Cousins are the children of your aunts and uncles. Grandchildren are the children of your siblings. So your cousins’ grandchildren are your grandkids, too.

The term “second cousin” is really just a way to differentiate between first cousins (your parents’ cousins) and second cousins (your grandparents’ cousins).

So if you have two first cousins who have kids and one dies, then their son or daughter would be your second cousin on their mother’s side (assuming you don’t have any other relatives on that side).

If one of your parents had two brothers or sisters who had kids and one died, then their son or daughter would be your second cousin on their father’s side.

The terminology gets more complicated when you start talking about other types of relationships like great-grandchildren but it all boils down to who’s related to whom in which generation.

Last modified: August 1, 2022