DNA testing is an incredibly powerful tool for anyone interested in uncovering more about their family's past. If you were lucky enough to be gifted an AncestryDNA test kit for Christmas you may well be receiving your test results now but it can be a bit overwhelming if you don't know what to do with all the information provided. Read on and we will help you to read your Ancestry DNA test results and get more from them, whether you are looking to understand your estimated origins, or you want to connect with new cousins.
DNA test results can help you verify what you already know about your family, make connections with new cousins, and break through brick walls in your family history research. DNA testing can also reveal surprise – and possibly unwelcome – discoveries, such as the existence of unknown siblings or the revelation that the father who raised you is not your biological parent.
Most people start their DNA journey by testing with AncestryDNA . The company has now tested more than 25 million people, giving it the largest database by far; in addition, the website has a user-friendly interface, including good integration with family trees. However, when you’re faced with a DNA match list full of names that you don’t recognise, it can be daunting to know where to start. The following advice will help you to get the most value out of your AncestryDNA test.
1. Build a family tree
AncestryDNA works best if you attach a tree to your DNA results to get the benefit of the various features. You can either build your tree on Ancestry or, if you are using a family history program, you can upload a GEDCOM file. Build your tree back on all your ancestral lines for about five or six generations. It’s important to include collateral branches in your tree, and to try wherever possible to trace those lines down to the present day. Your identifiable matches are most likely to be your third, fourth and fifth cousins – and the more of these cousins you can identify through your genealogy research, the easier it will be to assign your DNA matches.
2. Let the online tools do the heavy lifting
AncestryDNA tries to automate the process of identifying matches with common-ancestor hints and the ThruLines feature. For these tools to work you need to have either a public or private but searchable tree linked to your Ancestry account. Although the hints need to be used with caution and are not always correct, their quality is improving all the time thanks to advances in AI technology. ThruLines now also incorporates genealogical records such as censuses and the 1939 Register. The more complete your tree is the more accurate the hints will be, and the better the algorithms will work. ThruLines is particularly powerful for researching recent generations on a branch line where the user-provided information is more likely to be accurate.
3. Work from known facts to unknown facts
Most people are now getting at least a few matches with easily identifiable relations such as second cousins or sometimes closer relatives. Confirming connections with known matches helps to verify your genealogical research. Your known relatives are also the key to identifying your unknown matches. Once you have identified a match at AncestryDNA, link the cousin to your tree. The more cousins you link, the better the hint algorithms work. As you identify matches it helps to use the notes to record details such as the names of the common ancestral couple.
4. Cluster your matches
Use AncestryDNA’s Shared Matches tool to group your matches into clusters. Start with a known relative such as a second cousin. Assign a coloured square to all of the matches who match you and your second cousin. These matches will all be related to you through that one specific set of great grandparents. Work your way down your match list repeating the process with your other matches until you’ve assigned squares to all of your matches sharing over about 30 centimorgans (cM). Work with one group of matches at a time, building out the trees of the matches in the cluster to see how they are related to you and the others in the cluster. The more matches you can place in your tree in each cluster, the easier it will be to assign new matches.
5. Research your matches’ family trees
Make the most of matches that have no trees or minimal trees. Use your genealogical detective skills to identify your matches and build out their trees to work out the connection, having first identified through clustering whereabouts they are likely to fit into your tree. Check out profile pages for clues such as age and place of residence.
For matches in England and Wales use the birth, marriage and death indexes, newspaper articles and probate indexes to build the tree backwards to the 1939 Register and the 1921 and 1911 censuses. See if you can identify the person on social media – sometimes it’s possible to construct several generations of a family from public Facebook posts and friends lists. AncestryDNA’s Pro Tools feature, which recently launched in the UK as a membership add-on, allows you to access an enhanced shared-match list so that you can see how your matches are related to each other. A mystery match with no tree will sometimes be a kit managed by a low-sharing son or daughter with an extensive tree.
Many of your matches will not have tested for genealogy. When messaging a match don’t deluge them with requests for information but ask them if they can share the names of their grandparents, so that you can build out their tree.
6. Beware of small segments
Focus your attention on your top matches sharing over 30 or 40 cM. These are the matches where you are most likely to find a connection. With smaller matches, particularly less than 15 cM, there is an increasing chance of false positives. Small matches like these should never be used as evidence of a connection, but can still be helpful for advancing your research. You may find that the small match has another relative who has tested who shares much more DNA with you, providing stronger evidence of a connection.
7. Fish in all the ponds
Once you’ve mined your matches at AncestryDNA, you can also upload your results to other databases. While there is some duplication you will also find matches in these databases who have not tested elsewhere. You can download your raw data from AncestryDNA and upload it to MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA and Living DNA for free, although there is a small fee to pay at all these sites for full access to their features. MyHeritage has a database of more than 8.5 million people, colour-coding that displays each branch of your tree in a different colour, and a feature called the Theory of Family Relativity to help you identify your matches. FamilyTreeDNA has a smaller database and fewer tools. If you are a male, by transferring your DNA you will get additional information about your deep ancestry on your direct paternal line with a haplogroup report.
8. Be wary of biogeographical data
All of the companies provide biogeographical ancestry reports in the form of percentage breakdowns by country or region. These reports are calculated by comparing tiny segments of your DNA with reference populations. Each website uses different reference populations and different algorithms, so you will get different results from each one. While the accuracy of these reports is improving and some sites now provide regular updates, don’t expect the results to necessarily correspond with your own genealogical research. Be wary too of the low percentages from unexpected countries, so don’t go looking for a Swedish ancestor just because 5 per cent of your DNA is assigned to Sweden. AncestryDNA and MyHeritage now also assign you to genetic groups or regions that are more informative for genealogical research.
9. Exploit X-DNA matches
Females inherit X-chromosome DNA from both their mum and their dad, whereas males only inherit X-DNA from their mum. As a result X-DNA has a unique inheritance pattern and can narrow down the pool of matches to identify a connection, or provide additional information for verification purposes. However, X-DNA data is only provided by FamilyTreeDNA, 23andMe and third-party website GEDmatch.
10. Take a Y-DNA test and an mtDNA test
You could also supplement your AncestryDNA test with a Y-chromosome DNA test (males only) and/or a mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) test. You will need to order them from FamilyTreeDNA – the only company with a Y-DNA and mtDNA matching database. The inheritance of Y-DNA usually corresponds with the inheritance of surnames, making Y-DNA useful for exploring the direct paternal line. Y-DNA is passed on from father to son virtually unchanged, so the tests can make more distant connections going back to the start of genealogical records and beyond. If you’re a female you can encourage a male relative to take a Y-DNA test on your behalf. MtDNA is passed on by a mother to both her male and female children, so males and females can test, and therefore provides information about the direct maternal line. While less useful for genealogy, mtDNA can sometimes be helpful if you have a specific hypothesis to test.
