CousinCalc for the iPhone

Not sure what to call that relative of yours? Is she really your "first cousin once removed?" Pull out your iPhone and check!

CousinCalc is a small program for the Apple iPhone that makes it very easy to determine the proper term for a relationship. Simply tap familiar relationship terms (like mother, sister, or aunt) just as if you were describing it to another person.

For example, to calculate the proper term for "my grandmother's sister's daughter," you simply tap Grandmother, Sister, and then Daughter and CousinCalc displays "First cousin once removed."

I downloaded CousinCalc and found that it is a small program that is very easy to use. It took about thirty seconds to figure out how to use it. I started by entering my own name, then was asked for "Next person is Dick's ..." and the options were father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, grandfather, grandmother, aunt, uncle, niece, or nephew. I would select that on a new screen, asking for that person's name and then asking for the relationship of the next person. That continued on and on until I got to the relative I wanted and then the relationship between me and that relative was shown on the screen.

For instance, I entered my name, touched "father" and entered my father's name, then touched "father" and entered my father's father's name (that would be my grandfather), then touched "father" and entered my father's father's father's name (that would be my great-grandfather), then touched "son" and entered one of his son's names name (that would be my great-uncle), and so forth until I came to the last person in the "chain." That would be my first cousin, once removed, according to the display on CousinCalc.

You don't have to enter the names of each person but I found that reduces the confusion a bit. If you prefer, you can leave any or all of the names blank.

CousinCalc will calculate up to ten generations of separation.

It's a simple little program, easy to use, and handy for certain occasions. I suspect I'll use it at the next family reunion.

CousinCalc costs ninety-nine cents and is available at the Apple AppStore on your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Comments

[micro sd]

Good article!
I just got new iPhone 3GS as a gift. I think i found this site at right. I was looking exactly this kind stuff since a few days. I am glad that now i can look CousinCalc on my iPhone. I will surely pick it and will post feedback again.

[Randy]

So the man who was married to mother prior to her marriage to my father would be my what? Someone has suggested pre-father.

[A Great-Grandaunt]

Did the program really show the person was your "great uncle" or did it show "granduncle"? I believe the correct title would be "granduncle," for the brother of your grandfather or grandmother.

To me, the relationships are much easier to understand by using the "grand" designation for grandparents, grandchildren, granduncle, grandaunt, grandnephew, and grandniece. The word "great" should be used in conjunction with the word "grand" as in "great-granduncle." Therefore, your "great-granduncle" would be your great-grandfather's brother, and his grandson would be your father's "second cousin" and your "second cousin once removed." I hope this information is helpful in understanding generational relationshops.

[Dick Eastman]

According to Black's Law Dictionary, which is usually considered to be THE standard reference, great-uncle and grand-uncle are interchangeable. Both are correct.

[Lindell]

I down loaded this program immediately to my iPhone after reading this article. My husband and I have had lots of fun putting in information just to "check" to see if we have been using the correct terminology. We have. :)

[Jerry H. Bailey]

One of my male cousins was divorced. Both he and his ex-wife remarried but remained in touch because of the grandchildren. Both couples would get together with the grandchildren and got along fine. My cousin commented that he had never had "a husband-in-law" before.

Two of my great-great grandfathers attended the same church. One's son married the other's daughter. I call my great-great grandfathers "parents-in-law."

[Steve Dinwiddie]

There is an option (under iPhone Settings > CousinCalc) to use the "grand" terminology if you'd like.

[Jim Leamon]

I had two cousins, one maternal side, one paternal, living in the same town. One referred to the other as "my mother's sister's husband's brother's daughter's husband". Let's see if we can come up with a good title for that.....

[r4 card]

I have recently purchased new iphone. I am a great fan of playing games and installing interesting software on it.
Cousincalc looks interesting, i definitely going to download this app on my iphone.