Your family consists of your parents, your siblings, and the offspring of your siblings, also known as your nieces and nephews. What happens when your nephews or nieces have their own children? What is your relationship to their children? Your grandniece or grandnephew is the child of your nephew (or niece).
Grandniece or Grandnephew
You and your siblings share the same parents. These parents are your nieces, nephews, sons, and daughters’ grandparents. As soon as your children, nieces, and nephews have children of their own, you and your siblings can add “grand” to your names.
Additionally, you add “grand” to the relation names of your nephew’s offspring. If they are female, they are your grandnieces, and if they are male, they are your grandnephews.
How Your Grandniece or Grandnephew May Refer to You
If you are a woman, your nephews may call you aunt; if you are a male, they may call you uncle. Their children will refer to your nephew’s grandparents as grandparents. You obtain the title of great-aunt or great-uncle. Some individuals use “great aunt” or “great uncle.”
Your Relationship with Your Niece’s or Nephew’s Children
It may not be long until your grandnieces and grandnephews begin to have children of their own, as children mature quite quickly. Your great-grandnieces and great-grandnephews are the grandchildren of your grandnephew. Some individuals refer to their great-grandnieces and great-grandnephews as great-great-nieces and great-great-nephews.
The Relationship Between Your Children and Your Grandniece or Grandnephew
Your children and your nieces and nephews are cousins. Your children’s second cousins are the offspring of their cousins. Any children your children have are your grandchildren, your siblings’ grandnieces and grandnephews, and your nieces and nephews’ first cousins once removed.
If your grandniece or grandnephew has children, they would be your children’s first cousins twice removed.
Exists a Distinction Between “Great” and “Grand”?
Although “great” and “grand” may be used interchangeably when discussing family relationships, there are differences between the two terms. Typically, “grand” refers to a person who is one generation removed from a relative. Since your grandniece or grandnephew is one generation younger than you, you refer to them as “grand.”
Technically, you should say “great” when referring to anyone more than one generation removed from you. Your great-grandparents are the grandparents of your parents, and your great-grandnieces and great-grandnephews are the offspring of your grandnephew.
If you use “grand” when you mean “great” or “great” when you mean “grand,” it’s likely that your audience will understand or be able to follow up.
