Have you seen the meme of Albert Einstein drawing his family tree on a blackboard? He says to himself, "So that would make my second cousin once removed the great aunt of my first cousin twice removed…no, wait, that can't be right."
You know what? He's actually onto something. If you follow the rules, and ignore your known connection to someone, things can get weird.
My father's parents had the same unusual last name—Iamarino. We never gave it much thought. But once I got interested in genealogy, I wanted to know if they had a connection. It turns out my grandparents, Pietro and Lucy Iamarino, were 3rd cousins.
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| The dotted line around one instance of Francesco and Cristina tells me they're in my family tree twice. |
Pietro and Lucy's shared 2nd great grandparents appear twice in my ancestor chart. They appear on Grandpa Pietro's line and on Grandma Lucy's line.
If we apply relationship rules to my family, Grandpa Pietro's 3rd cousin (Grandma Lucy) is my 3rd cousin twice removed (3C2R). My 3C2R's son (Dad) is my 4C1R. And I'm my own 5th cousin!
A Scientific Experiment to Prove the Theory
To test out this idea, I searched my family tree for another one of Grandpa Pietro's 3rd cousins. I chose a different set of his 2nd great grandparents. Then I clicked my way down 5 generations to one of their 2nd great grandchildren, Domenico.
Family Tree Maker correctly tells me Domenico is my 3C2R and his daughter is my 4C1R. So, if you put aside that fact that Grandpa Pietro married his 3rd cousin Grandma Lucy, Lucy would be my 3C2R. And her son (Dad) would be my 4C1R. Dad's children (like me) would be my 5th cousin. And my kids would be my 5C1Rs!
And that's when Albert Einstein's mind was blown. Don't you think "I am my own 5th cousin" should be my new email signature?
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| Cousins marrying cousins adds a new level of mind-blowing relationships to a family tree. |
Applying the Lesson to DNA Matches
Aside from the fact that it's funny, I bring this up for a more practical reason. We see that different interpretations of a relationship can co-exist. Doesn't this help make sense of some DNA relationships?
I'm looking at one DNA match in my list. Ancestry DNA says she's most likely my 4th–6th cousin. But I know where she fits in my family tree, and she's my 3C2R. There's another, closer relative in my list. I know she is my 3rd cousin, but again, Ancestry DNA says she's most likely my 4th–6th cousin.
We know DNA passes down randomly from generation to generation. Even full siblings can have very different mixtures of their shared ancestors' DNA. Each of your DNA matches has a laundry list of possible relationships to you.
Look beyond the labels your DNA website uses to the groupings they use. Ancestry DNA groups your matches as:
- Parent/Child (both my parents tested, so I see them in this group)
- Close Family (this group includes my 1st and 2nd cousins, plus Dad's 1st cousin and her children)
- Extended Family (these range from Mom's 2nd cousin to Dad's 3rd cousin, and even a 5C1R with multiple connections to me)
- Distant Family (this is where I see the 3C and 3C2R I mentioned above, plus every other relationship under the sun)
Many people in your family tree can have multiple relationships to you. What really matters to you is where they fit in the tree. Don't get hung up on the labels.
Do you have ancestors who married a cousin? What does that make you to yourself?
And speaking of crazy relationships:
I just started using FTM for the Mac and I can't figure out how to see more than one relationship to an ancestor. I know that there are people on my tree that I have more than one relationship with and with my previous genealogy program it would show me. I can't figure out how FTM can show me the same thing... Hopefully you can tell me how to do the same thing on FTM.
ReplyDeleteIt should be the same on a Mac. When you're looking at one person, go to the Tools menu and click Relationship Calculator. By default, it will show you the person's relationship to the tree's home person, but you can select any other person in your tree.
DeleteWhile reading this article, I was reminded of the novelty song, "I'm My Own Grandpa," recorded by many musicians, such as Ray Stevens and Willie Nelson. Now I can't stop smiling!
ReplyDeleteThis post made me giggle! A lot of my DNA matches have ancestors show up in their trees multiple times, but I haven't (yet!) found it in my own trees, at least not through 3rd/4th great-grands. I can't say what is the case with 3rd greats and beyond on my matrilineal/mtDNA line, because beyond my 2nd great-grandmother is a solid brick wall. This comment is going to be a bit long!
ReplyDeleteBut, there are some things in my tree to confuse DNA connections for people. My 3rd great-grandpa was married twice. I descend from a son with his first wife. When Gma Eliza died, Gpa Berry M married a girl named Tabitha. The next year, Berry H, one of Gpa Berry and Gma Eliza's other sons married Susan, who was Tabitha's sister. So, now Susan's sister is her mother-in-law. Their nieces and nephews are also half-siblings to her husband. And boy do the migraines set in when I try to figure out who is what to whom!
On my bio father's side, I have a DNA cousin whose closest relationship to me is 1C2R (my great-grandma Ruby and his mother Nannie Lou were sisters). But, we have two other connections as well. He is also 4C1R and 3C2R. Those two connections go through my great-grandfather Arnold who was Ruby's husband.
Also on my father's side. There are 5th and 6th great-grands that are reused, but not genetically reused as far as my DNA is concerned. 5th great-grand Nancy had 4 husbands. She and her first husband, Thomas Hughes, are the parents of my 4th great-grandma Mary Ann. Nancy also had children with her 2nd husband, Mr. McVeigh. Then, with her 3rd marriage, she became the 2nd wife of William Duke. William, along with his first wife Jane, are my 6th great-grands and they are the parents of my 5th great-grandpa James. Nancy and William had no children together. I don't think that she had any children with husband #4 either. I haven't even attempted to figure out children's relationships in that pile of folks yet!
And, one connection that comforts my traumatized soul a little....the daddy who I grew up believing to be my father and turned out to be my step-father, is (through my mother) a cousin. According to WikiTree, Daddy is my 18C1R through his maternal grandma's ancestors and my maternal grandma's paternal ancestors. He isn't my father, but is forever my daddy and, now, my cousin, too. There is a closer connection than that, too. Daddy's 6th great-grands are also my mother's 5th great-grandparents. So, if I am calculating correctly, Daddy's 6ths are also my 6ths, making me and my daddy 7th cousins and may explain why our youngest daughter bears a striking resemblance to Daddy's maternal grandma.
Thanks for another great post! Sorry for any typos. Sometimes I get too excited to be a good typist. haha
18th cousin once removed?!? I think your family tree's double connections are a lot trickier than mine. Wow!
DeleteIt definitely boggles the mind! haha
DeleteHave a blessed day. :)