It’s a good week for genetic genealogy. Y DNA is on sale at Family Tree DNA, autosomal almost everyplace and I’m beginning a new Y DNA series of articles!
Father’s Day is approaching, and of course DNA tests are a hot item.
Y DNA – Makes Dad Dad
At FamilyTreeDNA – both Y and autosomal DNA tests are on sale. Every male has a Y chromosome to test, and Y DNA testing in conjunction with autosomal is a very powerful combination.
What better gift that to give your Dad the gift of history and matching to other relatives, both.
This week, Family Tree DNA notified project administrators of their Father’s Day sale pricing, and I’m sharing with you.
Before we look at specific tests, let’s talk about why Dad might want to test his Y DNA. Y DNA is passed from father to son, typically along with the surname, and men tend to be very interested in their paternal line.
Y DNA provides information that autosomal DNA can never provide, because they are two completely different kinds of tests. To view a short article about the various kinds of DNA tests, click here.
8 Benefits of Y DNA Testing
What can Y DNA testing tell Dad about himself and about his genealogy?
- Surname line matches – does he match other men with the same surname? Can they identify a common ancestor? The Y37, 67 and 111 tests will provide that information, with the Y111 test providing the most specific, granular information.
- Ethnicity for the direct paternal line – the haplogroup will provide a direct line ethnicity test that will reveal continental level ethnicity plus generally regional information for the paternal line only. How much is revealed depends on whether you order the Y37/67/111 test or the Big Y test, which is the most specific!
- SNP Maps – for people who have taken SNP tests (Big Y-700) that allow you to “step back in time” by viewing the locations of haplogroups on your personal haplotree.
- Ancestral Origins and Maps – locations where the earliest known ancestors of your matches are found.
- Haplogroup Origins – where your matches haplogroups are found in the world.
- Migration Maps and Percentages – how the haplogroup migrated to where it is primarily found today and how frequently it is found in that region of the world.
- Projects – over 10,000 projects to join for collaboration based on haplogroup, surname, ethnicity, region and many other options. Goldmines!
- Science – the Big Y-700 test provides the highest level information both for individual markers (700 instead of just 111) and the most refined haplogroup possible. Many people discover that they carry new never-before-discovered mutations that define new haplogroups, allowing Dad to be a part of scientific discovery.
Results are provided on your own personal page along with more tools and features.
Here are the tests available along with their sale prices.
What to Order?
I’m often asked which Y DNA test should be ordered.
Generally, I say to order what the budget will allow, because you can always upgrade later.
HOWEVER, I will also say that you can only upgrade a limited number of times. Upgrade success is dependent on the following:
- Age of sample
- Quality of sample
- Amount of sample remaining
While we always think Dad can swab again later if needed, I GREATLY regret not testing family members at the highest level possible when I could – because I can’t now for any number of reasons.
Many of my early testers have passed over – so order as much as you can afford out the gate.
The higher resolution the test, the better the results without an upgrade and the more information for you to use.
If you’d like to order a Y and autosomal test, for example, you can save another $10.
Family Tree DNA does offer an advanced match feature which allows you to see who you match on multiple tests, such as Y and Family Finder. Combined information can provide valuable hints and information.
What About Upgrades?
If you’ve already purchased a Y DNA test, you can upgrade to the above levels for the prices indicated. To upgrade to Big Y-700, it’s best to have a sample from within the past 2 years, but the lab will contact you if they have concerns.
Debut of New Y DNA Series!
How many of you have been following along with my Mitochondrial DNA Series where I’ve been explaining all about mitochondrial DNA in bite size pieces beginning with an overview? You can take a look here, here and here.
Would you like to see a similar Y DNA Series as well?
You’re in luck, because that’s exactly what I’ll be writing, beginning about the middle of July when everyone’s results begin to come back from the Father’s Day tests.
Don’t forget, you can also test other men to represent your paternal line if your father is not available for testing. If you are a male, you can test yourself for your father’s Y DNA. What a wonderful way to honor your Dad!
I recommend having Y DNA results available so you can follow along with each article!
Click here to order.
Autosomal
If you’re interested in Autosomal testing that includes both ethnicity and matching, most of the major genetic genealogy vendors are having sales right now.
| Vendor/Test | Best Features | Sale Price | Link |
| FamilyTreeDNA -Family Finder | Automatic Maternal and Paternal buckets, combined matching with Y and mtDNA | $59 | Click to purchase |
| MyHeritage | Triangulation, Theories of Family Relativity | $59 | Click to purchase |
| AncestryDNA | Database size | $69 | Click to purchase |
| 23andMe | Ethnicity | $99 | Click to purchase |
Have fun and get your tree ready, because you’re going to be meeting cousins who share ancestors before you know it!
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Click on the home link on the main blog page here. On the upper right hand side, you’ll see the “Follow” area. Just fill in and click to follow.
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“Family Tree DNA does offer an advanced match feature which allows you to see who you match on multiple tests, such as Y and Family Finder.”
Where is this type of match described? The link just takes you to the general purchase page.
On your personal page, under Y DNA or Family Finder, it’s in the bottom right. Says “Advanced”.
Mrs. Robert Estes; I have a question for you as an expert on genetic analysis: if you would like to confirm,
or refute an ETHNIC hypothesis, which test you would choose:
a) Y-DNA / 111 STR,
or b) Y-BIG / 700 STR?
I am neither Mrs. nor Robert.
I’m very sorry, it was a computer typo
– it came out awkwardly…
It depends on whether your hypothesis is for the direct paternal line, and what the hypothesis is. For example, if you’re trying to figure out Ireland vs Scotland, no.
Yes, hypothesis is for the direct paternal line.
I would like to finally verify the linguistic hypothesis from a few years ago set by Jewish language specialists from Historical Institute of the Jewish/Warsaw: “your ancestors were Jews, because your name strictly/directly refers to the name of the traditional prayer practiced among Jews in diasporas, in which in the fifteenth century
created language Yiddish/inter alia, the Palatinate of Rheinland”.
The first genetic tests from 2 years ago suggest that my ancestors they could reach Germany
around 1500 from Iberia (my hg J2a-M67/J2a1b/2017…J-Z6274/J-PH1622/2019).
I am looking for a credible tool to verify the ethnic hypothesis: “1. My ancestors were Jews originate from Sephardic Jews Diaspora/Iberia” (and “2. After about 800 years of residence in Iberia, they left the Iberian Peninsula in 1492 and went to the Netherlands by sea, and then finally settled in Germany for 300 years”).
Yes, you should be able to do that. I would suggest either 111 or the Big Y for a full haplogroup. The 111 should inform you by the matches and their history.
A year and half ago, I asked one of my male cousins to order a Y-DNA test to find out about my father’s paternal line. He is the son of my father’s brother. Their male ancestors were Polish Jews. My cousin had a few matches, all with different surnames than his own surname. Is this typical for Jewish men because their surnames were adopted fairly recently and changed even within the same family tree? By the way, he belonged to the E-M35 branch. And my male cousin on my mother’s side was E-M34.
Yes, that’s typical, but you may also find some that are similar. It’s sometimes a waiting game.
I will ask him if he has new matches since he tested in 2017.
On an unrelated topic, how common is it for Jewish men to belong to the R-M269 haplogroup? Both my Gentile husband and my Jewish 3rd cousin belong to the R-M269 haplogroup. My husband’s male ancestors were originally from England while my cousin’s male ancestors were from Belarus.
Roughly half of the men in Europe are R-M269. You need a haplgroup much further downstream.
Hi Roberta
I really enjoyed your Mitochondrial DNA Series and am looking forward to the Y series! Can you please clarify how you find a haplogroup downstream? If my brother tested Y-67 and is R-M269 with no surname matches and no y matches who also match on family finder, would we benefit from an upgrade to Y-111 or to Big Y-700? or is it just a waiting game for a match to turn up?
Haplogroups as estimated when you take the STR tests. To discover a downstream haplogroup from R-M269, you would either have to purchase SNP packs, but without matches it’s impossible to estimate which branch (pack) would work, so he would need to upgrade to the Y700.
Thank you. I’m starting to understand better now, and will definitely help with the decision. I guess it’s all or nothing 🙂
For you under these circumstances, yes.
I had my first cousin tested several years ago (Y67), He has never had a surname match (same as mine) and his closest Y match is a G2 who never responded to email. Most of his matches are at least G6 or 7. So far no useful results. Depending on whose ethnicity report I believe we are 90 to 100% Ashkenazi with some possible Sephardic.
I’m looking forward to reading what your thoughts are about Y-DNA testing and its challenges. Btw, “I” have tested out to the Big Y500.
Roberta,
Question for you if I have ordered a family finder test for one of my Male Maternal cousins can I do an upgrade on him for a y DNA test with that family finder. I want to know more about my Maternal Grandfather’s line. Thanks
Regards,
Cindy Carrasco
My Big Y500 is very rare — have 1 cousin within 2 steps, but no other matches within 5. He passed on a few years ago.
I also have a fairly rare full mtDNA. Since FTDNA only has my mom’s transferred Ancestry.DNA results, she can’t be upgraded now, having also passed on.
Her younger sister is still living and is willing to test for me.
Costs being a constraint, what would you advise regarding research value priorities of the Big Y700 upgrade for me and/or a full mtDNA kit for my aunt?
Thanks!
Your aunt including autosomal. You can reswab later if necessary.
Hi Roberta, Robert here,
I have Y-111 STRs and Y-500 SNPs. Is a la lay cart avabile or snip pac to get to 700 snips only? Thank you.
Does 23 & me offer segment matching similar to FTDNA?
They do offer segment matching, but it’s somewhat different. They only allow a maximum of 2000 matches, and if some of those matches don’t opt-in for matching, you will see less. For example of my 2000 top matches, only 1400 have opted in, so that’s all I see. They also don’t support trees, so they do offer segment matching but it’s somewhat different.
Thanks for keeping us updated, as always, I emailed a few matches on how these updates could be useful for their research goals.
The Y series would be handy, even though there are quite informative ones among your entries already.
What I want to do for both mtDNA and Y is to put together a grouping so people can logically step through the process.
Did I miss your updated Y-DNA testing series, or are you working on them? Your mtDNA series was terrific!
No, I haven’t started that one yet. I just published the 5th mtDNA article this week. I will start the Y soon.