A few days ago I ran into her in the library and we haven’t seen each other in like 12 months but her appearance changed and it kind of made me :reigen-sweat: We just talked and caught up, but a pressing question was in the back of my mind the whole time, which is the title of this post.
We usually just refer to each other as “cousins” when talking to other people because it was easier than explaining the family tree. No, I don’t plan on doing anything with her. We don’t have much in common and we grew up together so it’s weird even if she wasn’t related to anyone in my family. But, I am normal right?
That kind of cousin (well in this case, cousin of a cousin... once removed? Idk) attraction is normal, or at least not too outside the realm of normality to be worried about, unless it starts to affect your family dynamic. Chalk it down to the human brain being weird
I was recently trying to find a better word for cousin of cousin and I haven't been able to
I think "once removed' is used for someone who is higher up generation wise in the family tree. So your first cousin shares a grand parent with you, but a first cousin once removed shares a great-grandparent with you and is in the generation of your parents. So your parent's first cousin.
I don't think there's a technical word since they wouldn't belong to your family tree, at least from a consanguinity perspective. As you say, your first cousin shares at least a grandparent with you. However, if (for instance) their mother is a sibling of one of your parents but their father is not (one would hope), their paternal cousins have no more genetic relation to you than any random person on the street. And of course, their maternal first cousins are the same as your first cousins.
Cutesy name I saw for it is "cousin-in-law" which does capture the difference.