Semantics - Grand or Great: opinion sought.

[dedken]

I have always been puzzled by the way the most people would refer to their grandparent's siblings as their 'great-aunt/uncle', which is also the way that Ancestry.co.uk seems to go. Maybe this illogicality is simply down to terminology people have been used to using over time, or the peculiarities of the English language. but to me this makes no sense. Your grandmother is not called your 'greatmother' is she? Therefore her brothers and sisters being of the same generation should have the same title - 'grand'.

So grandparents = grand-aunts and uncles. Previous generation is then 'great-grand' on so on and so forth.

What do people think?

[Megan Roberts]

Oxford Dictionary - "great - in combination (of family relationships) one degree more remote (great-aunt; great-grandfather; great-great-grandfather)."

I believe, but may be wrong, that "grand aunt" comes from across the pond.

[macwil]

This has always puzzled me as well. My paternal grandfather had a sister and a daughter named Alice, to distinguish them in family conversations they were/are called 'great-aunt(y)' and 'aunt(y)' respectively.

I put it down to the idiosyncrasy of the English. The aunts (in general) did not want to be called 'grand' so as not to appear 'grand'.

[Ladkyis]

It's one of the quirky things about this here English language that we tend to use whatever suits the moment. Right or wrong it is common usage for grand parents and great uncles and aunts............... However we don't seem to need the distinction for generations of cousins. I have 1st, 2nd, 3rd cousins some removed several times but they are all simply cousins to the whole family. Probably because it makes your eyes whirl and your head go funny if you try to work out the relationships.

[margarita]

However we don't seem to need the distinction for generations of cousins. I have 1st, 2nd, 3rd cousins some removed several times but they are all simply cousins to the whole family.

We have a Greek friend who says of various people in the village "S/he is a cousin, but not a close cousin." I don't know what his definition is of a close cousin.

[pwholt]

My sister chooses to be Gr'auntie to my grandchildren. It gets around the question of Great or Grand. pwholt

[Peter Goodey]

I have never ever heard the term "Grand Aunt" or "Grand Uncle" in British English.

[Gododdin]

Like Peter, I only use 'grand' for my parents' parents; their brothers and sisters I am used to naming as great aunts and uncles; in Welsh we use mamgu/nain and tadcu/taid (North and South dialects) for grandmother and grandfather. Their brothers and sisters are 'hen fodryb' (old aunt) and 'hen ewythr' (old uncle), and their parents are 'hen famgu/nain' and 'hen dadcu/daid' and so on.