Marriage between those with common grandparents or other recent ancestors
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Matrilineal / matrilocal societies
Feminist anthropology
Sex and Repression in Savage Society
Social Bonding and Nurture Kinship
"The Traffic in Women"
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A cousin marriage is a marriage where the spouses are cousins (i.e. people with common grandparents or people who share other fairly recent ancestors). The practice was common in earlier times and continues to be common in some societies today, though in some jurisdictions such marriages are prohibited.[1] Worldwide, more than 10% of marriages are between first or second cousins.[2] Cousin marriage is an important topic in anthropology and alliance theory.[3]
In some cultures and communities, cousin marriages are considered ideal and are actively encouraged and expected; in others, they are seen as incestuous and are subject to social stigma and taboo. Cousin marriage was historically practiced by indigenous cultures in Australia, North America, South America, and Polynesia.[4][5][6]
In some jurisdictions, cousin marriage is legally prohibited: for example, first-cousin marriage in both Chinas, both Koreas, the Philippines, for Hindus in some jurisdictions of India, some countries in the Balkans, and 30 of the 50 U.S. states.[7][8] It is criminalized in 8 states in the US, the only jurisdictions in the world to do so. The laws of many jurisdictions set out the degree of consanguinity prohibited among sexual relations and marriage parties. Supporters of cousin marriage where it is banned may view the prohibition as discrimination,[9][10] while opponents may appeal to moral or other arguments.[11]
Opinions vary widely as to the merits of the practice. Children of first-cousin marriages have a 4-6% risk of autosomal recessive genetic disorders compared to the 3% of the children of totally unrelated parents.[12] A study indicated that between 1800 and 1965 in Iceland, more children and grandchildren were produced from marriages between third or fourth cousins (people with common great-great- or great-great-great-grandparents) than from other degrees of separation.[13]
^History, Mr (24 January 2017). "When Did Cousin Marriage Become Unacceptable?". HistoryNet. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
^Cite error: The named reference kershaw was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference ottenheimer3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Dousset, Laurent (17 May 2018), "Part three: Western Desert kinship ethnography", Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert, Manuels du Credo, Marseille: pacific-credo Publications, pp. 75–94, ISBN 978-2-9563981-1-0, retrieved 15 April 2021
^Dousset, Laurent (17 May 2018), "Part two: Some basic concepts of kinship", Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert, Manuels du Credo, Marseille: pacific-credo Publications, pp. 45–74, ISBN 978-2-9563981-1-0, retrieved 3 November 2022
^"Glossary", Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert, Manuels du Credo, Marseille: pacific-credo Publications, pp. 125–132, 17 May 2018, ISBN 978-2-9563981-1-0, retrieved 13 September 2023
^"The Surprising Truth About Cousins and Marriage". 14 February 2014.
^Paul, Diane B.; Spencer, Hamish G. (23 December 2008). ""It's Ok, We're Not Cousins by Blood": The Cousin Marriage Controversy in Historical Perspective". PLOS Biology. 6 (12): 2627–30. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060320. PMC 2605922. PMID 19108607.
^"Final Thoughts". Cousin Couples. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
^Brandon Keim (23 December 2008). "Cousin Marriage OK by Science". Wired.
^Saletan, William (10 April 2002). "The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Surname". Slate.
^Hamamy, Hanan (July 2012). "Consanguineous marriages". Journal of Community Genetics. 3 (3): 185–192. doi:10.1007/s12687-011-0072-y. ISSN 1868-310X. PMC 3419292. PMID 22109912.
^"When Incest Is Best: Kissing Cousins Have More Kin". Scientific American. 8 February 2008.
A cousinmarriage is a marriage where the spouses are cousins (i.e. people with common grandparents or people who share other fairly recent ancestors)...
The legal status of cousinmarriage varies considerably from one U.S. state to another, ranging from being legal in some states to being a criminal offense...
Cousinmarriage is a form of consanguinity (marriages among couples who are related as second cousins or closer). As of 2003, an average of 45% of married...
and cross cousins. Currently about 10% and historically as high as 80% of all marriages are between first or second cousins. Cousinmarriages are often...
cross-cousins is especially important in some cultures. For example, marriage is promoted between them in the Iroquois system. Parallel cousins are occasionally...
first cousinmarriages, uncle-niece marriages, second cousinmarriages, and so on. The most common consanguineous marriages are first cousinmarriages, followed...
surnames could marry (i.e. maternal cousins and paternal cousins born to the father's sisters). In Achaemenid Persia, marriages between family members, such...
coupled with a full first cousin. Worldwide, more than 10% of marriages are between first or second cousins. Cousinmarriage is an important subject in...
In a clinical sense, marriage between two family members who are second cousins or closer qualifies as consanguineous marriage. This is based on the...
jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In some communities and time periods, cousinmarriage is allowed or even encouraged; in others, it is taboo, and considered...
Sapinda is a term used in context of cousinmarriages. The subject is to be counted as first generation, and the common ancestor defining sapinda limit...
in a marriage between first cousins, in which on average the members share 12.5% of inherited genetic material, but less than that of a marriage between...
Levirate marriage is a type of marriage in which the brother of a deceased man is obliged to marry his brother's widow. Levirate marriage has been practiced...
of societies where marriages between some first cousins are prohibited as incestuous, while marriages between other first cousins are encouraged. Therefore...
Polygamy (from Late Greek πολυγαμία (polugamía) "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married...
Group marriage or conjoint marriage is a marital arrangement where three or more adults enter into sexual, affective, romantic, or otherwise intimate...
nephew first cousins (which is counted as fourth degree of kinship in Roman civil law tradition) In Imperial China (221 BCE to 1912), marriage between first...
monogamy derives from the Greek μονός, monos ("one"), and γάμος, gamos ("marriage"), referring to the functional social behaviour of pair-bonding. The term...
United States, cousinmarriages are prohibited. Also, most laws make no provision for the rare case of marriage between double first cousins. Incest laws...
women, birth control, marriageable age, cousinmarriage, marriage of in-laws, interfaith marriage, same-sex marriage, and polygamy, among other topics, so...
only marry either his MBD (matrilateral cross-cousinmarriage) or his FZD (patrilateral cross-cousinmarriage). This involves an asymmetric exchange between...
was found between the Hawaiian system and the prohibition of cross‐cousinmarriage, as the incest taboo is reflected in the semantics. The Hawaiian system...
refer to cousins with one or more removals to a newer generation using some form of the word niece or nephew. For more information see cousin. Conklin...
14 July 2018. "The risks of cousinmarriage". BBC. 16 November 2005. Retrieved 22 May 2023. "Bradford's cousinmarriage boom". BBC. 19 April 2012. Retrieved...
families exchange brides or bridegrooms. While cousinmarriage is legal in most countries, and avunculate marriage is legal in several, sexual relations between...
Assortative mating Avunculate marriage Coefficient of relationship Consanguine marriageCousinmarriage in the Middle East Cousinmarriage law in the United States...
columnist Hafeez Ullah Niazi is also Imran's brother-in-law, through cousinmarriage to Imran's sister. They have other brothers, including Irfan Ullah...
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