Marston Manor Relationship Classroom

Relationship Classroom

How We Are Related

Here's how we figure our relationship to another person. See the explanation for this chart below.


CA    S-D   GS    GGS   2GGS  3GGS  4GGS  5GGS  6GGS  7GGS  8GGS  9GGS  	

S-D   B-S   N     GN    GGN   2GGN  3GGN  4GGN  5GGN  6GGN  7GGN  8GGN  

GS    N     1C    1C1R  1C2R  1C3R  1C4R  1C5R  1C6R  1C7R  1C8R  1C9R  

GGS   GN    1C1R  2C    2C1R  2C2R  2C3R  2C4R  2C5R  2C6R  2C7R  2C8R  

2GGS  GGN   1C2R  2C1R  3C    3C1R  3C2R  3C3R  3C4R  3C5R  3C6R  3C7R 	

3GGS  2GGN  1C3R  2C2R  3C1R  4C    4C1R  4C2R  4C3R  4C4R  4C5R  4C6R   

4GGS  3GGN  1C4R  2C3R  3C2R  4C1R  5C    5C1R  5C2R  5C3R  5C4R  5C5R       

5GGS  4GGN  1C5R  2C4R  3C3R  4C2R  5C1R  6C    6C1R  6C2R  6C3R  6C4R  

6GGS  5GGN  1C6R  2C5R  3C4R  4C3R  5C2R  6C1R  7C    7C1R  7C2R  7C3R   

7GGS  6GGN  1C7R  2C6R  3C5R  4C4R  5C3R  6C2R  7C1R  8C    8C1R  8C2R      

8GGS  7GGN  1C8R  2C7R  3C6R  4C5R  5C4R  6C3R  7C2R  8C1R  9C    9C1R  

9GGS  8GGN  1C9R  2C8R  3C7R  4C6R  5C5R  6C4R  7C3R  8C2R  9C1R  10C  

10GGS 9GGN  1C10R 2C9R  3C8R  4C7R  5C6R  6C5R  7C4R  8C3R  9C2R  10C1

CA: Common Ancestor
S-D: Son or Daughter
B-S: Brother or Sister
C: Cousin
xR: Number of Times Removed
G: Grand
GG: Great-Grand
xGG: Number of Greats-Grand
N: Nephew or Niece

To Use:

Example:

Let's say my g-g-g grandfather is also one of yours, i.e., a common ancestor.
If my g-g-g grandfather is your g-grandfather, I look on the left and go down to where it says 3GGS. That's my row.
Your column is GGS along the top.
Follow them until they meet, and you get 2C2R. You are my 2nd cousin twice removed!!

This chart can be easily expanded in both directions.

I Am My Own Grandpa!
[Poet Unknown]

Many many years ago, when I was twenty three,
I got married to a widow who was pretty as could be.

This widow had a grown-up daughter who had hair of red,
My father fell in love with her, and soon the two were wed.

This made my dad my son-in-law and changed my very life,
my daughter was my mother, for she was my father's wife.

To complicate the matters worse, although it brought me joy,
I soon became the father of a bouncing baby boy.

My little baby then became a brother-in-law to dad,
And so became my uncle, though it made me very sad.

For if he was my uncle, then that also made him brother,
to the widow's grown-up daughter, who of course, was my step-mother.

Father's wife then had a son, who kept them on the run,
And he became my grandson, for he was my daughter's son.

My wife is now my mother's mother and it makes me blue,
Because, although she is my wife, she is my grandma too.

If my wife is my grandmother, then I am her grandchild,
And every time I think of it, it simply drives me wild.

For now I have become the strangest case you ever saw;
as the husband of my grandmother, I am my own grandpa!

The FAMILY TREE and CHAIN OF LIFE just keep on GROWING, and GROWING, and GROWING!

Please E-MAIL your comments to: Dick Marston Simi Valley, CA (USA)

Created July 15, 1996
Updated December 11, 2008

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