geneology... once removed

i've always wondered what you would call your Cousin's child or your Cousin's child's child, etc...
 in my family, if you're a generation higher; you're an uncle or aunt - no matter what your age is.

so if your great aunt (grand ma's sister) has a child (miraculously - seeing as she'd be probably in mid-menopause) when you're lets say 20 - that child according to my family would be your aunt.
only because generation wise; you're later than the baby.

imagine - calling a baby auntie or uncle... it's freakin weird.

but i did some googling research and found out that your great aunt's child is your 1st Cousin ONCE REMOVED.

i always wondered about the whole "once removed" stuff that i read in books and hear about in movies.
i always thought that the removed status was because they were disowned and was accepted back.
and i thought that if you were "thrice removed" then you were probably a lousy cousin.

but it turns out that the "removed" status applies to how many generations later or previous that cousin is.
so if your cousin is one generation later (your cousin's son/daughter) or one generation previous (your uncle or aunts cousin) they would be your first cousin Once Removed.
and it's twice removed if it's 2 generations previous or later, etc.

the whole first, second, third, etc cousin thing is related to who their parents are; for example:

your first cousin is your direct cousin from your parent's siblings.
your second cousin is the child of your great uncle/aunt's child (your 1st cousin once removed).
and your third cousin is the child of your 2nd cousin once removed.


it's really confusing; no wonder some cultures just call each other uncle/aunt/elder brother/sister;
it's easier that way and also it makes the relation a bit closer.

image courtesy of wikipedia