Sometimes, especially when working on your family history, it's handy to know how to describe your family relationships more exactly. The definitions below should help you out.
Your first cousins are the people in your family who have two of the same grandparents as you. In other words, they are the children of your aunts and uncles.
Your second cousins are the people in your family who have the same great-grandparents as you., but not the same grandparents.
Your third cousins have the same great-great-grandparents, fourth cousins have the same great-great-great-grandparents, and so on.
When the word "removed" is used to describe a relationship, it indicates that the two people are from different generations. You and your first cousins are in the same generation (two generations younger than your grandparents), so the word "removed" is not used to describe your relationship.
The words "once removed" mean that there is a difference of one generation. For example, your mother's first cousin is your first cousin, once removed. This is because your mother's first cousin is one generation younger than your grandparents and you are two generations younger than your grandparents. This one-generation difference equals "once removed."
Twice removed means that there is a two-generation difference. You are two generations younger than a first cousin of your grandmother, so you and your grandmother's first cousin are first cousins, twice removed.
Now that you have an idea of what these different words mean, take a look at the chart below. It's called a relationship chart, and it can help you figure out how different people in your family are related. It's much simpler than it looks, just follow the instructions.
Instructions for Using a Relationship Chart
| Common Ancestor | Child | Grandchild | G-grandchild | G-g-grandchild |
| Child | Sister or Brother | Nephew or Niece | Grand-nephew or niece | G-grand-nephew or niece |
| Grandchild | Nephew or Niece | First cousin | First cousin, once removed | First cousin, twice removed |
| G-grandchild | Grand-nephew or niece | First cousin, once removed | Second cousin | Second cousin, once removed |
| G-g-grandchild | G-grand-nephew or niece | First cousin, twice removed | Second cousin, once removed | Third cousin |
The old Nordic tradition of patronymic/matronymic names is still in use in Iceland and by some people in the Faroe Islands. This means that surnames are not fixed and cannot be inherited from the preceding generation. To build a surname, one adds a suffix to the first name of one of the parents, usually the father. Surnames like these are called patronymic or matronymic names. Patronyms are names based on the first name of the father, matronyms are based on the first name of the mother.
New name laws introduced in Denmark in 1828, in Sweden in 1901 and in Norway in 1922 forced the citizens to have inheritable surnames, so real patronyms/matronyms were forbidden in those countries.
Gunnar Eriksson and Elsa Magnusdotter have a son (Arne) and a daughter (Astrid).
Their children's surnames would have been Arne Gunnarsson (= Arne, son of Gunnar) and Astrid Gunnarsdotter (= Astrid, daughter of Gunnar) in patronymic times.
From 1901 onwards, this tradition has been forbidden and children have had to inherit their fathers' surnames. Our example children would become Arne Eriksson and Astrid Eriksson, even though Arne is not the son of Erik and even though Astrid is not a "son" at all.
Interestingly enough, to the farthest back on his one side of the family, he actually started out as a Johnsen; Martin Johnsen 1778-1862 (Jeremy's 4th Great Grandfather)
*taken from NordicNames
Here is the list of relative surnames I have added so far into my tree
A
Adolf, Allan, Allison, Andersen, Andreychuk, Andriashyk, Anne, Antici, Ashley-Marie, Atkinson,
Baker, Bakke, Barr, Bartley, Barton, Bell, Bertha, Biehl, Black, Blakely, Botulniski, Bouvier, Boyd, Boyko, Brooks, Burzawa,
Campeau, Caruk, Chalabudenko, Chartrand, Chercoe, Cholkan, Christian, Christoffersdatter, Coulic, Coveney, Crofton, Cutler, Cychanowska, Czank,
Daisy, Danyschuk, Danyshchuk, Darlene, Della, Delonge, Demchyshyn, Deneschuk, Denischuk, Dennis, Device, Dingwell, Diudzok, Doris, Drahomanow, Dunn, Duplawy, Duquette, Dwornik,
Elaine, Eliasdatter, Ervin, Ethier, Evanson,
Fangeyeva, Fihel, Fisher, Frailuk, Frank, Frere, Fryz,
Geisler, Genik, George, Gilchrist, Godin, Godson, Golebeski, Gould, Grayson, Groinus, Guze,
Halbert, Halbuza, Halowaty, Hanna, Harasymchuk, Harris, Harvey, Haverlock, Hawryluk, Hawrylyshyn, Hendrickson, Hinde, Hlady, Hnatiuk, Holler, Homer, Horn, Huska,
Impey, Ingebrigtson, Irene, Irmen, Isaksen, Ishiwara,
Jan, Janiszewski, Jasper, Jelinski, Jensen, Jergensen, Johnsen, Johnson, Julie,
Kaban, Kachur, Kateryna, Katherine, Kawiuk, Kindred, Kita, Kitto, Knapp, Kosach, Kottick, Kowalchuk, Kozlowski, Kraichyk, Kristianson, Krypiakewich, Krywyniuk, Kucy, Kuffner, Kulyk, Kummen,
Lake, Langelaan, Larence, Larsen, Leonida, Leslie, Lewandoski, Liick, Linda, Lipinski, Love, Lucy, Lukashewych, Lukianchuk, Lutz, Lyng, Lynn Cutler, Lytwyniuk,
Macisaac, Macrory, Magelssen, Mann, Manoshkin, Maria, Marie, Markevich, Martens, Mary, Matisho, Mattreck, May, Mccauley, Mcmahon, Medwid, Meyer, Michael, Mizak, Mortensen, Mucha, Myron,
Nancy, Napady, Neufeld, Nielsdatter, Nikolayeva, Nowicki,
Obiedzinkski, Ohryniuk, Ojah, Oleksiuk, Oleskiw, Olga, Olsen, Otto,
Pagett, Paholik, Paladiychuk, Panas, Pankiw, Parada, Paradowsky, Parent, Pauline, Pawlowiecz, Payne, Pearl, Perniak, Perpeluk, Petrinchyk, Petrus, Pilipchock, Podhordeski, Podollan, Pollitt, Pothof, Price, Prociuk, Prokopovych, Prybylsky, Prytula, Ptashnik,
Rankin, Ray, Richards, Rochelle, Rodzinkski, Ronelle, Rose, Rozdeba, Ruda,
Salyn, Schaff, Schultz, Scott, Senko, Sensabough, Shaunna, Sigstad, Sikorska, Somack, Sooknarine, Stadnycky, Stanley, Stefaniuk, Stephanie, Stewart, Sulek, Symrski,
Teklia, Teresa, Theodosia, Torrissen, Towne, Triethart, Tymochko, Tymoschuk,
Wasyliuk, Wasyluik, Weimen, Weisenburger, Wickstrom, Wieman, Wilk, Wilson, Winkler, Winslow, Wishaw, Witkowicz, Witushynsky, Wojnarsk, Wojnarski, Wright, Wychristie,
Yanishewski, Yarema, Yaroslava, Yasinski, Yiddo?, Yospiuk,
Zahaniewych, Zakydalsky, Zaluzniy, Zank, Zaretzky, Zygarliski,
Ukrainka was born in 1871 in the town of Novohrad-Volynskyi of Ukraine. She was the second child of Ukrainian writer and publisher Olha Drahomanova-Kosach (better known under her literary pseudonym Olena Pchilka). Mykhaylo Petrovych Drahomanov, a well-known Ukrainian scientist, historian, philosopher, folklorist and public figure, was a brother of Drahomanova-Kosach. Ukrainka's father was Petro Antonovych Kosach, head of the district assembly of conciliators. Despite his non-Ukrainian (Belarusian) [1] background, Kosach was devoted to the advancement of Ukrainian culture and financially supported Ukrainian publishing ventures. Ukrainka was very close to her uncle M. P. Drahomanov (her spiritual mentor and teacher), and her brother Mykhaylo (who would be known under the pseudonym Mykhaylo Obachny) whom she called "Mysholosie."
Ukrainka's mother played a significant role in her upbringing. Ukrainian language was the only language used in the household, and to enforce this practice their children were educated by Ukrainian tutors at home, in order to avoid schools that taught Russian as the primary language. Ukrainka learned how to read at the age of four, and she and her brother Mykhaylo could read foreign languages well enough to read literature in their original language. Ukrainka had a good familiarity with Russian, Polish, Bulgarian, Greek, Latin, French, Italian, German and English.
By the time she was eight, she wrote her first poem, "Hope," which was written in reaction to the arrest and exile of her aunt, Olena Kosach, who took part in a political movement against the tsarist autocracy. In 1879, her entire family moved to Lutsk. That same year her father started building houses for the family in the nearby village of Kolodiazhne.
It was at this time that her uncle, Mykhaylo Drahomanov, encouraged her to study Ukrainian folk songs, folk stories, and history, as well to peruse the Bible for its inspired poetry and eternal themes. She also was influenced by well-known composer Mykola Lysenko, and famous Ukrainian dramatist and poet Mykhailo Starytsky.
At age thirteen, her first published poem, "Lily of the Valley," appeared in the journal Zoria in Lviv. It was here that she first used her pseudonym, which was suggested by her mother. At this time, Ukrainka was well on her way of becoming a pianist, but due to tuberculosis of the bone, she did not attend any outside educational establishment. Writing was to be the main focus of her life.
When Ukrainka was seventeen, she and her brother organized a literary circle called Pleyada (The Pleiades) which they founded to promote the development of Ukrainian literature and translating foreign classics into Ukrainian. One of the works they translated was Nikolai Gogol's Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka.
Her first collection of poetry, Na krylakh pisen’ (On the Wings of Songs), was published in 1893. Since Ukrainian publications were banned by the Russian Empire, this book was published in Western Ukraine, which was part of Austria-Hungary at the time, and smuggled into Kiev.
Her illness made it necessary for her to travel to places where the climate was dry, and as a result, spent extended periods of time in Germany, Austria, Italy, Bulgaria, Crimea, the Caucasus, and Egypt. She loved experiencing other cultures, which was evident in many of her literary works, such as The Ancient History of Oriental Peoples, originally written for her younger siblings. The book was published in L'viv, and Ivan Franko was involved in its publication. It included her early poems, such as "Seven Strings," "The Starry Sky," "Tears-Pearls," "The Journey to the Sea," "Crimean Memories," and "In the Children's Circle."
Ukrainka also wrote epic poems, prose dramas, prose, several articles of literary criticism, and a number of sociopolitical essays. She was best known for her plays Boyarynya (1914; The Noblewoman), which refers directly to Ukrainian history, and Lisova pisnya (1912; The Forest Song), whose characters include mythological beings from Ukrainian folklore.
In 1897, while being treated in Yalta, Ukrainka met Serhiy Merzhynsky, an official from Minsk who was also receiving treatment for tuberculosis. The two fell in love, and her feelings for Merzhynsky were responsible for her showing a different side of herself. Examples include "Your Letters Always Smell of Withered Roses," "To Leave Everything and Fly to You," and "I'd Like to Wind around You Like Ivy," which were unpublished in her lifetime. Merzhynsky died with Ukrainka at his bedside on March 3, 1901. She wrote the entire dramatic poem "Oderzhyma" ("The Possessed") in one night at his deathbed.
Ukrainka actively opposed Russian tsarism and was a member of Ukrainian Marxist organizations. In 1902 she translated the Communist Manifesto into Ukrainian. She was briefly arrested in 1907 by tsarist police and remained under surveillance thereafter.
Ukrainka married in 1907 to Klyment Kvitka, a court official, who was an amateur ethnographer and musicologist. They settled first in Crimea, then moved to Georgia.
Ukrainka died on August 1, 1913 at a health resort of Surami, Georgia.
Lesya Ukrainky's burial location and monument at Baikove Cemetery in Kiev
She is the sister of my second cousin's mother in law.
Jeremy's Great-Grandfather's, Martin Johnson, First Car. 1928 Chrysler
Magnus Johnson and his first wife, Selma. Jeremy's Great Uncle
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