What Is a Second Cousin Twice Removed? (With Relationship Chart)

"Once removed" trips people up. "Twice removed" trips them up twice as much. If you've traced your family tree far enough to find a cousin from a different generation than you, this guide breaks down exactly what "second cousin twice removed" means, how to work it out for anyone in your own tree, and how it differs from a second cousin once removed.

The Two Numbers That Matter

Every extended-cousin relationship is really answering two separate questions:

1. The cousin number (first, second, third...) tells you how many generations back you have to go to find the shared ancestor. A second cousin means you share a great-grandparent, not a grandparent.
2. The "removed" number tells you how many generations apart you and that cousin are from each other, regardless of the shared ancestor.

A second cousin twice removed means: you share a great-grandparent with this person, but there are two generations of difference between you - they might be your parent's second cousin, or your own second cousin's grandchild.

Working It Out With a Chart

Shared Great-Great-Grandparent
├── Great-Grandparent A --> Grandparent --> Parent --> You
└── Great-Grandparent B --> Grandparent --> Parent --> Second Cousin
                                                          └── Child --> Second cousin once removed (from you)
                                                              └── Grandchild --> Second cousin twice removed (from you)

Reading it plainly: your second cousin is the person in your own generation who shares a great-grandparent with you. Their child is your second cousin once removed. Their grandchild - two generations down from your second cousin - is your second cousin twice removed.

A Simple Relationship Table

Relationship to you	Generation gap from your second cousin	"Removed" count
Second cousin	Same generation as you	Not removed
Second cousin once removed	One generation different (parent's cousin, or cousin's child)	Once removed
Second cousin twice removed	Two generations different (grandparent's cousin, or cousin's grandchild)	Twice removed
Second cousin three times removed	Three generations different	Three times removed

It Works in Both Directions

A second cousin twice removed can be either older or younger than you - the term only describes the generational gap, not which direction it runs. That means both of these people are equally your second cousin twice removed:

• Your grandparent's second cousin (two generations older than you)
• Your second cousin's grandchild (two generations younger than you)

This is the part people find most counterintuitive: "removed" never tells you who's older, only how far apart your generations are.

Why This Comes Up So Often in Family Tree Research

Second cousins, and their "removed" variants, show up constantly once you're building out a family tree past three or four generations, because they're the most common relationship connecting two branches of a family that split off from a shared pair of great-grandparents. If you're comparing a DNA match, reading an old family letter, or just trying to place a distant relative you met at a reunion, working out whether someone is a second cousin once removed or twice removed usually comes down to counting generations from the nearest shared ancestor on both sides, then comparing the two counts.

A Faster Way to Check

Doing this math by hand for every distant relative gets tedious fast, especially once a family tree has several branches with different generation gaps. Building the relationship out in a family tree tool that calculates these connections automatically - rather than counting on your fingers each time - is usually the quickest way to get a reliable answer, especially for relationships further out than second cousin.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between a second cousin once removed and twice removed?

The "removed" number tracks how many generations separate you from that cousin. Once removed means a one-generation gap (like your parent's second cousin); twice removed means a two-generation gap (like your grandparent's second cousin, or your second cousin's grandchild).

Can a second cousin twice removed be younger than me?

Yes. The term only describes the generational distance from your shared great-grandparent, not age or direction, so a second cousin twice removed can be either much older or much younger than you.

Do second cousins twice removed share DNA?

They can, though the expected shared DNA is small and can sometimes be undetectable, since the relationship is quite distant. DNA testing services typically list this kind of relationship as a "distant cousin" rather than naming the exact degree.

How do I find my second cousins twice removed on a family tree?

Start from your great-grandparents, trace all their descendants down two generations further than your own generation (or two generations back past your own second cousins), and any match on that branch is a second cousin twice removed.

Is "twice removed" the same as "second removed"?

Yes, they mean the same thing. "Twice removed" is simply the more common way English speakers phrase a two-generation gap, the same way "once removed" is preferred over "one time removed."

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