the gap, which counts the removals.
Second cousin once removed
Cousin number: the closer person is 3 generations down. 3 − 1 = second cousin.
Removed: 4 − 3 = 1, so once removed.
The rule in two sentences
The cousin number belongs to whichever of you is closer to the shared ancestors: count their generations down and subtract one. The removed number is how many generations further down the other person sits.
Worked examples
- Your first cousin's daughter. Shared ancestors: your grandparents. You are 2 down, she is 3 down. First cousin (2 − 1), once removed (3 − 2).
- Your grandmother's first cousin. Shared ancestors: your great-great-grandparents, 4 up from you and 2 up from them. First cousin (2 − 1), twice removed (4 − 2).
- Your father's second cousin. You are 4 down from the shared couple, he is 3 down. Second cousin, once removed.
Why "removed" works both ways
Removal does not say who is older. Your parent's cousin and your cousin's child are both "first cousins once removed", one a generation above you and one below. That is why the term describes a pair rather than a direction, and why both of you use it for each other.
Where the term comes from
It is an older sense of "removed" meaning separated by a step or degree. It survived because wills and inheritance law needed a precise way to rank relatives who sat on different generations. See the degrees of consanguinity for how the law counts the same steps.
Want to see it on a grid? The cousin chart lays out every combination, and the calculator names any real relative.
Questions people ask
What does "once removed" mean?
It means the two cousins are one generation apart. "Twice removed" means two generations apart, and so on.
Does "removed" mean someone was taken out of the family?
No. It has nothing to do with divorce, estrangement or adoption. It only counts generations.
Who is closer, a second cousin or a first cousin once removed?
On paper, a first cousin once removed: you share more recent ancestors and about 6.25% of your DNA on average, against about 3.1% for a second cousin.
Is my cousin's child my cousin once removed?
Yes, your first cousin once removed. Your parent's first cousin is also your first cousin once removed.