English Family Relationship Calculator
English family relationship calculator — build a path from "me" and get the exact term (uncle, second cousin once removed, sister-in-law), with a cousin-removal explainer and US/UK/AU/Indian-English variants. Runs in your browser.
English Family Relationship Calculator
How to Use the English Family Relationship Calculator
Build the path
Starting from "me", add each step of the relationship — father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, husband or wife — to describe the person, e.g. "father → brother → son".
Set your region
Choose US, UK, Australia or Indian-English. It changes regional terms like "great-aunt" vs "grand-aunt" and activates Indian-English forms such as "cousin-brother".
Read the term
The calculator names the relationship — uncle, second cousin once removed, sister-in-law — using the same simple rules genealogists use.
Understand cousins
For any cousin, it shows the common-ancestor diagram and walks through the cousin-degree and removal-count derivation, so "once removed" finally makes sense.
Cousins, Removals, and the Words English Gets Wrong
English family terms are, in most respects, simpler than those of many languages. There is one word for both grandmothers, one word for an aunt whether she is your mother's or father's sister, and no distinction between an older and a younger brother. But English has one famously confusing corner that trips up almost everyone: the cousin system, and in particular the phrase "first cousin once removed." Surveys consistently find that most people cannot say what it means, and many confuse it with "second cousin." This calculator exists to settle that confusion for good — you build the actual family path, and it names the relationship precisely, then shows you exactly why.
What "removed" really means
The key idea is the common ancestor. Two people are cousins because they share an ancestor, and the relationship is described by two numbers. The cousin degree — first, second, third — is one less than the number of generations from the nearer of the two people back to that shared ancestor. Your first cousins share a grandparent with you (two generations up); your second cousins share a great-grandparent (three generations up). The removal is simply the difference in how many generations each of you stands from the common ancestor. If your father's cousin is two generations from your shared great-grandparent but you are three, you are "once removed" — one generation apart in the family tree. The calculator computes both numbers from the path you build and lays the arithmetic out in a diagram, so the label stops being a mystery and becomes obvious.
"First cousin once removed" isn't a vague guess at distant family — it is a precise statement: you are first cousins, and you sit one generation apart from the common ancestor.
Great-, grand-, and the regional split
English also disagrees with itself across regions, and the calculator handles this with a region toggle. A parent's aunt is a "great-aunt" in American usage but, in formal British style, historically a "grand-aunt" — though "great-" is steadily winning everywhere. Australia and New Zealand mostly follow "great-". Indian-English, spoken across India, Singapore, Malaysia and the wider South Asian diaspora, goes further: it applies "uncle" and "auntie" warmly and broadly — to a parent's cousin, to family friends — and uses the distinctive compounds "cousin-brother" and "cousin-sister" to signal that a cousin is close, almost a sibling. None of these are wrong; they are simply different conventions, and the tool shows the one that matches the region you choose. Alongside cousins, it also handles the half-, step- and in-law axis — the relationships English collapses confusingly, where "brother-in-law" can mean your spouse's brother or your sister's husband, two quite different connections sharing one word. Everything runs in your browser; nothing about your family is sent anywhere.
10 Facts About English Family Terms
A cousin's degree is one less than the generations to the shared ancestor.
"Removed" means a difference in generations, not distance in the family.
Your first cousins share a grandparent; second cousins, a great-grandparent.
English uses one word for maternal and paternal aunts — unlike Chinese.
US "great-aunt" is UK formal "grand-aunt"; "great-" is winning globally.
"Brother-in-law" collapses two relationships into one term.
Indian-English "cousin-brother" stresses sibling-like closeness.
A step-parent is your parent's spouse; a parent-in-law is your spouse's parent.
"First cousin once removed" is one of the most-searched kinship phrases.
This calculator runs in your browser — your family stays private.
Frequently Asked Questions
- It means you are first cousins with someone, but one generation apart from your common ancestor. Your parent's first cousin, or your first cousin's child, is your first cousin once removed — "removed" counts the generation gap, not the family distance.
- Second cousins are in the same generation as each other and share a great-grandparent. A first cousin once removed is in a different generation from you but shares a grandparent through one of you. They are commonly confused; the calculator's diagram shows the difference clearly.
- Start from "me" and add steps that describe the person — for example, your father's brother's son is "father → brother → son" (a first cousin). Add up to five steps; the tool names the resulting relationship.
- Because English varies. US, Australian and most modern usage say "great-aunt"; formal British style historically says "grand-aunt". Indian-English uses "uncle" and "auntie" broadly and the compounds "cousin-brother" and "cousin-sister". The region toggle shows the form that fits where you are.
- A step-parent is your parent's spouse who is not your biological parent. A parent-in-law is your spouse's parent. They are different relationships that people sometimes mix up; the calculator labels each correctly.
- English collapses two relationships into one term: your spouse's brother, and your sister's husband, are both "brother-in-law", even though they are connected to you in different ways. The calculator recognises both paths.
- No. Unlike Chinese, English uses the same word for an aunt on either side, the same word for both grandfathers, and no older/younger distinction among siblings. If you need the dialect-specific Chinese terms, our Chinese kinship calculator handles those.
- No. Every calculation runs in your browser on a small built-in engine — nothing about your family is uploaded to a server or third-party. It works offline once the page has loaded.
- As deep as you can build the path — first, second, third cousins and beyond, with any number of removals. The degree and removal are computed from the common ancestor, so the answer is exact however far apart the branches are.
- Completely free, with no account, sign-up, or usage limit. It runs entirely in your browser and collects no data. Use it as much as you like.
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