Everyone's a cousin.... right?

July 23, 2006 7:52 PM

Are cousins transitive? That is; if A and B are cousins, and B and C are cousins, are A and C cousins? If so, what terminology would you apply to this relationship?
posted by fvox13 to human relations (19 comments total)

Perhaps the term "cousins by marriage"?
posted by Maishe at 7:54 PM on July 23, 2006

No, they're not.
posted by fshgrl at 7:55 PM on July 23, 2006

If A and B are first cousins, and B and C are first cousins, A and C are either (first) cousins if they share the same grand parents or second cousins if they only share the same great grand parents.
posted by justkevin at 7:57 PM on July 23, 2006

No. If A is a cousin on B's Dad's side and C is a cousin on B's Mom's side, then A and C aren't related at all.
posted by winston at 7:58 PM on July 23, 2006

I think the term is 'second cousins'.
posted by smartless at 8:00 PM on July 23, 2006

On further reflection, A and C could also be siblings.
posted by justkevin at 8:03 PM on July 23, 2006

It totally depends on what the actual relationship is. A and C are not necessarily cousins, but they may be.
posted by bingo at 8:19 PM on July 23, 2006

'Second Cousins' is a commonly misunderstood term. By definition a 2nd cousin is someone who shares a common great-grandparent (not including your 1st cousins).
For instance - the child of your mother's cousin is your 2nd cousin. Your relationship to your mother's cousin is termed '1st Cousin, Once Removed'

In this problem I agree with Maishe: 'Cousin by marriage' is a commonly understood term. In fact there is a line in Romeo And Juliet (after Romeo has secretly married Juliet) where Romeo refers to Tybalt (Juliet's cousin) in this fashion.
posted by TheOtherGuy at 8:23 PM on July 23, 2006

So many best answers, most of them wrong.
posted by jdroth at 8:36 PM on July 23, 2006

So quick to post that flip answer, and now feeling stupid...
posted by jdroth at 8:36 PM on July 23, 2006

I think it might be worthwhile to mention that this is very much a cultural thing. In America, my father's brother's wife's sister's children aren't considered to be related to me. But in other places and other times, those kinds of relationships may have been recognized as being "family"
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 9:30 PM on July 23, 2006

I have tried on many occasions to describe how I know my father's sister's husband's (ie my uncle by marriage's) niece and find that describing her as my cousin's other cousin seems to cause the least confusion.
posted by cholly at 10:17 PM on July 23, 2006

Family Relationship Chart.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:57 PM on July 23, 2006

*Good* find WGP!
posted by DrtyBlvd at 3:35 AM on July 24, 2006

winston: in Bangladesh you would be related. Anyone that's vaguely connected to any side of the family, even by marriage, is family.

also, what Steven CDB said.
posted by divabat at 4:23 AM on July 24, 2006

Damn. My cousins' cousin is going out with the eldest grandson of the (British) queen. Nearly jumped 59 million places up the status ladder.
posted by daveyt at 6:33 AM on July 24, 2006

For instance - the child of your mother's cousin is your 2nd cousin. Your relationship to your mother's cousin is termed '1st Cousin, Once Removed'

What's my relationship to my cousin's daughter, then?

I think I liked it better when "cousin" meant "generic family member of some sort"
posted by dagnyscott at 7:08 AM on July 24, 2006

dagnyscott, your cousin's daughter is also your 1st cousin, once removed. It's just a flip of the original question - you are the girls's mother's cousin.
posted by donnagirl at 9:42 AM on July 24, 2006

My anthro prof saod that if there's no word for it, the culture does not recognize a formal relationship (she also thought that second-cousins and nth-removed cousins were bullshit).
posted by klangklangston at 11:57 AM on July 24, 2006