Description of First Cousins
First cousin is the same as cousin. People who share the same grandparents, but are not siblings, are first cousins. See First Cousins illustration below:
Tim and Kate are first cousins, because they are not siblings, but they share grandparents. Tim's mother and Kate's father are siblings.
In some countries and cultures around the world, marrying a first cousin is accepted and sometimes encouraged. That is not the case in the United States. In some states, like California and Florida, it is legal to marry your first cousin, while in other states, such as Texas and Nevada, it is a criminal offense to marry your cousin.
Who married their first cousin you may ask? Charles Darwin, Edgar Allan Poe, Igor Stravinsky, H. G. Wells, and Albert Einstein were all married to their first cousin.
How Am I Related To?
Find out how you are related to different people in your family.
Ancestry Research
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