Kinship Calculator — What Do I Call My Relatives? Both Directions at Once

Kinship Calculator works like a pocket calculator for family terms: tap father → brother and get uncle instantly — plus what he calls you (nephew), which side and generation the relation belongs to, and everyday nicknames. You can also type plain phrases like "my father's brother's wife" or "my grandma's brother" and hit parse. Nothing leaves your browser — it works offline.

"I call them" and "they call me" — both directions at once

Most relationship tools only answer one way. But the moment that really trips people up is the reverse: you know the gentleman walking toward you at the reunion is your uncle — but what does he call you? This tool shows both directions side by side, split by your gender, because many reverse terms differ: a grandparent calls you grandson or granddaughter; an uncle calls you nephew or niece.

Switch between male / female and the chain stays consistent: spouse links that contradict your gender are cleared automatically (a male visitor's chain will never contain "husband"), and the reverse term updates with them.

One word covers many: how English merges relatives

English kinship is famously compact. Where Chinese needs eight terms for cousins (堂兄/堂弟/堂姐/堂妹/表哥/表弟/表姐/表妹), English needs one:

The side tags in the dictionary below (Paternal / Maternal) are for learning and family-tree clarity — the words themselves are identical on both sides.

The two patterns that generate every term

Once you know them, the whole system unfolds from eight basic words (father, mother, husband, wife, brother, sister, son, daughter):

The -in-law suffix marks relatives by marriage: father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law. Your spouse's close kin and your close kin's spouses — one suffix covers both directions.

The great- prefix adds a generation: grandfather → great-grandfather → great-great-grandfather. It also extends sideways to your grandparents' siblings (great-uncle, great-aunt) and down to your nieces' and nephews' children (great-nephew, great-niece).

And the famous removed: your cousin's child is your first cousin once removed — "removed" counts generations, not affection. Try the chain father → brother → son → son in the calculator above and watch it appear.

Frequently confused pairs, settled

• Nephew vs niece — your sibling's son vs daughter. They call you uncle or aunt, depending on your gender.
• Great-uncle vs granduncle — the same person; granduncle is the more formal pairing with grandfather, great-uncle is more common in everyday American English.
• Father-in-law: whose father? — your wife's father if you're male, your husband's father if you're female; either way the term is identical, and he calls you son-in-law or daughter-in-law accordingly.
• First cousin once removed vs second cousin — your cousin's child is your first cousin once removed; your cousin's child and your own child are second cousins to each other (they share great-grandparents).

For more everyday helpers, try our Word Counter or the Case Converter — both just as free and browser-based.