A third-degree cousin is the child of your third-degree cousin or your parents` third-degree cousin. In other words, your parents` third-degree cousins and your third-degree cousins` children are all your third-degree cousins once removed. Are third-degree cousins part of a close family? Family? Distant family? I know my family gatherings were an exception, most other families who don`t have these closer relationships probably don`t know their third-degree cousins or know them as people, but they don`t know they are cousins! Again, this scenario is common when families stay in the same geographical area, but remember, we live in a small world! If you weren`t closely connected to a family outside of your siblings and parents, you probably wouldn`t be able to pick your third-degree cousins in a queue. Some say that this is based on outdated notions that precede modern genetics and that the rules should be abandoned. In many other countries, marrying cousins is not considered problematic at all. In fact, according to the Huffington Post, about 20% of marriages, or one in five worldwide, are between cousins. So let`s look at the myths and facts about cousin marriages. Third-degree cousins are still considered relatives from a genealogical perspective, and there is about a 90% chance that third-degree cousins share DNA. However, if you team up between close relatives, you increase the chances that both partners carry a recessive gene for a harmful condition.

The resulting children would have 25% of the expression of this gene, which means they will have the disease. Also, and we`ll digress from the study here and talk like friends, once you get to a third or fourth cousin, things get less «scary» than you think. It looks like a close relative, but it doesn`t. A third-degree cousin is someone who only shares great-great-grandparents with you. It is the child of a second cousin of your parents. (Your fourth cousin only shares your great-great-great-great-grandparents.) The common ancestor between Queen Elizabeth and her husband, her third cousin, was Queen Victoria. Queen Elizabeth is directly descended from Queen Victoria`s heir, Edward VII, while Prince Phillip is descended from Queen Victoria`s second eldest daughter, Princess Alice. Third-degree cousins share between 30 and 230 cM (centiMorgans – unit of measurement of common DNA). The average amount of DNA shared with a third-degree cousin is about 74 cM, but this can be in such a wide range for a variety of reasons. Depending on the family, you may know your third cousins personally. Close-knit families that stay in the same geographic areas are likely to maintain relationships with distant family members, who usually have an older grandparent or great-grandparent like matriarch/patriarch who keeps the family together like glue. When older generations of these families die, it is very common for distant relatives to lose contact.

This was the case in my own family. Although we know our distant cousins, we haven`t seen each other in years, although we keep in touch via social media. Sometimes it`s easier to understand a visual explanation of how Cousins 3. Degree of interconnection. It can be difficult to keep all the big and big in our heads in order! Let`s say you hear that a third-degree cousin only invites a «close family» to his wedding. You`d probably be better off not sitting at the mailbox. First-degree cousins share 12.5% of their DNA. (Siblings, parents and children share about 50 percent.) Any child born of a first-degree union will therefore have a fairly large proportion of genes of similar appearance. And that can be a problem.

Now, when I get out of my soapbox, it`s incredibly beneficial for genetic research to locate these distant cousins and half-cousins, whether they`re first, second, or third. Through DNA testing, it`s obvious that they have curiosities about family history, and that makes it an ideal opportunity to collaborate and share copies of research and family histories or legacies that their direct lineage may not even have known. Once these relationships are established, it is very, very moving to realize that distant cousins, as opposed to immediate family, can be chosen despite the phrase «You can poke your nose, but you cannot choose your family». When it comes to distant cousins, you can really build relationships and become quite close, and for others, you don`t need to be friends if you don`t want to be! «Twenty-five states prohibit marriages between first cousins. Six states allow marriage to a first-degree cousin in certain circumstances, and North Carolina allows marriage to a first-degree cousin but prohibits marriage to a cousin. States generally recognize marriages of first-degree cousins who are married in a state where such marriages are legal. Queen Elizabeth and «Prince Phillip,» as he was otherwise known, were third cousins. As you know, third-degree cousins have the same great-great-grandparents. You can also start building your family tree (read my book on Amazon on how to do this). Since our third cousins are descended from our great-great-grandparents, we need to create a family tree.

A third-degree half-cousin is when your great-grandparents are half-siblings and you would only share one great-great-grandparent. Finding half-cousins should also be done by determining how they fit into your tree. Often people have more half-cousins than they think, because cases usually can`t be traced genealogically, but children born from adventures can be safe if their offspring have been tested! The fact is that canon law forbade marriages up to the sixth degree. This has recently been relaxed to the fourth degree (first cousins). Third and fourth degree marriages are, and I quote, «the best of both worlds.» These are breakfast foods for dinner. You avoid the risk of inbreeding from closer cousins, but your genes are just close enough that they naturally work well together. As a result, marriages between third and fourth cousins produce more children and grandchildren than other couples. In the image below, we see the descendants of Peter and Earlene.