Relationship calculator

We’re all familiar with the relationship between our direct line ancestor and ourselves, but the other branches can get a little tangled, and it’s a common query, at family gatherings or when mulling over family history matters, just how one person is related to another. You might know that the person is, for instance, your grandpa’s sister’s daughter, but what does that make her to you and vice versa?

Our handy family relationship calculator will help you work out precisely that – download it here!

How to use the relationship calculator

• First choose the most recent common ancestor that you share.
• For your grandpa’s sister’s daughter and you, the common ancestor is your great-grandparent (her grandparent).
• Visualise that name in the ‘common ancestor’ box.
• Move your finger along the top row until you find your relationship to the ‘common ancestor’ (great-grandchild).
• Then move your finger down the left-hand colunm until you find her relationship to the ‘common ancestor’ (grandchild).
• The point at which the row and column meet show your relationship to each other – ‘first cousin once removed’. 

Did you know?

• Grand-nieces and grand-nephews can also be termed great-niece/great-nephew.
• Kissing cousin is a term used for distant relations, but now you have the chart you can be more precise if you wish!
• The word ‘removed’ indicates how many generations different one person is from another in relation to the common ancestor.

   

QUICK LINK: How much DNA do you share with your ancestors? Check out the consanguinity relationships chart.