Joyce - this was caught in the system for a few minutes - may wind up duplicated (apologies to all if so) - Robert > Joyce - > > Yes, the children of 1st cousins are second cousins to each other - and > 1st cousins once removed to their parents' 1st cousins. Their children > will be third cousins - and 2nd cousins once removed from their parents' > second cousins - and 1st cousins twice removed from their grandparents' > 1st cousins! > > Here's an explanation from About.com at > http://genealogy.about.com/library/tips/blcousins.htm: > > "First cousins are the people in your family who have two of the same > grandparents as you. > Second cousins have the same great-grandparents as you, but not the same > grandparents. > Third cousins have in common two great-great-grandparents and their > ancestors. > > "When cousins descend from common ancestors by a different number of > generations they are called 'removed.' > > "Once removed means there is a difference of one generation. Your mother's > first cousin would be your first cousin, once removed. She is one > generation younger than your grandparents and you are two generations > younger than your grandparents. Twice removed means that there is a > two-generation difference. Your grandmother's first cousin would be your > first cousin, twice removed because you are separated by two generations. > Just to complicate matters, there are also many cases of double cousins. > This situation usually occurs when siblings from one family marry siblings > from another family. The resulting children, grandchildren, etc. are > double cousins, because they share all four ancestors in common." > > > As to what constitutes "kissin' cousins", that's another topic. My simple > understanding was that meant cousins lawfully allowed to marry - second & > more distant cousins when I learned it. But which cousins are allowed to > marriage is covered extensively at > http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=states. > > Robert > > >