The Correct Terms of Various Family Relationships
In the 1990s, I decided to start using the correct terms for various family relationships that are commonly misused. For example, I have always used the term "great-uncle" and "great-aunt," which are both incorrect. I also used the term "second cousin" when I should have been using "first cousin once-removed." Here are the correct usages of these terms:
Granduncles & Grandaunts
While most people use the term "great-uncle," the uncle of my father or mother is actually called my "granduncle." This works just like "grandfather." Therefore, just as I have great-grandfathers, I also have great-granduncles. There is no such thing as a great-uncle. Similarly, Emily Wilks was my grandaunt rather than my great-aunt.
Removed Cousins & Second Cousins
I had previously used the term "second cousin" to refer to a cousin that was one generation away from me. This is incorrect. First cousins share the same grandparents. Second cousins share the same great-grandparents. You could go on with third and fourth cousins and so forth. So Brad Fitts and Sarah (Adams) Bell are my first cousins, and Matthew and Timothy Provance are my second cousins.
The children of first or second cousins become "removed" because they are removed from you by one or more generation. Therefore, the child of my first cousin is my "first cousin once-removed." Nicole (Fitts) Wright and Alden Fitts are both my first cousins once-removed. Similarly, since you are the child or grandchild of other cousin combinations, you are the first cousin twice-removed of your grandmother's first cousin. This can get complicated when you get into relationships such as a third cousin four-times removed and so on. See the following websites for charts that help explain these relationships.
Here is a good website that explains these relationships in more detail:
What is a First Cousin, Twice Removed?
I've borrowed a table from that website that helps explain the relationships. Pick two people in your family and figure out a common ancestor they share. On the top row, pick Person #1's relationship to that ancestor. On the left column, pick Person #2's relationship to that ancestor. Find where the row and the column meet, and that explains the relation between Person #1 and Person #2. For example, if Person #1 is the great-grandchild of Mr. Jones, and Person #2 is the great-great-grandchild of Mr. Jones, then Person #1 and Person #2 are related to each other as second cousins once removed.