If someone is my 2nd cousin 1x removed

[Beingscammed]

What are they to my father? This is a paternal match. Have posted on genealogy thread but seems there is 0 traffic. And I am desperate to find my father before it is too late. This is the closest match

Just to add the 4th cousin was mentioned due to her very large and useful family tree which includes my 2nd cousin 1x removed and her family including the parents grandparents and siblings of those of this cousin

If you go into the profile page of your match, it will say:

Your name and Matches name (at the top).
Then the next line will say
2nd cousin 1x removed | Paternal side (assuming you have set parent 1 and parent 2 to paternal/maternal)
Then under that it says
2% shared DNA (this is just so you know you are looking at the right page)

If you click on where it says 2nd cousin 1x removed you will get a pop up.

This will give you a slightly long list of predicted relationships - this is really what you should work from, rather than just the 2nd cousin 1x.

I've got someone who matches 141cM with DH for him it says:
Predicted relationships
We predict that these relationships are most likely. To predict relationships, we factor in self-reported ages and genders of both people.

• 2nd cousin 1x removed
• half 2nd cousin 1x removed
• 2nd cousin 2x removed

and then there is a tab that gives percentage likelihoods:

For DHs match it comes back as saying:

Relationship
45%
2nd cousin 1x removed
half 1st cousin 2x removed
1st cousin 3x removed
half 2nd cousin

23%
half 2nd cousin 1x removed
2nd cousin 2x removed
half 1st cousin 3x removed
3rd cousin

18%
half 1st cousin 1x removed
1st cousin 2x removed
half great-granduncle
2nd cousin
half great-grandnephew

8%
3rd cousin 1x removed
half 2nd cousin 2x removed
2nd cousin 3x removed
half 3rd cousin

4%
half 3rd cousin 1x removed
3rd cousin 2x removed
half 2nd cousin 3x removed
4th cousin

You will need to look at your match as the prediction is likely to be slightly different to this. This is an example only.

My point here is that the 2nd cousin 1x could be misleading. And its going to be difficult to pin down who your father is, with just one close match in this scenario. You ideally are going to need two or three matches from the information you have unfortunately.

To temper your hopes at this point; The common ancestors of the above match and DH were born in the 1840s. They had 12 children and then they had a lot of children. You could easily be looking at 60 - 120 current decendants for the generation you want.

You CAN narrow down the possibilities, but I do think you are going to have to be patient on this and wait for that additional ancestry match.

In the meantime try and work out as many descendants as you can from your matches great grandparent as it will help when you do hopefully get another close match.

Good luck.

45%
2nd cousin 1x removed
Half 1st cousin 2x removed
Half 2nd cousin
1st cousin 3x removed
23%
Half 2nd cousin 1x removed
2nd cousin 2x removed
3rd cousin
Half 1st cousin 3x removed
18%
Half 1st cousin 1x removed
1st cousin 2x removed
2nd cousin
Half great-grandaunt
Half great-grandniece
8%
3rd cousin 1x removed
Half 2nd cousin 2x removed
Half 3rd cousin
2nd cousin 3x removed
4%
Half 3rd cousin 1x removed
3rd cousin 2x removed
4th cousin
Half 2nd cousin 3x removed

lol I think this is one size fits all

No thats interesting. Thats age weighted.

Work from your matches great grandparents down. You shouldnt have to go back further than that from those numbers.

That gives you the full range of combinations of relationships though, which shows how its not as simple as it initially might appear!

the grandparent of my cousin is 1 of 9!

@O6bftdff thanks! Very clear explanation!

I’ve narrowed it down through other matches but it still feels like a needle in a haystack🤯 especially as ancestry doesn’t state names of living people

They are largely traceable using mothers maiden name and surname even though ancestry won't name them.

Unless both names are particularly common, if you have a marriage you will get only a very limited number of returns on a search, so you can work it out.

Tbh ancestry isn't the best for this - findmypast is much better for searches of this nature but that requires another search engine.

But yes I would expect it to be needle in a haystack from that being your closest match.

For people of the same generation, 2nd/3rd/4th cousin means how many extra generations do you have to go back to reach a common ancestor.

1st cousins - common ancestor is grandparent
2nd cousins - common ancestor is great grandparent
3rd cousins - common ancestor is great great grandparent.

A "removed" means there are X generations difference between you.

Your 2nd cousin once removed may be the child of your 2nd cousin.

One of the parents of your 2nd cousin would be your dad's cousin, so to your dad the same child would be his first cousin twice removed.

The annoying thing is that the "removed" generation thing can be in either direction so your 2nd cousin once removed can ALSO be your dad's 2nd cousin (ie the same generation as him, with their common ancestor being his great-grandparent (your great-great grandparent).

It is annoying that the English language doesn't differentiate between these two very different degrees of kinship. Other languages do it better.

To know which kind of 2nd-cousin-once-removed this is you need to work out which generation they are from you - up one or down one.

I think I may have found out my either my 1x great or 2x great grandparents born 1874 and 1876. As they are common denominator in each of my paternal match’s trees.. they are the great grandparents of my second cousin once removed. they went on to have 8 children together and if I’m looking at it correctly I stem from one of those. Does it sound like a doable starting point?

Also my match stated her grandparents 2 sisters moved to the city I live in and was born. So maybe it’s more likely to be one of these 2 siblings. This may make it harder with marriage names and the offspring being given their fathers name rather than the family name

You will get there. It took me and a first cousin match a year, but eventually something will click.

She didn't know her Dad but had some info. Turns out my bio Dad was completely different to my real Dad who brought me up. I had NO idea. My parents have been together 60 years!

Unfortunately my cousins Dad doesn't want to meet, and my bio dad died in the 1990's.

I did it by just building trees up and back down every possible route. I went back decades just trying to find people with bigger trees!

Sounds like you are on the right path there. Location is a huge thing to look for.

Yes you will have to find the married name but it sounds like you probably have identified the common ancestor - if you have this is the crucial point. After that there are only a limited number of options that it could be (though it's highly possible you will still end up with a list of around half a dozen potential names at this point).

You are likely to find it something more eventually - it's a question of patience.

I have gone into a spiral again. Looking at more distant matches the link between me and distant match is their great grandmother “MJ etherington”, however maybe a sibling of the great great grandparents I thought I found as the one I thought was mine is “I Etherington”. So it definitely stems from this etherington line. Difficult here as not much info on the 8 children between the great grandparents so hard to find the children they had.
thanks so much for all of your help I will be back

You have better advice than I could offer on how to look for a match.

What I would say is that there is no rush, if your father was born around the mid 1970s. It may sound ages ago to you, but he'd only be in his late 40s or early 50s! You could have decades left to find him.

The grandparents of my 3rd cousin 1x removed (48cm) are siblings of my 2nd cousin 1x removed. so this means I’m closer to the 2nd cousins grandparents?

Sorry siblings of their grandparents. So both grandparents are siblings. Both these matches are second cousins. To me it seems like if my father had taken the test he would also be there second cousins and the 1x removed may be me as I’m the next generation, would this make sense? Both my matches are closer together they share 336 Cm whereas I share 141 with one ans 46 Cm with the other

Then I have another match 40 cm showing as half 2nd cousin 2x removed or 3rd cousins 1x removed with the same great great grandparents who’s great grandparents are siblings of the great grandmother of both my matches.
im just lost at this point and not sure where to look next ive been looking for records of the grandparents siblings but i cannot find any information on the children they had to look into the possible trees

Another match of 38 cM across 5 segments where the same great grandparents are popping up however she branches from one of the siblings of the grandparents of my closest match

Yes.

In theory you and the second cousins should have a common match that it is at least one generation lower than the more distant match.

I would try and find all the descendants of the cousins grandparents as your starting point.

That probably going to make your job much easier, but it sounds from what you've said that your common ancestors are the cousin's grandparents.

Update. The match was the grandaughter of my 2nd great grandmothers sister

Oops no the match was the grandaughter of my 2nd greatgrandmothers sister**