Cousins Day

Cousins Day History

Cousins Day is an observance dedicated to celebrating the special bond shared between cousins. This day aims at strengthening family ties, acknowledging the impact of cousins in one's life, and reminiscing the memories shared throughout childhood and beyond. Apart from strengthening family connections, it also serves as an opportunity to reconnect with long-lost cousins and establish new ties with family members.

With family playing a prominent role in Australian culture, this day is particularly valuable in fostering stronger relationships among extended family members. Encouraging Australian families to come together, Cousins Day offers an excellent opportunity to embrace their heritage and ancestry.

Celebrations for the day might involve family gatherings, picnics, online video calls for distant relatives, or a simple phone call to a cousin to catch up and reminisce. Some Australians may also take it upon themselves to organize special events for their extended family, utilizing this day to strengthen bonds and forge new connections. Cousins Day is observed annually on July 24th.

Cousins Day facts

• According to smithsonianmag.com, geneticist Yaniv Erlich was able to connect 13 million relatives around the world over the course of 5 years (2013-2018). These relatives were all mostly of European descent and their data was compiled by Erlich and his team. Using names, sex, dates and places of birth, and the dates of death, Erlich's team was able to create a data base of 5.3 million family trees.
• Despite the familial term kissing cousins, it is not a day for kissing your cousins. The term usually refers to a distant relative who is familiar enough to be greeted with a kiss.
• Some genetics experts say that cousins share about 12.5% of their DNA if they are first cousins, about 3.13% if they are second cousins, and about 0.78% if they are third cousins.
• In some traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, marriage between cousins can be allowed, particularly to maintain kinship and family ties.
• The risk of birth defects in children of first cousins is generally 2-3 times higher than in the general population.

In the News and Trending in Australia for Cousins Day

Top things to do in Australia for Cousins Day

• Host a family reunion. You might see cousins that you haven't seen in a while. You may even meet new ones.
• Try discovering your own family tree. You can search by name and birthplace to see if you have any family out there that you didn't know about.
• Go for a hike, bushwalk, or nature walk together in a national park or conservation area, such as the Blue Mountains, Dandenong Ranges, or Grampians National Park.
• Organize a picnic at a scenic location, like the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne, the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney, or Kings Park in Perth.