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Re: on the subject of familial relations Dreaded Anomaly Send a noteboard - 17/03/2010 12:46:14 AM
First, let me just state that terms like uncle and cousin have broad colloquial meanings. Uncle can be any older male relative or friend of the family, cousin can be any relative outside of your immediate family, etc. The terms do have specific genealogical meanings, too, but you don't have to stick to those, especially in complicated situations like the ones you present. I've tried to go through the genealogical uses for each situation.

i have been wondering about how to call certain specific familial situations and i'm hoping that we have some genealogists here that can help me out so, without further ado....

1) what do you call the male cousin of your spouse's uncle's wife? in other words, your spouse's mother's brother (by blood), marries a woman who has a cousin. is he just simply "cousin"? or is there some more specific name for this relationship?


The individual in question is your spouse's uncle's first cousin-in-law, and therefore your spouse's first cousin-in-law once removed. Technically, you're related to this person by two marriages, but adding the "in-law" again is rather redundant, so I would say that you could just copy your spouse's relationship and call him your first cousin-in-law once removed. A relationship like that can be shortened for ease of conversation to cousin-in-law or just cousin, depending on your preference.

2) what do you call your mother's husband's brother? your mother marries a man who is not your father, and he has a brother. brother in law? uncle in law?


I suppose you could call him your step-uncle. It sounds a bit odd to me, but it's accurate. Just calling him uncle would also be acceptable, especially if your step-father has adopted you.

3) a couple has a child. the husband has another child with a different woman. that different woman has another child with a different man. that different man has another child with yet another different woman. you are related to that last child, how are you specifically related to those other (half) siblings?


I'm not sure what you mean by "you are related to that last child"; related how? The last (fourth) child is the half-sibling of the third child (linked by their common father), and has no blood relation to the other two children. If you're related to the fourth child on his mother's side, you have no blood relation to the third child. If you're related on his father's side, you're related to the third child in the same way.
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on the subject of familial relations - 16/03/2010 05:50:16 AM 300 Views
Re: on the subject of familial relations - 16/03/2010 06:35:42 AM 195 Views
Re: on the subject of familial relations - 16/03/2010 06:45:11 AM 177 Views
Wouldn't 2) be a step-uncle? - 16/03/2010 09:06:50 AM 173 Views
Re: Wouldn't 2) be a step-uncle? - 17/03/2010 02:22:57 AM 146 Views
Don't bother with the labels. - 16/03/2010 05:27:56 PM 157 Views
Re: on the subject of familial relations - 17/03/2010 12:46:14 AM 160 Views

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