Tag Archives: MyHeritage

MyHeritage Introduces a Low-Pass Whole Genome Autosomal DNA Test & Why It Matters

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Another first for MyHeritage!

MyHeritage, Ultima Genomics, and Gene by Gene, the parent company of FamilyTreeDNA, have jointly announced that MyHeritage is introducing a Whole Genome Sequence (WGS) test using equipment produced by Ultima Genomics. MyHeritage DNA tests will continue to be run in the Gene by Gene Genomics Testing Center in Houston, Texas.

MyHeritage expects to process more than one million DNA tests annually, which is GREAT for genetic genealogy.

You may have heard about whole genome sequence tests before and wonder why this is a big deal. There are several reasons!

All Whole Genome Tests Are Not the Same

Not all whole genome sequence tests, abbreviated WGS, are the same, and MyHeritage has overcome substantial hurdles.

The human genome consists of roughly 3.2 billion base pairs, and most of the human genome is the same between all humans. Traditional autosomal tests target roughly 700,000 of the locations known to be least similar.

Whole genome tests don’t target specific locations, but scan the entire genome, using an entirely different technology. Think of an airplane or a drone flying over your genome.

In whole genome sequencing, we refer to “passes” and “depth”, meaning how many times the genome is scanned (passes), and how many times each location is successfully read (depth). The higher the number of passes, which increases the depth, the higher the cost, not just of the scan but of combining and aligning the data into usable information.

The reason WGS uses multiple passes is because even the most reliable technology is going to miss some things. It’s the nature of the beast.

Even with a 99.99% accuracy rate, which isn’t achieved, more than 320,000 locations would either be missed entirely or reported with erroneous values.

Scanning once would be called a 1xWGS, or one-pass whole-genome sequence.

Clinical or medical-grade whole-genome tests are 30x or greater. That’s important, because diagnoses are based on the results. Those tests are typically ordered by your physician, but you can order them individually from specialized providers.

To make WGS testing even remotely affordable for consumers, enough information needs to be extracted from the lowest number of passes possible.

For several years, direct-to-consumer (DTC) whole genome tests have been available from a number of third-party companies, but none came with Y-DNA, mitochondrial DNA, nor autosomal files, nor with matching. For genealogy, a file without matching capability is useless. In other words, if you really wanted a whole genome sequence, you could purchase it, but it was piecemeal and “some assembly was required.”

One of the challenges has been that for a quality read, the resulting file size generated was prohibitive for storage. I have taken a WGS test, and the results were literally shipped to the customer, for an additional charge, on a hard drive.

The other challenge was cost. Some vendors charge for just the sequencing, but you purchase results from a secondary menu.

Needless to say, none of this is useful or practical for genealogy.

This is exactly why the MyHeritage introduction is important. Through a unique combination of innovation and partnerships, MyHeritage found a way to reach the critical tipping point that makes WGS technology both affordable and available for all genealogists.

While MyHeritage does not provide Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA testing, they provide world-class autosomal testing with matching, ethnicity results, Theories of Family Relativity, triangulation, and much more.

Moving to a WGS platform opens the door for future innovation beyond what we know today.

My Hope

My fervent hope is for increased granularity, meaning that matching might eventually reach further back in time, and ethnicity can be improved and become more specific. MyHeritage did not say that – it’s me hoping out loud.

Of course, both of those features would rely on enough people testing on the new platform so that areas not currently harvested by traditional technology become available for analysis.

What’s out there, waiting? I don’t know, and neither does MyHeritage. But someone has to be the first pioneer, and MyHeritage, never afraid of a challenge, has stepped up and stepped out.

What About Compatibility?

MyHeritage did not make this move quickly or take it lightly. You can read their 2020 study describing matching using 1x low-pass sequencing, here.

All vendors, over time, change the underlying chips and technology. They have no choice, because their vendors upgrade and make changes too. That’s also why some vendors are more, or less, compatible with other vendors. In some cases, the resulting DNA file incompatibility is too great, meaning too few of the same locations are tested, and vendors who accept uploads don’t accept some versions from other vendors.

MyHeritage would never adopt a platform that was incompatible with their existing customers’ tests, so the new WGS test is backward compatible.

Imputation is a technology that has been used for years in the genetic genealogy industry, to “equalize” files that don’t test exactly the same locations, and although they don’t say, I’m sure some type of imputation will be used here as well.

My Experiment

Let me tell you what I’m going to do.

I’m going to order a new MyHeritage DNA test so that it will be processed on the new equipment.

After the results are uploaded, I will compare matching and the other MyHeritage DNA features between my current and the new WGS test. How does that sound?

Customers can toggle back and forth between different tests at MyHeritage, so you can do this too.

Will Other Vendors Follow Suit?

Not all vendors are as transparent as MyHeritage about their technology, so there’s really no way to know about specific vendors unless they publish their information.

I do know that low-pass WGS would not be conducive to some types of tests. For example, Y-DNA testing that relies on either targeted location reads or multiple reads of every location to produce precise haplogroup calls would not scale well, and neither would mitochondrial DNA. Some Y-DNA locations are read as many as 35 times.

Each vendor has to make their own decision based on their own products, criteria, and customer needs.

Uploads From Other Vendors

You might have noticed a few weeks ago that MyHeritage stopped accepting uploads from other vendors. This might be a hint as to why that decision was made.

You’re always better off taking the test of the vendor where you want to work with matches. The vendor’s own test will always be more accurate when using their products and matching.

Downloading Your New File From MyHeritage

In their press release, MyHeritage committed to providing a file download in a CRAM file format. A CRAM file stores only the differences between a sequence and its reference genome, which means it’s substantially smaller than an entire whole genome. How large is it? I have no idea, but we will see.

Uploading to Other Vendors

Will you be able to upload your file to other vendor sites? I don’t know the broader answer to that question but neither Ancestry nor 23andMe accept any uploads.

FamilyTreeDNA says they are preparing to accept the new MyHeritage file uploads by year-end.

Ordering New Tests

Some MyHeritage tests are already being run on the new WGS machines, but beginning today, all MyHeritage tests will be WGS tests. (Update – MyHeritage has clarified that only kits arriving in the lab in January 2026 are guaranteed to run on the WGS machine. So if you order now at the sale price, wait to mail it back until January.)

Existing tests purchased in the past will not be rerun. Unless the customer has paid for the MyHeritage biobanking service, MyHeritage does not store your DNA after processing, so they can’t reprocess your DNA.

MyHeritage DNA tests, typically $89, are on sale for $36 right now, so there has literally never been a better time to purchase a MyHeritage DNA test. Click here to purchase.

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Cousin Finder – MyHeritage’s Innovative New Tool Finds Your Relatives

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I knew I was going to love the Cousin Finder, recently introduced by MyHeritage, I just had no idea HOW MUCH I would love it.

For a very long time, I’ve wanted a list of everyone with my specific ancestor in their tree. With the introduction of Cousin-Finder, you don’t even need to search. Cousin Finder finds them for you – automatically.

Cousin Finder isn’t just for DNA matches, although DNA matches are included, too. Better even yet, these people are all potential DNA matches.

Cousin Finder provides you with a list of the other MyHeritage members who have the same ancestor, or ancestral couple in their tree as you do in yours, along with your relationship to each other, how you both descend from the ancestor, and more.

Warning!

Warning: Cousin Finder is crack for genealogists – it’s highly addictive. I started reviewing my Cousin Finder matches to write this article. The next thing you know, I’ve created a spreadsheet that tracks how we are related, our common shared ancestor(s), if we are a DNA match, and additional information.

There are unexpected bonuses too. I accidentally found answers to questions I’ve had for YEARS. For example, I have ancestors whose child or children I can’t locate in adulthood. If these trees are right, which is always a caveat, Cousin Finder matches answer several of those questions because they descend from those children.

There’s a LOT to glean from these tree matches so let’s step through using Cousin Finder.

Let’s GO!

Everyone with a tree at MyHeritage has Cousin Finder.

Sign in to your MyHeritage account, and under Discoveries, click on Cousin Finder.

Next, you’ll see that MyHeritage is comparing trees and calculating the members with trees that hold at least one discernible common ancestor with you.

The word “discernible” is important here, because you may see a match listed with only one person of an ancestral couple who wasn’t married twice. If the ancestors’ names are spelled differently or omitted, the system may not be able to determine that the second person of the couple is your ancestor too. Keep that in mind as you work through your matches.

Every time you select Cousin Finder, you have the option to recalculate, so I record the number of matches found each time.

This time, I have 378 people on my list, and I CANNOT wait to see who is there and what those matches reveal.

About Half-Relationships

Half relationships are often not noted as such. While it may not be relevant for just trees, it’s certainly relevant in terms of how much shared DNA to expect.

In the example above, sharing only one parent, John, would mean that the child of your ancestor that you descend from, Wife 1, would only be half-siblings with the child of your ancestor and their other spouse, Wife 2. Half-siblings share half as much DNA, on average, as full siblings.

The children of half-siblings are half first cousins (half 1C), who also share approximately half as much DNA as full first cousins.

Never assume that if only one ancestor is showing in Cousin Finder, it means that it’s a half relationship. Also, don’t assume that your ancestor had a second spouse, or that the other person descends from a second known spouse. Showing only one ancestor could mean that the spouse’s name is spelled differently, omitted, wrong entirely or something else – so always check their full tree.

We will run across these when viewing matching trees, so let’s see what Cousin Finder looks like!

Using Cousin Finder

My closest matches are people I know and am closely related to, so for purposes of this comparison, I’m moving to a cousin I don’t already know.

MyHeritage provides a LOT of information about every cousin on your Cousin Finder list.

Susan is noted as being my third cousin’s daughter, which is a third cousin once removed, or 3C1R. I wrote about what “removed” cousins means in the article, “Concepts: What Does a Cousin “Once Removed” Mean”?”.

I LOVE that MyHeritage shows the most recent common ancestor between the two of us – Joseph Preston Bolton.

But why doesn’t Joseph Preston Bolton’s wife show? He had two wives during his lifetime. I descend from Joseph’s second wife, Margaret Herrell. Does Susan descend from Joseph’s first wife, Mary Tankersley?

Let’s click on “View Relationship” to see more.

My connection to Joseph Preston Bolton is shown on the left side, and Susan’s is shown at right.

Since only one common ancestor is shown, this means that either:

  • We descend from different wives of Joseph, meaning it’s a half-relationship.
  • Joseph’s wife is also our common ancestor, but she is omitted in at least one of our trees
  • Joseph’s wife is also our common ancestor, but her name is not spelled the same in both trees, so she cannot be programmatically recognized as the same person.

We need more information.

Fortunately, MyHeritage also includes a link to view Susan’s full tree.

In the portion of Susan’s tree with Joseph Bolton, we discover that Susan descends from Joseph’s first wife, Mary Tankersley. I descend from his second wife, Margaret Herrell, so indeed this is a half relationship.

Susan and I would be 3C1R if we shared the same wife of Joseph, but we don’t, so Susan and I are actually half third cousins once removed, or half 3C1R.

Evaluate the Rest of Their Tree

Always review the rest of your cousin’s tree too, because in this case, I found Cook, another name from the same county that’s also in my tree, and on Susan’s father’s side, the surname Shepard, both of which I need to research further to determine if they are the same lines.

MyHeritage makes this super-easy. Click through to the profile of the ancestor in their tree, then click on “Research this person.”

A few clicks later, I discovered that indeed, Susan and I share another set of ancestors, George Shepherd (c1700-1751) and Elizabeth Mary Angelica Daye (c1700- after 1750), but Susan didn’t have several connecting generations in her tree.

Cousin Finder Only Reports ONE Common Ancestral Line

MyHeritage only reports ONE COMMON LINE – NOT ALL common lines – so ALWAYS review the full tree of your cousin. Don’t just stop at the relationship shown.

This is especially important if you are also a DNA match, because you don’t want to misidentify the source of your shared DNA. Different DNA segments may match because they descend from different ancestors. Furthermore, half relationships only carry half as much expected DNA as full relationships.

Fortunately, MyHeritage labels Cousin Finder matches if the member is also a DNA match.

Cousin Finder DNA Matches

Pamela is a DNA match in Cousin Finder.

My relationship with Pamela is shown as my third cousin’s daughter, but she’s actually my half third cousin’s daughter, which is my half 3C1R.

But that’s just the BEGINNING of our shared story.

Click image to enlarge

There’s SO MUCH great information here.

  • Our Cousin Finder relationship identifies our common ancestor as Margaret Martin Herrell, shown at the bottom. Margaret’s first married name, Martin, is listed here as her middle name, which is incorrect, but the information provided leaves no doubt about the identity of the woman in question, and MyHeritage was able to make the connection.
  • Pamela and I don’t share the other parent, so Pamela descends from Anson Cook Martin, and I descend from Joseph Preston Bolton.
  • Margaret’s parents, William Herrell and Mary McDowell, are shown, at right, in red.
  • Pamela carries the mitochondrial DNA of her direct matrilineal line, meaning it is passed through all females back to Margaret Herrell. In other words, if I did not already have a tester who provided the mitochondrial DNA of Margaret Herrell, which is also her mother, Mary McDowell’s mitochondrial DNA – I’d reach out immediately and ask if Pamela has taken a mitochondrial DNA test at FamilyTreeDNA. If she has not, I’d explain about mitochondrial DNA testing, what it can do for us, and ask if she’d be interested in testing. I often offer a testing scholarship to sweeten the pie. .
  • In addition to our closest common relative, Margaret Herrell, Pamela and I share at least four other ancestral couples, even though we don’t know Charles Campbell’s wife’s name.

Wow – just WOW!

Cousin Finder is an incredibly powerful tool!

Follow the DNA Link

Clicking on my DNA match with Pamela.reveals additional information.

Among other things, our DNA match shows that:

  • We share 24cM of DNA divided into two segments
  • We have 12 surnames in common
  • We have four smart matches
  • We share some geographical locations

Clicking on “Review DNA Match” provides much more detail about all of these features.

Scrolling through my shared matches with Pamela, and particularly the people with whom we share triangulated segments, proves our genetic connection through specific ancestors.

Two of my shared DNA matches with Pamela also descend through children of Jacob Dobkins and Dorcas Johnson, and Charles Campbell. Two sons of Charles Campbell, John and George, married two daughters of Jacob Dobkins and Dorcas Johnson.

It’s also worth noting that if I’m seeking a Campbell male for Y-DNA testing who descends from my line, there’s a Campbell male right here on our shared match list – and MyHeritage makes it VERY easy to contact your cousins.

If you haven’t yet taken a DNA test at MyHeritage, please do. There’s so much to discover.

Really Like

I REALLY like some of these features.

One of the nice built-in tree features is how MyHeritage handles pedigree collapse,  labeling ancestors that appear more than once in someone’s tree.

If you’re evaluating a DNA match with another member, this individual could carry twice as much DNA of those ancestors at that relationship level than ancestors who only appear once in their tree. I wrote about the effects of pedigree collapse, here.

How Did Cousin Finder Benefit Me?

The primary Cousin Finder benefit is that MyHeritage provides a comprehensive list of common ancestors, relieving me of the need to do a lot of searching and sifting, and allowing me to make several discoveries:

  • I found several people with common ancestors, including as far back as 9C1R, that I would probably never have discovered without this tool.
  • Cousin Finder allows me to focus my research on people with specific common ancestors.
  • These 378 Cousin Finder tree matches are spread among 74 ancestors or ancestral couples.
  • Many people share multiple ancestors – including ones you’d never expect from different “sides” in different geographic locations.
  • I found trees belonging to people who live near where our common German or Dutch ancestors lived, which means they may well have information that I do not. MyHeritage has a lot of European members.
  • I discovered trees for people on Cousin Finder that I have DNA matches with at other DNA testing vendors, but who have no trees there. I never thought of using Cousin Finder to locate trees of matches at other companies before I accidentally made this discovery.
  • All of these members are autosomal DNA testing candidates if they haven’t yet tested – and there’s no hunting for your common ancestor because you already know who it is.
  • I found both Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA test candidates for multiple ancestors. I’m very excited about this and will reach out to them, first asking if they have already taken those tests. If not, I’ll explain the benefits and offer a testing scholarship at FamilyTreeDNA.
  • By viewing our common ancestors’ profiles and clicking “research this person”, I discovered hints and leads that I didn’t have before. Writing this article took me way too long because of this “distraction”!

Asking Your Cousins to DNA Test

I’m very excited that several of these people are candidates for either Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA testing, and all of them are great candidates for autosomal testing.

One surname line in particular has evaded me for years, and there are TWO men on my Cousin Finder list with that surname who descend from our common ancestor. Either would make a wonderful Y-DNA test candidate. Fingers crossed!

Pay attention to more than just your cousin’s surname. While the member themselves may not be a candidate, the ancestor’s Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA line may extend to their father or grandparents, meaning the tester may know uncles/aunts or first cousins who are candidates. Information from those tests would benefit both you and the tree-owner. Every single line hits a brick wall sooner or later, and those two tests can break through those brick walls when autosomal tests can’t.

What’s the worst that can happen? Your cousin might not answer or might say no. But with a little education and a nice informational exchange, they may well say yes, and you’ll have a new collaboration partner!

The answer is “no” if you don’t ask.

Observations

One of the biggest Cousin Finder challenges seems to be surname variation. For example, Claxton, Clarkson, and Clarkston are all used in the same time and place for the same person/family. In these cases, if the spouse’s surname is spelled the same in both trees, you’ll still see them as a Cousin Finder match.

I noticed that several people seem to have only one or two lines extended beyond a generation or two. It benefits everyone to extend their trees.

Cousin Finder is Available for Anyone in Your Tree

Cousin Finder isn’t limited to just you. You can view Cousin Finder matches for anyone in your tree or any tree that you own on your MyHeritage site.

Select anyone in your tree, then scroll down to “Additional Actions” and select their Cousin Finder option.

Suggestions

I do love Cousin Finder, but genealogists are always thinking about how to wring more information out of any and every opportunity. We just can’t get enough of a good thing! So, I have some suggestions, aka, not-so-subtle enhancement requests. 😊

  1. I would like for Cousin Finder to display multiple shared ancestors. If multiple distinct shared ancestral couples are found in the same tree, I’d like to see an entry for each one, not just the first one that Cousin Finder locates. It’s not that I’m just being lazy, either.

Common ancestors are easy to see if they show on the first page of the pedigree, but beyond fourth cousins, you need to expand all 32 lines one by one to see if there is an additional shared ancestral line, and them continue expanding to the end. The good news is that the MyHeritage tree is easy to expand, but Cousin Finder would be more friendly and useful if MyHeritage showed multiple common lines so we don’t have to hunt for them.

  1. I would love to be able to filter or sort in several ways, including combinations, which would probably eliminate the need for my spreadsheet where I entered all 378 Cousin Finder member entries:
    • Filter by ancestor(s)
    • Filter by members with a DNA match to me
    • Filter by Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA lineage candidates for our shared ancestor
    • Filter or sort by the member’s country
    • Filter for or annotate a new person on the list since the last Cousin Finder calculation
    • Filter or annotate a member already on your list but who has now taken a DNA test and matches you
  1. Thankfully, MyHeritage shows if the tree owner has taken a DNA test and matches you, but you have no way of knowing who has tested and does NOT match you. I would love to be able to filter by people who have taken a DNA test but who don’t match me. I do realize this might be a difficult ask for privacy reasons, but perhaps MyHeritage will find a way for members with common ancestors.
  2. Added from blog follower – The ability to make a note on each match. Also to indicate if a match is incorrect due to issues like same-name conventions. .

In Summary

Cousin Finder is a wonderful automated aggregation tool to view the trees of MyHeritage members that share known common ancestors with you based on matching within your trees..

If you have a DNA match with no tree or a small tree at another vendor, check both Cousin Finder and your DNA matches at MyHeritage.

Expanding your tree helps you by facilitating additional Cousin Finder matches.

It’s beneficial to test the DNA of your close and close-ish family members. If there is a third-cousin (3C) or closer with no DNA match button, I’ll be asking if they have DNA tested and if not, if they would consider doing so.

I’m preparing verbiage to send to each match. I’ll customize each one with the name of the member and our common ancestor, and I’ll be asking each of them if they have already taken a DNA test at MyHeritage or elsewhere. Additionally, I’ll try to include some piece of information about that ancestor to pique their interest.

If they are a Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA candidate for an ancestor whose Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA I need, I’ll be asking if they have taken that test as well.

While working through Cousin Finder, I discovered so many benefits and useful tidbits that I didn’t expect that I’ve probably forgotten some. Maybe I haven’t discovered them all yet. Let me know if you discover another benefit or use as you work through your Cousin Finder matches.

Cost

According to MyHeritage, Cousin Finder itself is free, but some of the advanced features within Cousin Finder, such as viewing the full relationship path, confirming Smart Matches, extracting information to your tree, or contacting your relatives, do require a subscription.

If you have not yet taken the autosomal DNA test at MyHeritage, you can order one here. You can purchase a MyHeritage research subscription that gives you access to all of the Cousin Finder and other features, and comes with a free trial, here.

Have fun with Cousin Finder!!

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Wherefore Art Thou, Oh Ancestor? – New Generation Tree Chart Suggests Where to Look in Your Matches’ Trees

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When you see a DNA match, do you wonder how far back in your trees your common ancestors live? How do you know where to search?

I’ve been working through my DNA match list person by person, reviewing the information and trees for each match, searching for common ancestors.

Whether you’re looking at individual matches, shared matches, clusters or triangulation groups, trees are essential for finding common ancestors.

My favorite vendor-provided tree is my MyHeritage tree. They’ve done a great job, so I’m using their tree for my examples today.

Here’s the question I’m trying to answer – based on how much DNA I share with someone, how far up that person’s tree, roughly, do I need to look for our most recent common ancestor? And, is there something else I can tell?

Tree Size Matters aka How Far Up the Tree Do I Need to Look?

So, if you click on your matches’ trees, how far up their tree do you need to look for a common ancestor? How many times will you need to click to expand their tree beyond the 4 (Ancestry) or 5 (MyHeritage) generations initially displayed, assuming your match has a tree that size? How far out, meaning how many generations do you need to hope and pray they have extended their tree?

Conversely, how many generations do YOU need to include for your tree to be useful for:

  • Other testers to find common ancestors with you
  • Theories of Family Relativity provided by MyHeritage, suggesting common ancestors with other testers
  • ThruLines at Ancestry
  • Family Matching (bucketing) at FamilyTreeDNA which assigns your matches either maternally or paternally. (Note – FamilyTreeDNA is transitioning their trees to the MyHeritage platform.)

If you’re thinking that the size of YOUR tree doesn’t matter, think again.

Not only can the vendors not help you effectively without a tree – genealogy is a collaborative sport. Other people NEED the generations in your tree to locate your common ancestors, just like you NEED to see as many generations in their tree as possible. The vendors NEED as complete a tree as you can provide to help you further.

DNA+Trees Bulldoze Brick Walls

But maybe the most important aspect is that you NEED trees to break through brick walls – especially in conjunction with DNA and tools like clustering that show you visual images of genetic commonality.

We all need to be team players when we have that option – meaning we know who are ancestors are. Our brick walls can be solved, and you can be a puzzle piece of solving brick walls for others too.

Some of my closest friends and cousins are a direct result of DNA matches and genealogy collaboration over the years. (You know who you are!) I’ve even discovered that several friends are cousins too – which I would never have happened without DNA and trees.

Guidelines for What’s Reasonable

What is a reasonable number of generations to peruse for common ancestors?

The answer is – it depends! (I’m sorry…)

Let’s sort through this.

Given that, on AVERAGE, inherited autosomal DNA from a particular ancestor is halved in each successive generation during recombination between the parents, we can calculate the expected average. However, in reality – DNA isn’t always halved. Sometimes segments are passed intact, divided but not in half, or not inherited at all. That’s why you may not match some third cousins, but match some 7th cousins. Random recombination is, in fact, random.

Every segment has its own individual history.

That’s part of the reason we use triangulation, to confirm that a specific segment originated with a particular couple or ancestral line.

Here are a few rules of thumb, with links to articles that explain the various terms and concepts:

  • There are no known instances of second cousins or closer NOT matching.
  • Some (but not all) people find their common ancestor in the first 5 or 6 generations.
  • Many people have proven, triangulated matches to the 10th generation, but those are more difficult to prove, often due to incomplete trees (brick walls) at that distance on either your side, your match’s side, or both. I have no brick walls at 5 generations, counting my parents as generation 1, but I have 6 female brick walls in the 6th generation.
  • If you’re lucky, you can spot your common ancestral surname on the first page of your match’s tree – and follow that line back. Note that there may be additional common ancestors, so view each of their lines to the end. The MyHeritage tree makes this super easy!
  • Pedigree collapse, where you, and/or the other person share multiple lines, known or unknown, is a complicating factor. Pedigree collapse often means you share more DNA than would be expected for a specific relationship.
  • Endogamy, which is pedigree collapse on steroids, is real and will cause many smaller matches.
  • Based on the number of distant versus close cousins you have, you will have MANY more smaller matches than larger ones.
  • And last, but not least, some matches, especially smaller ones, are identical by chance (IBC), not identical by descent (IBD).

All of that said, we can estimate the number of generations back in our matches’ trees where we might need to look for that common ancestor.

As I’ve been reviewing all of my matches, I realized that I can look at the match cM size and mentally size up just about where in their tree I will find our common ancestor. In essence, I’ve “bottled that” for you, here.

Using Trees Effectively

One of the reasons I love the MyHeritage tree is that as you need to click further back in trees beyond the generations initially displayed, which occurs often – the next generations open to the right, the earlier generations just shift left and they all remain visible.

I know that might not sound important, but it is – incredibly – especially when you’re evaluating several matches. Otherwise, it’s easy to lose track of where you are in someone’s tree. I have 9 generations open, above, and I can just keep going – with the more recent generations just shifting left.

But there’s more!

When viewing matches’ trees, I can also click on anyone in their tree, and a profile box opens to the left with additional information about that person, leaving the tree open so I don’t lose my place and have to click around to find it again. I can’t even begin to tell you how wonderful this is, and it’s unique to MyHeritage. You can tell the MyHeritage tree was designed by actual genealogists.

This feature is incredibly useful because many, if not most, of the common ancestors with your matches will be beyond the first page displayed.

Thank you, thank you, MyHeritage!!!

Estimating the Number of Generations by the Amount of Shared DNA

How far up the tree you’ll need to look can be estimated by the amount of DNA that you share with a particular match.

Vendors estimate the relationship of DNA matches by either the percentage of shared DNA or the number of shared centimorgans (cMs), but there’s no quick reference to show you, generationally, where to focus in you and your matches’ trees for your common ancestor.

That’s the handy reference Generation Tree Chart that I’ve created here.

In the article, Shared cM Project 2020 Analysis, Comparison and Handy Reference Charts, I compiled information from multiple sources into one chart detailing HOW MUCH DNA can be expected to be shared at various relationship levels. Shared cM Project information is also visualized at DNAPainter

What I need to know now, though, isn’t an estimate of how closely we are related, but how many generations back to look for our common ancestor in my and their trees.

As I’m clicking through my matches, the majority, by far, are smaller than larger. That makes sense, of course, because we have many more distant relatives than close relatives.

At FamilyTreeDNA, I have 8758 matches who are not immediate or close family.

Number of Matches Relationship Range cM Range
10 Half-1C and 1C1R 318-637 cM
4 2C and equivalent 159-318 cM
7 Between 2C-3C, such as half-2C 80-159 cM
79 3C and equivalent 40-80 cM
814 3C-4C and equivalent 20-40 cM
7548 4C and equivalent 9-20 cM
293 Below 4C and equivalent 7-9 cM

I know the people in the first two categories and some of the people in the third category, but the genetic/ancestral scavenger hunt begins there.

All Cousins Are Not Equivalent

You’re probably wondering about the word “equivalent.” Genetically, people of different relationships carry the same amount of expected DNA. We not only have 5th cousins (5C), for example, we have:

  • Half-fifth-cousins
  • Fifth-cousins-once-removed (5C1R)
  • Fifth-cousins-twice-removed (5C2R)
  • And so forth

I wrote about determining cousin relationships, meaning halves and removed,here.

Genetically speaking, a 5C2R carries the same expected amount of shared DNA as a 6C, so they are functional equivalents. How do we resolve this and where do we look in our trees for our common ancestors?

I’m so glad you asked!

Where Do Various Cousin Levels Fall in My Tree?

We know that first cousins share grandparents, but as we get further back in our tree, it’s difficult to remember or calculate how many generations back a 6th cousin is in our tree.

I’ve used my MyHeritage tree to display 1st through 10th cousins, labeled in red, and the generation number they represent, in black. So, my common ancestors with my second cousins are found 3 generations out in my tree.

Making things more challenging, however, is that unless we know the match already, we’re trying to figure out how closely the match is actually related to us based on their DNA. Not all cousins of any level share the same amount of DNA, so the best vendors can do is provide an estimate or relationship range.

To determine our actual relationship, we need to find our most recent common ancestor.

Where, approximately, in my tree would I look for each category of match, especially that huge group of 7548 people?

Good question!

The Generation Tree Chart is Born

I needed a quick reference for approximately how many generations back in time our common ancestors existed by how much DNA we share, so I know how far back in someone’s tree I need to look.

I’ve reorganized the data from my earlier articles and created a new resource.

The Generation Tree Chart

The Generation Tree Chart:

  • Is not meant to identify parents or close relatives.
  • Does not include parents or grandparents.
  • Counts your parents as generation 1. Some people count themselves as generation 1. If you’re discussing this table, keep in mind that you may be one generation “off” in your discussions with someone who counts differently.
  • This chart clusters the relationships according to color, based on how much DNA people of that relationship are expected to share. For example, a first-cousin-twice-removed (1C2R) shares the same expected amount of DNA with you as a second-cousin (2C).
  • All cousin relationships that are expected to share the same amount of DNA are in the same color band.
  • If you’re using this chart with Ancestry’s numbers, use the unweighted (pre-Timber) amount of DNA.

The colored bands correlate to shared DNA, but the shared ancestor isn’t necessarily the same generation back in time.

This is my “show your work” chart. You’ll notice a few things.

  • The “Avg % Shared” column is the amount of shared DNA expected based on a 50% division (recombination) in each generation, which almost never happens exactly.
  • The “Expected cM” column is the expected cM amount based a 50% division in each generation.
  • I’ve incorporated the DNAPainter mean, low and high range for each relationship.
  • The expected number of shared cMs, in the “Expected cM” column is almost always smaller than the “cM Mean” from DNAPainter. The mean is the midpoint reported in the Shared cM Project for all respondents of that relationship who reported their shared DNA – minus the outliers.

This fact that reported is often significantly higher than expected is particularly interesting. In the closer generations, it doesn’t really matter, but beginning about the 6th blue band and the 7th red band in the chart, the mean is often twice the expected amount.

Remember that DNAPainter numbers are based on the Shared cM Project which relies on user-reported relationships and their associated cM match amounts. You can view Blaine Bettinger’s paper about the most recent Shared cM Project version (2020) and his methodologies here.

My theory is that the more distantly people match, the less likely they are to report the relationship accurately. They may be reporting the relationship they believe to be accurate, life a full versus a half cousin, but that’s not actually the case. It’s also possible that there are multiple unknown relationships or pedigree collapse, or both.

Furthermore, from the red band to the end of the chart, the reported amounts are significantly higher than expected, which is probably a function, in part, of “all or nothing” segment transmission. In other words, if someone’s parent carries a 10 cM segment, you’re probably going to inherit all of it or none of it. If it’s actually divided to 5 and 5 cM, you’re not going to see it on any match list.

In my case, I have several 8 cM triangulated matches who descend from common Dodson ancestors whose descendants intermarried a couple of generations later. Therefore, these matches are, respectively, both my 6C2R and 7C3R from the same line (20 cM total match), two matches at 6C1R (66 cM and 19 cM), and one 6C (51 cM). These people also triangulate on multiple segments. Given the high amount of shared DNA for this relationship level, I suspect additional pedigree collapse someplace. At least one person also matches on an unrelated line that I never realized before doing this match-by-match analysis, which opens up new possibilities.

Next, the meat of this chart.

  • The “Generations Back in Tree” column shows where your common ancestor with someone in that cousin generation would be expected. For example, in the first three bands, all of the first cousin variants are found two generations back, and your grandparents are your common ancestors.

All of the 2C variants descend through great-grandparents, which are 3 generations back in your tree.

Plase note that you can easily find the amount of DNA that you share with a match in the “Expected cM” and “Mean” Columns, and look to the right to see the Generations Back in Tree. 

For example, if I have a match where I share 20 cM of DNA, I’m going to be looking between the red band and the second white band. The generations back in tree range from 4-6, or the common ancestor could potentially be further back. In other words, if I’m lucky, I’ll spot common ancestors on the first tree page displayed, but I may well need to display additional generations.

  • The “Common Ancestors” column displays the common ancestor with anyone in that cousin generation. So, anyone in any variation of 3C shares great-great-grandparents with you.
  • “How Many” shows how many great-great-grandparents you have – 8.

Color Bands and Generations

Color bands represent the same amount of expected DNA, but the various relationships that are included in those bands represent at least two different “Generations Back in Tree.”

For example, looking at the green band, the half 1C3R will be found in the grandparents generation, or generation 2, the 2C2R and half 2C1R are in the great-grandparents, or generation 3, and the 3C is found in the great-great-grandparents, or generation 4.

Where I really needed this chart, though, was in the more distant generations. While we are clearly dealing with a range, if I see a match with 11 or 12 cM, our common ancestor is nearly always at least 6 generations out, and often more.

The Net-Net of This Exercise

The majority of my matches, 7548, fall into the red band of 9-20 cM, which should be the 4th or 5th generation, either great-great or GGG-grandparents, but in reality, common ancestors will often be found more distantly in matches’ trees.

Most of your matches will be 20 cM or below, meaning they are at least 4/5 generations distant, or further – which translates to NOT the first tree page displayed. This why using the MyHeritage tree is so convenient, because when you click to the next generations, they just open and it’s VERY easy to quickly click and expand every generation with no back-clicking needed. Tip – when viewing profile cards for their ancestors, be sure to note locations which are important hints too. You can also click to “research this person.”

If your match doesn’t have a tree developed to at least 5 generations, it’s unlikely that you will be able to find a common ancestor for someone with less than a 20 cM match. However, all is not lost because you may recognize a surname, and if you build out the tree for your match, you may find your common ancestor. I build out my matches’ trees often! (Yes, it’s painful and irritating, but just do it! After all, we’re genealogists. We got this.)

For people with smaller cM matches, you may be looking even further out. I have some solid triangulated matches with multiple people at 6 and 7 generations..

The further out in time, the more triangulated people you need to be confident that your common ancestor who contributed that segment is identified correctly. At that distance, most people will have dead end lines and brick walls, probably yourself included.

However, my research methodology has the potential to break through brick walls.

Brick Walls Breakers

When I’m working on match and triangulation clusters, not only am I looking for MY known ancestors, I’m also looking for common surnames, or more specifically, common ancestors between my matches trees.

In some cases, common ancestors only mean that I’m viewing first cousins to each other, but in other cases, those common ancestors between my matches, but not me, MAY POINT DIRECTLY TO A MISSING BRICK WALL ancestor of mine.

Another hint that this might be the case is when the shared cMs seem high relative to how far back your common identified ancestor is in your tree – which is the case with my Dodson cluster. There may be a second relationship obscured there, especially if they match each other more “normally” and it’s only my matches that are higher than expected with multiple people in this cluster.

Research Methodology

If you’re wondering how I approach this process, I use a spreadsheet organized by triangulation cluster because everyone in a triangulation cluster matches each other on a particular segment. This means that the triangulated segment comes from a common ancestor (or is idencal by chance.) Each match has it’s own row in the cluster on my spreadsheet.

This spreadsheet could also be organized by shared match or matrix cluster, but I prefer smaller triangulation clusters where everyone matches each other and me on the same segment – because it points to ONE shared souce of the DNA – meaning one ancestor or ancestral couple.

I downloaded my match list at FamilyTreeDNA where I can see which matches are assigned either maternally or paternally based on identified, linked relationships, and who matches on the same segments. I used that spreadsheet as the foundation of this spreadsheet, but I could also add people who match on that segment and triangulate from other vendors who provide matching segment information, such as MyHeritage.

Using my Dodson example group, this group of people above, on my father’s side, hence the blue color, also triangulates on other segments. Other clusters are significantly larger, with around 50 cluster members.

One person, JA, descends from Dodson cousins who intermarried, which is pedigree collapse, so they may carry more Dodson/Durham DNA than they would otherwise.

If someone has a small tree, I often use traditional genealogy resources to expand their tree if I recognize a surname.

I track my other ancestors’ surnames that I notice in their trees, which provides a clue for additional ancestors. Of course, common surnames sometimes aren’t useful. However, one match, JC, found in this group is a proven Crumley line cousin who has colonial Virginia ancestors, but no prior knowledge of a Dodson/Durham line – so this could be a HUGE hint for one of JC’s brick walls.

This example cluster from my mother’s side includes my mother, who I haven’t listed, and also RM, a known second cousin who I tested. Based on his known common ancestors with me, I know immediately that these segment matches all track to John David Miller and Margaret Elizabeth Lentz, or beyond. Sure enough DW has a tree where our common ancestor is David Miller, father of John David Miller, and TK is related to DW based on an obituary. So far, we know this segment originated with David Miller and his wife, Catherine Schaeffer, but we don’t know if the segment originated with the Miller or Schaeffer parent.

One additional cluster member shows a Cyrus Miller out of Pennsylvania and my initial attempt at extending their tree using WikiTree, MyHeritage and Ancestry to find a common ancestor was not fruitful, but a deep dive might well produce more, or the common ancestor could reach back into Europe.

As new people test and match, I can add them to the spreadsheet in the clusters where they fit.

Summary Generation Tree Chart

Here’s a summary version of the Generation Tree Chart for you to use, without the cM high and low ranges, and without the red boxes. This is the one I use the most.

Here’s the full chart, including the ranges, but with no red boxes.

The Bottom Line

To derive the most benefit, we all need to develop our trees as far as possible, and share with others. A rising tide lifts all ships!

It’s impossible to identify common ancestors without trees, which means it’s also impossible to use genetic genealogy to break through brick walls.

Please check your trees at the various vendors, if you have multiple trees, and at WikiTree, to be sure you’ve added your most distant known ancestor in each line.

Link your known relatives to their position in your tree at FamilyTreeDNA, which allows them to triangulate behind the scenes and assign (bucket) your matches either maternally or paternally on your match list.

What new information is waiting for you in your matches? Do you have brick walls that need to fall?

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RootsTech 2025 – The Year of Discover and the New Mitotree

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Last week, RootsTech was a whirlwind and full of discoveries – which, ironically, was the 2025 theme.

I always take you along with me and share the RootsTech experience, start to finish, so here’s my 2025 “feet on the ground” report.

I might, just might, have overcommitted myself. I taught the half-day DNA Academy,  three more sessions, plus several other commitments such as book signings, get-togethers, and interviews.

One class, “DNA for Native American Genealogy,” was a live webinar from the floor of the expo hall. You can watch that here for free, if you’re interested.

Unfortunately, none of my other sessions were recorded, but I’ll see what other alternative options may be available to bring those to you.

Additionally, I did two book signings at the GenealogyBank booth, along with two other authors, Drew Smith and Sunny Morton. I’m sorry, I don’t have any pictures. I should have asked someone to take some.

There were long lines and books sold out. Still, you can order either of my books, The Complete Guide to FamilyTreeDNA – Y-DNA, Mitochondrial, Autosomal and X-DNA or DNA for Native American Genealogy, at Genealogical.com. Thank you to GenealogyBank for being so welcoming.

The book signing was particularly fun because people shared their success stories or their hopes of what they want to achieve. I met a couple of new cousins too! Even people waiting in line were helping each other with information about research resources.

I had created my “RootsTech plan” for sessions I wanted to attend, but I was only able to actually attend one of those. Several were happening at the same time as mine, or directly before or after. As a presenter, you arrive early to get set up and make sure everything is working correctly.

Then, after your session, attendees have questions and are interested in your topic, which is a good thing. So essentially, you can’t attend sessions either before or after your session either.

Before I share photos, I’d like to share something else.

It’s About the People

I have never attended RootsTech for the classes, although there are wonderful offerings – and I have enjoyed them immensely.

Having said that, for me, the best part of RootsTech is the people. People I know and love but never get to see – many of whom I met in-person at RootsTech initially. I get to meet my blog followers. I meet with or reconnect with friends and cousins from around the world. I am privileged to talk with people about their challenges and their victories – when they’ve broken through a brick wall using DNA that they could never have otherwise achieved. People collaborating and helping each other. It’s all beautiful.

The reason I started blogging in the first place, and the reason all 1750 articles are free, is because I wanted to help people do just that – confirm ancestors, find ancestors, and connect with their fsmily.

My cousins that I’ve met through genealogy are some of my closest friends and closest family members. Outliving everyone is a mixed blessing but it makes me extremely grateful for my various cousins since all of my siblings and close family, with the exception of the next generation, have transitioned to the land of the ancestors.

So, yea, for me, RootsTech is about connecting and reconnecting with the people.

That’s also why I never get anything done because I’m always talking with someone.

Additionally, this particular RootsTech was a celebration.

Mitotree Release

Just a few days before RootsTech, the Million Mito Team at FamilyTreeDNA released the brand new Mitotree, 5 years in the making, reconstructing the tree of humankind to reflect our combined heritage more accurately.

At RootsTech 2020, I was honored to announce the Million Mito Project, and the new Mitotree initiative was born.

At some point, I will write about the deep, personal significance of the Mitotree for me,  but for now, suffice it to say that there is something profoundly moving about rewriting the tree of humankind and in doing so, giving a voice to our ancestors from long ago. Yes, I know many of them are thousands or even tens of thousands of years old, but had they not survived, we would not be here today. Now we can identify who they are and that they lived.

Million Mito Team, left to right, Goran Runfeldt, Dr. Paul Maier, me, Dr. Miguel Vilar, Bennett Greenspan, John Detsikas

Our amazing Dream Team has given life to our ancestors and said their names once again, even if their name is a mitochondrial DNA haplogroup. Four team members, Goran, Paul, me and Bennett were at RootsTech. Where else can you actually approach and speak with the actual scientists?

When I say RootsTech is about the people, I know that I am related to every single individual at RootsTech, it’s just a matter of how far back in time. So are you.

Just think about the significance of that for a minute.

Every. Single. Person.

The other end of the mitochondrial DNA spectrum is genealogy, of course, and the new Mitotree with it’s haplotype clusters brings mitochondrial DNA results into the genealogical timeframe. In future articles, I’ll be writing about each one of the new tools, what they mean, and how to use them.

Dr. Paul Maier, lead scientist doing most of the hard science behind Mitotree, had the much-deserved honor of introducing the Mitotree to genealogists at RootsTech.

I’m not sure the audience understood they were witnessing history unfold, but they clearly were. We needed a drum roll and some balloons!

This wasn’t like most vendor announcements of a new product or feature – this was a major scientific achievement that led to genealogical benefits.

In celebration, I asked my friend to make double helix zipper pulls so that I could give them to colleagues, friends and cousins that I ran into at RootsTech. It’s my way of celebrating and sharing the joy!

Five years is a very long time to work on a project. The Mitotree is a massive accomplishment. Every customer at FamilyTreeDNA who has taken the full sequence test received their new haplogroup either the week before or during RootsTech, AND, the second updated version of the tree was released too.

While this is truly wonderful, the true highlight is the testimonials – seeing how Mitotree is actually helping people break through their brick walls.

Here’s just one.

Breathless Testimonial

I’m going to try to convey this exactly as it happened.

A lady that I don’t know literally runs up to me in the hallway. This isn’t unusual. She was so excited that what she said was one long breathless sentence, which I’m going to try to reconstruct here, although I’m adding a bit of punctuation. I also can’t remember how many “greats” were attached to the “grandmother,” but you’ll get the idea.

Roberta, Roberta, I’m so excited – I just wanted to let you know – I found my ancestor using mitochondrial DNA. I got my new haplogroup and I had like 47 matches before but now they are clustered together so I could focus…and there were three matches in my cluster…and one of them had an EKA but the other didn’t…so I built out the EKA matches’ tree and guess what??? They were from the same place and then I found that her great-great-grandmother’s sister is my great-great-grandmother but she had her surname so now I have more generations too. OMG I ‘m so excited I could never have broken through this wall without mtDNA because I had no surname. This is THE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL DNA TEST I’VE EVER TAKEN, and I’ve taken them all. Thank you, thank you!

And with that she quickly hugged me and ran off to something she was obviously late for.

I never got to say one word, which was fine, but I stood there with tears in my eyes, thinking to myself, “This – this is what it’s all about.”

It doesn’t get better than this!

I want to hear your stories too. I just scaled my fourth brick wall last night using the new Mitotree and mtDNA Discover features.

RootsTech Week

RootsTech week started early for me – as in leaving the house at 3 AM Sunday. I fly on Sunday because the flights are cheaper and because the pre-conference meetings and events begin on Monday.

We took off into the dawn, jetting our way westward through the azure blue sky.

I have never gotten over the majesty and beauty of the Rocky Mountains.

And then, of course, the Great Salt Lake, for which Salt Lake City is named.

Looking at the Salt Palace across the street from the Marriott hotel. The silver building is the new Hyatt which is attached to the conference center behind the windmills which extends another very long block to the right, out of view. The mountain range is visible in the distance, and the beautiful sunset.

Speaking of the Marriott hotel, several people have asked if it was any better this year, and if I got trapped in the fire exit again, like last year.

No, I didn’t get stuck because I didn’t tempt fate again. It looked just the same though, so I’m presuming nothing has changed. Furthermore, there was no heat in my room, so they gave me a space heater and a pass to the concierge level – which they did not do last year.

That was kind of them, but food ran out, and there was only one poor server in the restaurant. I’m not even going to mention the nauseating thing that happened with my food. Let’s just say I’m not picky, but I will NEVER eat there again, and that makes it particularly difficult because there’s very little close by, especially when you’re exhausted.

I’m hoping that RootsTech will negotiate someplace different for speakers in the future. I’ve stayed in a lot of Marriotts and most of them are just fine. I have never had issues like this with any of them, let alone repeat issues year after year.

The good news is that we’re not there for the hotel, and the fun began on Monday.

Monday

My interviews began on Monday morning with “Mondays with Myrt” at the FamilySearch Library, which you can view here beginning about 16 minutes.

Mondays with Myrt is a RootsTech tradition and Myrt incorporates people present in person and tuning in virtually as well. Left to right, Kirsty Gray from England, John Tracy Cunningham, me and Myrt. Kirsty had a huge breakthrough that she shared with us just a few minutes after it happened.

I met John at the ECGGS Conference last October. He’s one of the few people I know whose 8 great-grandparents were born in the same county. I’m so jealous. Mine were either born in or first generation immigrants from four countries.

Sometimes the broadcast waiting area is just as much fun as the actual broadcast – in part because it’s the first day of RootsTech week and everyone is so excited to see their friends that they haven’t seen in forever. Call is a reunion!

Do Kirsty Gray and I look like we’re about to get into mischief?

Behind me is the first group of folks to be interviewed.

Pat Richley-Erickson, aka Myrt, Cheryl Hudson Passey, Laura Wilkinson Hedgecock, and Jenny Horner Hawran.

This is the livestream room at the FamilySearch Library. The waiting area for the next group is to the right, and the three presently being interviewed are sitting on the left beside Myrt.

For those who know Gordon, aka Mr. Myrt, he’s coordinating interviewees outside the livestream room. His job is herding cats and he’s the nicest cat-herder you’ll ever meet!

Pre-RootsTech Library Research

I love the FamilySearch Library. It feels like coming home to me.

So many passionate genealogists at every level – learning and searching. Lots of volunteer helpers available, too.

Normally, I create a research plan for the library, but I had been so utterly slammed between preparing my several RootsTech sessions and the Mitotree release that I hadn’t really been able to prepare anything.

I did, however, have a group of ancestors in mind that settled in the Oley Valley in Pennsylvania, so I decided to focus on the Berks County books.

I won’t bore you with the details, but among other things, I found confirmation that the Hoch surname is also the same as High and Hoy, which explains some very confusing Y-DNA results. So even though I didn’t get much productive time there, I did find something very useful in the land records.

I also ran into cousins and friends, of course, which is why I didn’t get more actual research done.

I knew Judy Nimer Muhn, at left, was going to be at RootsTech as a speaker, and I knew we connected through Acadian lines, but we never took the time to really piece together that puzzle.

My cousins, Mark and Manny were also coming for RootsTech, and to visit the library, for the first time. Mark, Manny and I visited Nova Scotia together in the summer of 2024, chasing our ancestors.

You know, fate is a funny thing.

We all descend from Acadian, Francois Savoie who was born about 1621 in France, but settled in Acadia, today’s Nova Scotia. Mark, Manny and I knew that we are cousins through Francois, but Judy and I did not. Mark, Manny and I ran into a local historian, Charlie Thibodeau, the Acadian Peasant, last year, outside of Port Royal. It just so happened that he was taking another couple to see the remains of the Savoie homestead deep in the salt marshes at BelleIsle.

We asked if we could join them, and Charlie was kind enough to include us. It was a long, brutally hot, tick-infested hike through the swamp, but oh so worth it!

We also found the well, located between three homesteads.

The year before, Judy had been in the same place in Nova Scotia, found the same man, Charlie, at the BelleIsle Hall Acadian Cultural Centre, and he had taken her to the remains of the same homestead.

And here we all four are in Utah.

What are the chances?

Needless to say, we had a LOT to talk about, and still do. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get to Judy’s talk, but Mark and Manny attended.

I ran into Katy Rowe-Schurwanz, the FamilyTreeDNA Product Manager at the library too, and look what she’s wearing – a mitochondrial DNA scarf. How cool is that!

The rest of Tuesday and most of Wednesday morning were spent trying to update my several presentations to reflect newly released information by various vendors and practicing the timing of the presentations. I had another interview, and more people were arriving.

I found time to visit Eva’s Bakery about 3 blocks from the Salt Palace. If you’re ever in Salt Lake City, Eva’s is a must! Lunch is wonderful, and so are their French pastries.

Wednesday is “tech prep” day at RootsTech, along with speaker instructions and then the Speaker Dinner.

Steve Rockwood, President and CEO of FamilySearch always delivers an inspirational message and this year did not disappoint.

If you’ve wondered about RootsTech conference stats, they provided this information. I can’t even imagine trying to coordinate all of this – and that’s not including the vendors, expo hall, technology in the presentation rooms, food, security and so much more.

Last year, in 2024, the final attendance numbers were more than 16,000 people in person and 4 million virtual attendees. I noticed a few days ago that there were more than half a million people participating in Relatives at RootsTech, which is still live until April 12th.

On Wednesday evening, after the Speaker’s Dinner, vendors in the Expo Hall were putting the final touches on their booths and preparing for the thousands of excited genealogists who would descend Thursday morning.

Discover

This year’s RootsTech theme was “discover” and attendees were greeted with this display just inside the door.

Attendees listed their discoveries on Post-its and could either post them on the board or plastic boxes, or on the green tree.

I placed my discovery from the day before at the library on the Rootstech tree.

Some people place their wishes here, kind of like a technology wishing well.

I couldn’t help but think of the new Mitotree, now forever green and growing, so I posted a second discovery, “Mitotree.”

Thursday – Opening Day

For those who don’t know, the Salt Palace Convention Center is two lengthy blocks long, a block wide, and two or three stories high, depending on whether you are in the front or rear portion. In other words, it’s massive and you need a map!

The huge Expo Hall with vendors is located in the center on the first floor and vendors have aisle addresses. The show floor is always very busy, and this year was no exception. One of the things I love is that spontaneous conversations just spring up between people who often find commonalities – common ancestors, common locations, and more. People compliment each other and join others at tables. It’s like a big family gathering of sorts.

I always try to walk the entire Expo Hall, because I really enjoy seeing the vendors and their wares, but this year, I never actually had enough time to traverse all the aisles. I took several pictures as I was passing through and running into people, but not nearly enough. I know I missed a lot, but there just wasn’t enough time and I arrived at RootsTech already tired.

However, the energy of RootsTech is like no place else and just infects you.

It’s like you can’t drink from the genealogy firehose fast enough!

Let’s Take a Walk

Ok, come along on a walk with me.

Left to right, Lianne Kruger, a speaker, and Courtney, in the FamilyTreeDNA booth. I believe they said they are cousins.

Daniel Horowitz, genealogist extraordinaire, in the MyHeritage booth. More about MyHeritage’s announcements shortly.

Geoff Rasmussen in the Legacy Family Tree Webinars booth. For those who don’t know, there’s lots of good material at Legacy, and the freshly recorded webinars are always free for a week.

Several vendors offer booth talks, including MyHeritage. I love their photo tools and use their site in some capacity almost daily.

One of the RootsTech traditions is ribbons. Collect one, collect ‘em all. Liv’s ribbons almost reach the floor. I think she wins!

Selfies are also a RootsTech tradition. Me, here with Jonny Perl of DNAPainter fame. I owe Jonny an apology as he asked me if I had a minute, and I had to say no because I was on the way to one of my own classes. I never got back to his booth to view his new features. Sorry Jonny – don’t take it personally!

Jonny released a new Ancestral tree version titled Places, so take a look here at his blog. I need to go look at my ancestors Places.

You’ll find this new feature under Ancestral Trees, Places. These are my most recent 8 generations. Just think of all those brave souls who climbed on a ship and sailed for the unknown. Check this feature out and have fun.

In a booth talk, Dave Vance, Executive Vice-President and General Manager at FamilyTreeDNA is speaking about the three types of DNA, which are, of course, Y-DNA, mitochondrial and autosomal DNA – all useful for genealogy in different ways.

Dave is explaining how in-common-with matches, also known as shared matches, operate with the chromosome browser. You can use the chromosome browser, shared matches, the new Matrix Tool, and download your match segment information at FamilyTreeDNA, a combination of features not available at any other vendor.

WikiTree, a free a moderated one-world-tree is one of my favorite genealogy tools. One of their best features is that you find your ancestor, and in addition to lots of sources, their Y-DNA, mitochondrial DNA, and those who are related autosomally are listed. Here’s my grandfather, for example.

Several DNA connections are listed. The further back in my tree, the more DNA connections are found, becuase those ancestors have more descendants.

WikiTree volunteers were wandering around taking pictures of “WikiTreers” holding fun signs.

Paul Woodbury, a long time researcher with Legacy Tree Genealogists, who specializes in DNA. I don’t take private clients anymore, and regularly refer people to Legacy Tree.

Me with Janine Cloud taking our annual RootsTech selfie. Janine, the Group Projects Manager at FamilyTreeDNA and I co-administer one of those projects and accidentally discovered a few years ago that we are cousins too. How fun is this!!!

I wanted this shirt, but by the time I got back to the booth, it was too late. I’m going to order it online from Carlisle Creations, in case you want one too. This is so me.

Land records are critically important to genealogists. Rebecca Whitman’s class was about plotting land plats. What she’s holding is a surveyor’s chain. You’ve read about chain carriers? This is what they carried to measure land boundaries – literally metes and bounds. Some of my best discoveries have been thanks to land records.

The only session I actually got to attend was Gilad Japhet’s “What’s New and Exciting at MyHeritage.” For those who don’t know, Gilad is the founder and CEO of MyHeritage and it’s always great to hear about the new features straight from the top executive who is, himself, a seasoned genealogist. That’s why he started MyHeritage in the first place – 22 years ago in his living room.

Gilad had several wonderful announcements, but the one I’m most excited about is their new Cousin Finder. Cousin Finder finds and reveals cousins who are DNA candidates if they have not yet taken a DNA test.

I’ll be writing more about the MyHeritage announcements soon, but you can read their blog about Cousin Finder now, here, and their Roundup here about the rest of their announcements!

My Last Class – Reveal Your Maternal Ancestors & Their Stories

My last class at the end of the final day of RootsTech was “Reveal Your Maternal Ancestors & Their Stories – Solving Mitochondrial DNA Puzzles.”

Had I tried to coordinate this presentation with International Women’s Day, I could never have done it, but fate winked and here I was.

I’m often asked what it’s like from the presenters’ perspective. This is one of the smaller ballrooms. My earlier sessions were in larger rooms, maybe 3 times this size. I took this picture about 15 minutes before the session started as people were beginning to drift in.

The amazing RootsTech techs had me wired up to microphones and had verified that the audio and video equipment was working correctly, so now it was just waiting.

My cousin, John Payne, who co-administers the Speaks surname project with me, came by and took this great picture of the two of us. We’ve made huge inroads connecting the various Speake(s) lines in America, plus finally proving our home village in England, thanks to the Big Y-700 test, followed by church records. All is takes, sometimes, is that one critical match.

As I sat there, waiting to begin the mitochondrial DNA session, I couldn’t help but reflect upon all of the women who came before me and how fortunate I was to have been in the right place at the right time to be a member of the Million Mito team.

These are my direct matrilineal ancestors who give me, and my daughter, pictured at left, their mitochondrial DNA. I felt them with me as I sat there, waiting.

The woman at furthest right, Barbara Drechsel (1848-1930), immigrated to Indiana from Germany as a child with her parents in the 1850s. Before her came thousands of generations of women with no photos, of course, and no names before Barbara Freiberger, another eight generations earlier, born about 1621 in Germany.

Before that, which was before church and other records, prior to the 30 Years War, this lineage came from Scandinavia where some of my exact matches are still found today.

Before beginning, I said a positive affirmation and thanked my ancestors – so very honored to introduce them. I know they were proud of me, a member of the team that opened the door to the distant past. I wouldn’t be here if not for every one of their lives.

In this session, I would discuss, for the first time ever, the new Mitotree and my/our connection to all of humanity some 7000 generations ago, more or less.

The mutations we carry over those generations form an unbroken chain of breadcrumbs, connecting us to mitochondrial Eve who lived about 145,000 years ago. We revealed that breakthrough finding in the Haplogroup L7 paper, published in 2022.

I’m still in absolute awe that we have been able to both reach that far back in time AND, at the same time, make the newest haplogroups and haplotype clusters genealogically relevant. I will write more about that soon, but for now, I wrote about the Mitotree release here and you can find articles by Katy Rowe-Schurwanz here and here.

I’m very excited about my new mitochondrial DNA results for my ancestral lines that I track and have already made headway on several.

I’m not the only one.

Not only was I excited about my results, many other people have had breakthroughs too, including Mark Thompson, one of our genealogy AI experts who also spoke at RootsTech. I particularly love his AI generated image.

If you haven’t yet, check your mitochondrial DNA results.

It’s a Wrap

Another year done, another RootsTech under our belts. Hopefully everyone is over the “conference crud” by now and are busily applying their newfound knowledge.

You can view either live-cast sessions or RootsTech webinars, here.

I saw a meme posted sometime during the conference that coined the term “exhausterwhelmulated,” a combination of exhausted, overwhelmed and overstimulated at the same time.

I added exhilarated and elated to the mix and asked ChatGPT to draw me a picture of someone at a genealogy conference feeling those simultaneous emotions.

ChatGPT titled this request “Genealogy Conference Overload,” which made me laugh.

The first two attempts looked like the person had a headache, which I fully understood, so I asked ChatGPT to make the person look happy to be there.

This person, carrying a coffee like I often do, looks like they have just discovered the great irony that they have chased the wrong ancestor for some 20 years – with “laugh or I’ll cry” mania being their overwhelm “go to” in that minute.

This one made me laugh too!

Yes, indeed, I think every single one of us, especially at RootsTech, has experienced this exact adrenaline-fueled emotion.

We leave with a VERY long to-do list, exhausted but full of anticipation and buoyed by excitement. Filled with so much gratitude for our cousins and fellow genealogists, the speakers, vendors, DNA to solve thorny problems, new tools and records, FamilySearch who sponsors RootsTech itself and their amazing employees, plus the legions of the volunteers who make it all work.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

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MyHeritage Introduces Ethnicity v2.5

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MyHeritage is releasing the long-awaited ethnicity update, doubling the number of regions reported from 42 to 79.

MyHeritage, in their blog, states that:

  • They identify 24 percentage-based European ethnicities.
  • Quite a few of the new percentage-based ethnicities, such as Armenian, are unique to MyHeritage and not identified by other tests.
  • Distinguishes between 15 different Jewish ethnicities, more than most other DNA tests on the market.

Accessing Your New Results

You’ll need to sign in and opt-in to access your results. Click on your current Ethnicity Estimate and accept the prompt to update.

Your new results require time to calculate and MyHeritage will send you an email when they’re ready.

It didn’t take a day for mine to calculate, but how long depends, at least in part, on how many people request updates at the same time. Of course, everyone wants to see their new results.

Versions

New users receive the new v2.5 results, but existing customers will be able to view the original version (v0.95) or the new 2.5 version. These two versions aren’t the only ones that have existed.

There was a beta 2.0 that I was a part of, but MyHeritage continued to tweak the algorithm and it’s now 2.5 being rolled out to everyone.

There was also an intermediate release that was in effect in 2024 when I taught the DNA Academy, shown on the Academy slide, below.

In that intermediate version, I:

  • Showed 1% Indigenous American, which is accurate.
  • Was quite impressed because, showing 10 of 10 Genetic Groups, MyHeritage had been able to pick up Friesland. That’s pretty remarkable.

Let’s look at the new release.

New Ethnicities

Legacy customers can choose to view either version 0.95 or 2.5, or switch back and forth.

In addition to ethnicity, MyHeritage provides Genetic Groups, which are where the ancestors of groups of your matches are located. Genetic Groups are shown on the same map with black outlines, and sometimes, they overlap with ethnicities. Genetic Groups and Ethnicities are two different things, though, because ethnicity tends to stem from genetic populations further back in time, and Genetic Groups are tree-based and more recent.

Here’s the newly released 2.5 version. Please note that I “snipped” the middle of the Atlantic Ocean to narrow the image for better display.

The new version is shown above, and the 0.95 earlier version is shown below.

Of course, the whole purpose of updating ethnicity results is to obtain either more granular results, or more accurate results, or both. The idea being that if you had Scandinavian before, now it can be broken into smaller areas with more specificity.

Which Version is the Most Accurate?

Only you can determine which version is the most accurate for you. I’ve kept an ethnicity spreadsheet for my 64 4-times great grandparents, meaning 6 generations back in time if you begin counting with my mother.

Here’s an example of the first few rows of my spreadsheet.

Click to enlarge image

I know where each of those ancestors were from, or in the case of English, a few are inferred based on their spouse, community or their location and such. Each of those ancestors contributed approximately 1.56% (rounded) of my ethnicity. In a few cases, I know that their parents came from a different location, so I’ve subdivided where appropriate. As genealogists, we also know that autosomal DNA of our ancestors is not passed in exactly 50% increments, so I might not (and probably don’t) have exactly 1.56% of the DNA from one of those ancestors. Still, this is the best measure we can create of accuracy.

Summary Table

In the following table, I’ve divided the first column into regions. The bolded black names are the more expansive regions, generally used in v0.95 and the 2024 DNA Academy version, for which I don’t have a version number.

The regions beneath those bolded titles are the newer region names used by MyHeritage in v2.5 that would be included in the original group based on the maps.

For example, Dutch, Germanic and French used to fall in North and West Europe, but now they are their own regions.

Regions didn’t overlap exactly. For example, East European includes the easternmost portion of the older North and West Europe – including part of Germany, so that’s where I grouped it based on my ancestors.

Another thing to consider is that Breton could well include a significant amount of Scandinavian due to the Viking influence. It’s neighbor province is Normandy, literally named for the Normans, or “Northmen” who settled there in the 9th century.

I divided my English into two rows. I know where the ancestors that I categorized as English come from, meaning they are unquestionably English. The second row is classified as inferred. I wanted to be as accurate as possible since we’re trying to compare for ethnicity accuracy.

It’s also worth remembering that Vikings in the form of the Danes invaded England as well.

While these events happened a long time ago, pockets of remaining DNA from an entire population of these people could be and probably are identified yet today. It’s easy to see why ethnicity really is just an estimate, and changes as the vendors’ technology, databases, and available reference populations change as well.

One final note about this table is that I maintain my spreadsheet by maternal and paternal ancestors because it’s just easier that way.

The column “Parents Total” represents the total amount of DNA descended from that location based on both parents. For example, I have 11.77 paternal English and 6.24 maternal English, which totals 18.01.

If you add to it the 23.07 inferred on my father’s side, you have the 41.08 for the entire category total, shown in bold green at the bottom of each category. Therefore, the total of 44.77 at the bottom of “Parents Total” is the total of both parents and all regions that fall in the original category of North and West Europe.

I’ve bolded the red total number from the three MyHeritage ethnicity versions that’s the closest to my actual ancestry, assuming I inherited exactly 50% of the DNA of that ancestor, and their ancestors weren’t Vikings, perchance.

  v0.95 % 2024 % v2.5 % Parents Total Paternal Maternal
English 60.3 44.4 23.5 18.01 11.77 6.24
Inferred English 23.07
Total 60.3 44.4 23.5 41.08 34.84 6.24
North & West Europe 18.1 37.8
Dutch 33.3 14.04 1.56 12.48
Germanic 13.8 24.96 24.96
East European 1.5
French 9.8 5.47 5.47
Breton 2.0
North Italian 2.2
Total 18.1 37.8 62.6 44.77 1.56 42.91
Scandinavian 11.8 3.6 1.58 1.56
Norwegian 1.0
Danish 2.3
Finnish 1.1
Total 12.9 3.6 3.3 1.56 1.56 0
Irish, Scottish, Welsh 8.7 13.3
Scottish and Welsh 9.1
Scotland 4.68 4.68
Irish 1.5 7.05 7.05
Total 8.7 13.3 10.6 11.73 11.73 0
Native 1.0 1.14 0.29 0.85
Total 0 1.0 0 1.14 0.29 0.85

My Native American ethnicity, which was missing the first time, is present in the 2024 version but is gone again in v2.5.

Small amounts of DNA can be interpreted as “noise” in some models, and it’s up to the vendors to determine how to handle this situation. Every vendor has a minimum threshold, and models change as vendors attempt to improve their ethnicity estimates.

I have confirmed the accuracy of my Native ethnicity segments by:

Bonus Video

You can download a video of your ethnicity results

In the upper right hand corner of your ethnicity map, click the download button.

Here’s my video!

In Summary

Many times, significantly more granular information can be wrung out of early ethnicity information. While North and West Europe might have been exactly accurate, Dutch, Germanic, and French are much more specific, meaning we may be able to tie those more specific regions to our genealogy, especially if you’re lucky enough that your Genetic Communities overlap.

My mother’s paternal grandfather was fully Dutch from Friesland, but his wife had German roots.

Mother’s maternal grandmother was unquestionably German. I have their immigration and citizenship information.

My ethnicity reflects my genealogy.

So, take a look at your new ethnicity results at MyHeritage and then make your own personal ethnicity chart or spreadsheet to see how they correlate with your known genealogy.

Are there any surprises waiting? Have you checked genealogy records at MyHeritage recently for your end-of-line brick-wall ancestors?

If you don’t have a DNA test at MyHeritage already, you can upload a file from another vendor, here. Step-by-step upload/download instructions can be found here.

Have fun!

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Welcome to 2025! – Opportunities and New Genetic Genealogy Articles

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It’s a new year with new opportunities. Lots of ancestors to find and others to confirm.

For me, the best part is actually learning about my ancestors’ lives. If you’re a subscriber, I’m sure you’ve already noticed that.

These adventures and misadventures are what inspire my blog articles. What works well, what doesn’t and how to use multiple tools to unveil more about our ancestors.

That’s what motivates me. I hope it motivates you, too.

New Articles in the Works

I’d like to share some of the articles and educational events I have planned for 2025, then ask what topics you’d like to see.

Articles on the drawing board include:

  • MyHeritage DNA File Download Instructions Update
  • Mitotree – when released
  • Mitochondrial Discover – when released
  • Genealogy Proof Series – The series continues with autosomal, Y-DNA, and mitochondrial DNA proof.
  • The Forest of the Trees – Lots of different kinds of trees for both Y and mitochondrial DNA at FamilyTreeDNA. How to use them, for what, and when. This will probably be written as a series.
  • New features and developments from vendors as they occur
  • Acadian Ancestors – I hope to complete my Acadian 52 Ancestors articles. For those who don’t know, “52 Ancestors” is a challenge to write about one ancestor each week for a year. You can sign up with Amy Johnson Crow here to learn more and receive weekly prompts. It’s fun and allows you to focus on one ancestor at a time, and the history that occurred in their lifetime.

Other Learning Opportunities

In addition to those articles, I’ll be at RootsTech in person presenting:

  • DNA Academy – the 2025 version, soup to nuts
  • DNA for Native American Genealogy
  • Reveal Your Maternal Ancestors and Their Stories Using Mitochondrial DNA
  • Guide to FamilyTreeDNA – Using Y-DNA, Mitochondrial DNA, Autosomal, X-DNA and Associated Tools

I’ll also participate in other educational events with Legacy Family Tree Webinars, WikiTree, the North Carolina Genealogy Society, and FamilyTreeDNA. I’ll provide more information about them later.

Finding Information

Remember, you can always use a keyword search on this blog to find any topic I’ve written about previously.

Also, Google’s AI has apparently trained itself using my blog articles, as have a couple of other AI tools. I know this because my blog comes up as a resource when I google questions. You can try that, too.

Your Turn – What Do You Want?

There are always new topics, new features, or different ways to explain things.

  • What would you like to see covered in 2025?
  • Are there any hot genetic genealogy topics that you’d love to learn more about?

Please make your suggestions in a comment on this article.

Here’s wishing you a wonderful 2025 with lots of ancestor discoveries.

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I receive a small contribution when you click on some of the links to vendors in my articles. This does NOT increase your price but helps me keep the lights on and this informational blog free for everyone. Please click on the links in the articles or to the vendors below if you are purchasing products or DNA testing.

Thank you so much.

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Leave No Stone Unturned, No Ancestor Behind: 10 Easy Steps to Capture DNA Clues

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There’s a lot, a whole lot that DNA testing can tell you. Not just your own tests, but the genetic information carried by your relatives that you do not.

Recently, I’ve been reviewing my brick walls, which led me to realize there are several ancestors who are missing their mitochondrial DNA and/or Y-DNA  results. I need these to learn more about my ancestors that can’t be revealed any other way – and to break down those pesky brick walls.

I’ve solved two mysteries recently, one thanks to a Big Y-700 test, and a second very unexpectedly thanks to mitochondrial DNA – both thanks to cousins who tested. These revelations were very encouraging, especially since there’s no way other than DNA for me to break through these brick walls. The mitochondrial test had been sitting there, waiting for what seemed like forever until just the right other person tested.

I am in the process of unlocking several brick-walled ancestors by providing testing scholarships to people who are appropriately descended from known ancestors in those lines.

Don’t leave information on the table. If I were to tell you there even MIGHT be a book available about your family, you’d overturn Heaven and Earth to find it – but you don’t need to do that. All you need to do is order DNA tests for cousins.

All cousins can provide useful autosomal DNA results, but you do need to find appropriate cousins for Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA testing.

I’m sharing the steps for how I accomplish this! You’ll be amazed at what’s out there – and someone may already have tested!

Take Advantage of the Holidays

I’m sharing NOW because it’s the holidays and you’re likely to gather with people you don’t see any other time – and because the best sale of the year for both Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA lasts from now through the end of the year.

These two factors combined mean strike while the iron is hot.

Prices for new tests and bundles are at an all-time low.

If you or your relatives have already taken a lower-level test, now is the time to upgrade to either the Big Y-700 or the mtFull Sequence test.

Step 1 – Test Yourself and Your Known Family

If you’re a male, order both the Big Y-700 test and mitochondrial DNA tests.

Be sure to click on “See More” for more useful tools.

When you receive your results, be sure to click on all of the tabs in your results, and do the same by clicking through to Discover from your account. Discover has 13 more goodies for you to help with your genealogy.

Both your personal page and Discover are essentially chapters of your own personal book about your DNA results. 25 very interesting chapters, to be precise, that are uniquely you.

I’ve written about understanding Y-DNA results here, and mitochondrial results here. My book, Complete Guide to FamilyTreeDNA, covers both along with Discover.

Discover provides robust information for Y-DNA haplogroups. If you’ve taken a Big Y-700 test, you’ll want to click through from your page to receive additional, personalized and more robust information than is available through the free public Discover tool. That said, the public version of Discover is an amazing tool for everyone.

After the new Mitotree is released for mitochondrial DNA, mitochondrial haplogroups will be available in Discover too.

I can’t even begin to stress how important these tools are – in particular the Time Tree, the Group Time Tree for members of group projects, and the Match Time Tree for your own matches.

Who Can Test For What?

Once you’ve tested yourself, you will want to take a look in your pedigree chart at branches further up your tree to see who can be tested to represent specific ancestors.

Let’s begin with my father’s side.

A mother contributes her mitochondrial DNA to all of her children, so your father carries the mitochondrial DNA of his mother.

If you’re a female, and your father is available to test, you’ll want to test BOTH his mitochondrial DNA and Y-DNA, because there’s no way for you to obtain that information from your own test. Females don’t have a Y chromosome, and men don’t pass on their mitochondrial DNA.

If you’re a male, you can test your own mitochondrial DNA and Y-DNA, but you’ll need to test your father’s mitochondrial DNA to obtain his mother’s. You might still want to test your father’s Y-DNA, however, because you may discover a personal family haplogroup. How cool is that??!! Your own tiny branch on the tree of mankind!

Your father’s mitochondrial DNA provides you with mitochondrial matches and haplogroup information for your paternal grandmother – in this case, Ollie Bolton.

If your father and his siblings can’t test, then all of the children of your paternal aunts carry your paternal grandmother’s mitochondrial DNA.

If they have no children or they can’t test, then the children of Ollie Bolton’s mother, Margaret Claxton/Clarkson all carry her mitochondrial DNA, and the children of Ollie’s sisters continue the line of descent through all daughters to the current generation.

The male children of Joseph “Dode” Bolton and Margaret Claxton carry his Y-DNA. Fortunately, that’s not one of our missing haplogroups.

Yes, you may have to climb up your tree and climb down various branches to find a testing candidate.

One of the reasons I’m using this example is because, while I have a high-level haplogroup for my grandmother, Ollie Bolton, we need a full sequence tester – and I’m offering a mitochondrial DNA testing scholarship for anyone descending from Margaret Claxton (or her direct female ancestors) through all females to the current generation, which can be male.

Ok, now let’s switch to the maternal side of your tree.

On the other side of your tree, your maternal grandfather or your mother’s brothers will provide the Y-DNA of your mother’s father’s line. Your mother’s uncles or their sons will provide your grandfather’s Y-DNA line, too. In this case, that’s John Whitney Ferverda, who carries the Y-DNA of his father, Hiram Bauke Ferverda/Ferwerda.

Your maternal grandfather or his siblings will provide the mitochondrial DNA of their mother, Evaline Louise Miller.

If they are deceased or can’t test, for mitochondrial DNA, look to the children of Evaline Miller’s daughters or their descendants through all females to the current generation, which can be male.

And yes, in case you’re wondering, I do need Evaline Miller’s mitochondrial line too and am offering a scholarship.

You might have noticed that I’ve been inching my way up my tree. All of my immediate relatives have passed over already, so I’m now looking for testers that I don’t know but who I’m related to.

If you’re seeing family members anytime soon, figure out if their Y-DNA, mitochondrial DNA, or autosomal DNA would be useful for your common genealogy. Take advantage of the opportunity.

Next, you’ll want to figure out which ancestors need haplogroups and locate appropriate cousins.

Step 2 – Identify Ancestors Who Need Haplogroups

Peruse your tree to determine which of your ancestors you need haplogroup information for. To make it easy, on my computer, but never in a public tree anyplace, I store the haplogroup of my ancestor as a “middle name” so I can easily see which ones I have and which ones I need. Sometimes, I have a high-level haplogroup and either need a new tester or someone to upgrade.

Sometimes, I have one tester from a line but need a second for confirmation.

In this example, I’m not missing confirmation on any Y-DNA haplogroups (although I am further upstream on different lines,) but I do need four different mitochondrial DNA lineages.

For easy reference, make a list of all of the lines you can’t confirm with two testers from different children of the same ancestor.

You just might get lucky and discover that someone has already tested!

Step 3 – Check FamilyTreeDNA Projects

Check FamilyTreeDNA Projects to see if someone has already tested to represent those ancestors on your list.

Click here for the Group Project Search. It’s located at the very bottom of the main FamilyTreeDNA page in the footer.

I’m going to use Estes as an example since I’m the volunteer administrator of that project and am very familiar with the lineages.

I’m searching for projects that include the surname Estes.

The projects displayed on the list are projects where the volunteer administrators listed Estes as a possible surname of interest. It doesn’t mean those projects will be of interest to everyone or every line with that surname, but evaluate each project listed.

You probably want the surname project, but if there’s not a surname project for your surname, try alternate spellings or consider checking other projects.

You can see at the bottom that 384 people of both sexes by the surname of Estes have tested at FamilyTreeDNA.

Now, let’s look at the Estes project. Note that not everyone with the Estes surname has joined the Estes project.

I’ve clicked on the “Estes” link which takes me to an additional information page where I can read a description and click to view the project.

For the Estes project, you do not have to join to view the results. Nor does your surname have to be Estes. All Estes descendants of any line are welcome. Everyone can benefit from the Advanced Matching within project feature to see who else you match within the project by selecting a wide range of individual and combined filters.

Click on the Project Website link shown in the search results.

If you’re searching for a male Estes ancestor, you’ll want to review the project’s Y-DNA Results and the Group Time Tree, for sure, and possibly the Map as well.

Let’s pretend I’m trying to determine if anyone has tested who descends from my ancestor, Abraham Estes, the founding Estes ancestor in Virginia who arrived in the mid-1600s.

In the Estes project, the volunteer administrator has divided the Estes male participants by sons of Abraham, the immigrant. Only three are shown here, but there are several.

Some of the participants have completed their Earliest Known Ancestor information, in the red box. Sometimes people don’t think to update these when they make breakthroughs.

If you descend from Abraham’s son, Sylvester, three men have taken the Big Y-700. That’s the test results you need.

If you descend from Abraham’s son, Abraham, no project participants have taken the Big-Y test to represent that line, although six people have tested, so that’s great news. Maybe you can offer an upgrade scholarship to one or some of those men.

In other words, to establish the haplogroup for that lineage, at least two men need to test or upgrade to the Big Y-700, preferably through two different sons of the common ancestor. A new, more defining haplogroup is often formed every two or three generations for Y-DNA.

Your genetic pedigree chart looks a lot like your genealogy pedigree chart.

Click any image to enlarge

The project Group Time Tree shows selected groups of men who have taken Big Y tests, along with their Earliest Known Ancestor, if they’ve provided the information. This is one of the reasons why the Big Y-700 is so critically important to genealogy. The time granularity is amazing and can answer the question of whether men by the same surname descend from the same common ancestor – and when.

If you’ve taken a Family Finder autosomal test at FamilyTreeDNA, or uploaded an autosomal file from another vendor, you may match one of these men or another male that descends from the Estes line if they, too, have taken an autosomal test.

This same process applies to mitochondrial DNA, but generally surname projects aren’t (as) relevant for mitochondrial DNA since the surname changes every generation. However, sometimes other projects, such as the Acadian AmerIndian Project are quite beneficial if you have Acadian ancestry, or a geographic or regional project like the French Heritage Project, or something like the American Indian Project.

Another great way to find testers is by utilizing your Family Finder test.

Step 4 – Family Finder at FamilyTreeDNA

The next step is to see if you match anyone with the surname you’re searching for by using your autosomal test results, so select your Family Finder Matches.

At FamilyTreeDNA you’ll want to search your matches by the surname you seek. This surname search lists any tester who has that surname, or anyone who has entered that surname in their surname list. Please note that this search does NOT read ancestors in your matches’ trees. You’ll still need to view trees.

Reviewing the 32 Estes Family Finder matches reveals several men, but one man with the Estes surname has already taken a Y-DNA 25-marker test, so he would be an excellent candidate to offer a Big Y-700 upgrade scholarship. If he’s not interested or doesn’t respond, there are several more men to contact.

Click on your match’s name to display the profile card, along with the Earliest Known Ancestors, both Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA haplogroups if they have tested, and the assigned haplogroup based on their testing level.

Craft an email and offer a testing scholarship. This will help both of you. I’ll provide a sample email at the end of this article.

If you match a female with an Estes surname, her father, brother, uncle or cousin may either have already tested or be willing.

If you match someone who has a different surname, that means they have an Estes surname in their surname list and may know a potential tester. If your match has a tree, click to check.

I’ve found that matching through a company where you’ve both tested is the easiest way to encourage someone to take an additional test, but certainly, it’s not the only way.

Step 5 – WikiTree

WikiTree is a quick and easy way to see if anyone has taken a Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA test that should reflect a particular ancestor’s Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA.

I just googled “Moses Estes 1711-1787 WikiTree” and clicked to view.

Each ancestor includes both Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA information, in addition to people who descend from that ancestor through only autosomal lines.

In this case, two men have provided their Y-DNA results that pertain to Moses Estes. They have tested at different levels, which is why they have different haplogroups. That doesn’t mean either is “wrong,” one is just more refined than the other. You can correlate their kit number with the Estes surname project. People often don’t update their haplogroup information at WikiTree when it’s updated at FamilyTreeDNA.

Please note that if the genealogy is wrong, either at WikiTree or individually, the haplogroup may not reflect the appropriate lineage for the ancestor. Check to be sure that there’s no conflict showing between two testers for the same ancestor. For example, the same ancestor clearly can’t have two different base haplogroups, like E and R. The Discover Compare tool can help you evaluate if two haplogroups are in the same part of the Y-DNA tree.

When possible, it’s always best to test a close family member to represent your lineage even if someone else has already tested.

Scan down the list of autosomal testers for that ancestor to see if there’s someone with the Estes surname.

WikiTree provides additional tools to find descendants.

Sign in to WikiTree. You’ll see the ID of the profile you’re viewing – in this case – Estes-167. Click the down arrow and select “Descendants.”

This view shows all descendants through five generations, but you can click on DNA Descendants to see only Y-DNA descendants, X-DNA, or mitochondrial DNA descendants for female ancestors.

You may find people who are living and have added themselves who you can contact to offer a DNA testing scholarship.

Step 6 – MyHeritage

At MyHeritage, you can also search your DNA matches by surname.

Click on “Review DNA Match” to view more detail, including locations. Look to see if you have a Theory of Family Relativity Match which suggests how you may be related. That’s golden!

There’s no Y-DNA information at MyHeritage, BUT, you can search by surname and view DNA matches that either carry that surname or have that surname in their tree as an ancestor.

I have a total of 75 “Estes” matches, and other than the kits that I manage, searching through my matches shows:

  • Two Estes men connected to the same small tree, but that’s OK, I’m a genealogist!

  • One Estes male match with a Theory of Family Relativity. My lucky day!

You can contact your match easily through the MyHeritage messaging system and offer a DNA testing scholarship at FamilyTreeDNA. You may also want to share your email address.

MyHeritage customers may not be familiar with Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA testing, so you might want to share this article about the 4 Kinds of DNA for Genealogy.

MyHeritage testers can also upload their DNA file to FamilyTreeDNA for free to receive autosomal matches plus a complimentary mid-range Y-DNA haplogroup. This free haplogroup is not even close to the detailed resolution of a Big Y-700 test, but it’s something, and it may well be an enticing first step for people who are only familiar with autosomal testing.

Step 7 – At Ancestry

At Ancestry, select DNA Matches and then search by surname.

You can search by the surname of the tester, which is very useful, or by people who have Estes in their trees.

I started with the surname Estes, because it’s the most straightforward and I may find a perfect male candidate for Y-DNA. If someone’s “screen name” doesn’t show as Estes, they won’t appear in the results of this search. In other words, if your Ancestry screen name is “robertaestes” you won’t show in this search, but “Roberta Estes” will.

For mitochondrial DNA, you would want to search for the surname in your matches’ trees. Unfortunately, you cannot search for the specific ancestor in someone’s tree, at least not directly.

Of my 19 Estes surname matches, ten are males, and of them:

  • Three have unlinked trees
  • Three have very small linked trees, but I can work on extending those if need be
  • Three have public linked trees AND a common ancestor, which means ThruLines

I can review which ancestor we share by clicking on my match’s name

The Estes side of this man’s tree has only one person and is marked “private,” but Ancestry has suggested common ancestors based on other people’s trees. (Yes, I know trees are dicey, but bear with me.)

It’s also worth mentioning that you can be related through multiple lines. I share surnames from Acadian lines with this man, but that really doesn’t matter here because I’m only using autosomal matching to find an Estes male.

Click on “View Relationship” to see our common Estes ancestor’s ThruLine.

The ThruLine shows how Ancestry thinks we’re related on the Estes line.

I can also click on “View ThruLines” to see all Thrulines for John R. Estes, which shows four additional males, some of which did NOT appear in the Estes surname search, and some of which don’t appear further up the tree. In other words, check all Estes ThruLine ancestor generations.

Don’t rely solely on Ancestry’s surname search.

Go directly to your ThruLines on the DNA menu.

Ancestry only reaches back seven generations, which for me is Moses Estes and Luremia Combs. Moses has 95 matches, but he has been given some incorrect children. Again, for this purpose, it doesn’t matter. Within all ThruLine matches, I found three Estes males who all descend through John R. Estes. Check every generation.

However, Luremia Combs shows promise for mitochondrial DNA descendants. Unfortunately, only two of her daughters are represented in ThruLines, and both of their descendants descend through Luremia’s grandsons. That’s too bad, because I need Luremia’s mitochondrial DNA line.

It’s easy to message your Ancestry matches. You may want to mention that they can upload their DNA file to FamilyTreeDNA for free where they will receive more matches and males will receive a complimentary mid-level Y-DNA haplogroup.

Please note that, in general, ThruLines need to be evaluated very carefully and are prone to errors, especially if you accept Ancestry’s suggestions of ancestors instead of carefully building out your own tree. Regardless, you can still find Estes cousin matches in your match list and by using ThruLines to find people that do not show up in an “Estes” match search.

Step 8 – At 23andMe

At 23andMe, you can search for anyone who either has the Estes surname or has included that surname in their “Family surnames” list. Keep in mind that your matches at 23andMe are restricted to either 1500 if you don’t have a subscripition, or about 4500 if you do have a subscription.

On my match list, I have two males with the Estes surname.

23andMe provides a mid-level Y-DNA haplogroup. You can’t use this to confirm the lineage when comparing with FamilyTreeDNA, especially given that 23andMe provides no genealogy or user-provided tree, but it is a clue.

Both Estes men at 23andMe have Y-DNA haplogroup R-CTS241. You could use this in some cases to potentially eliminate these matches at 23andMe. For example, if men in your lineage in the Estes project are in haplogroup R and your 23andMe matches are showing as haplogroup E, or any other base haplogroup, their common ancestor is tens of thousands of years ago.

Comparing the 23andMe haplogroup, which in this case is about 4500 years old, to contemporary testers who have taken the Big Y-700, which reaches within a few generations, isn’t terribly useful. These matches are extremely useful to identify individuals to reach out to for further information and potentially offer a Y-DNA testing scholarship at FamilyTreeDNA.

Remember, this also applies to females who have included Estes in their family surnames, given that they may have Estes male relatives.

By clicking to view your match, you can see if they have provided Family Background information, including a link to a family tree someplace.

Sometimes, there’s great information here, and other times, nothing.

You can’t verify this lineage without genealogy information.

I suggest leaving a genealogy-focused message, including where they can see your tree in addition to your Estes connection. Also include your e-mail.

You may want to say that if they descend appropriately, you have a Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA testing scholarship, or you may want to wait to see how they descend. You can also ask if they have already taken a Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA test at FamilyTreeDNA.

Step 9 – FamilySearch and Relatives at RootsTech

We’re getting ready for RootsTech 2025 which takes place in March. In the month or so before the last two RootsTechs, FamilySearch provided an absolutely wonderful tool called “Relatives at RootsTech.”

I’ve written about this several times, but essentially, you can see, by ancestor, other people who are registered both in-person and virtually for RootsTech, and how they descend.

Here’s an example.

In both years, I’ve found several people who descended from common ancestors AND were very willing to take the relevant DNA test. That’s a huge win-win for everyone.

The best part is that because these people have freshly registered for RootsTech, the reply rate is almost 100%.

I’ll write about this as soon as RootsTech makes it available this year. Fingers crossed that they do!

Step 10 – Social Media

Social media wouldn’t be my first choice to find DNA testers, but I have found perfectly willing cousins this way. You may be less successful on Facebook or other social media platforms, but if you’re striking out elsewhere, there’s absolutely no downside to trying.

You can enter a surname and search on Facebook, but I prefer to do a Google search like “Estes genealogy on Facebook” or even just “Estes genealogy,” which will produce far more widespread information, some of which may be irrelevant.

That Facebook Google search provided the names of two groups. People join groups because they have an interest, and I’ve had good luck in Facebook genealogy groups.

A Search of “Estes” on Facebook itself, then selecting “people” provided a list of Estes Facebook users.

I’ve had far better luck by joining a group that is focused on Estes genealogy, or even a county genealogy group that includes Estes families, than individuals. People who join any Estes group or project likely have an interest in that surname.

If you have a common surname, or there’s a park named after your surname, like Estes Park, you’ll probably want to focus by using Google searches for Estes genealogy.

The Descendants of Abraham Estes Facebook group has 222 members, of whom at least 31 are males with the Estes surname. Facebook just might be an underestimated resource.

If there isn’t a genealogy-focused group for your surname, you might want to consider starting one and encouraging people to join.

It can’t hurt, and it just might help. Before you start reaching out to random people on Facebook, please do a privacy checkup – I wrote about how, here.

Sale Prices

Remember, the sale prices at FamilyTreeDNA for new tests and upgrades last through year-end.

In my experience, it’s best to test as soon as someone agrees. You never know what will happen otherwise. I’ve had people pass away before they could swab. And yes, we’ve done funeral home swabs, too.

There’s no one-size-fits-all, but here’s a rough draft contact letter.

Potential Contact Letter

You’ll want to include several critical pieces of information.

Essentially:

  • Introduce yourself
  • Say their full name on their test AND the testing company in the title of an email. I manage many tests and if I receive an email that says, “Hi, can you tell me how we match” without telling me which person they match, I can’t even begin to answer.
  • Explain your genealogy connection
  • State your purpose in writing
  • Explain how a specific test will help them too
  • Offer to answer questions

Be sure to modify this letter to reflect your own voice and circumstances. You don’t want this to read like a form letter.

Dear cousin (insert their full name here,)

It was so nice to find our DNA match at <company name> (or we share a common ancestor, or appropriate circumstance.) (If you are managing someone else’s kit, say the name of who they match and explain that you manage their DNA kit.)

I descend from (ancestor plus birth and death date) who lived in Halifax County, Virginia and was married to (spouse.) You can view my tree at (insert link that does not require a subscription for viewing unless you match them on that platform. I use MyHeritage because everyone can view their trees)

I would very much like to confirm that our line descends from Abraham Estes (or relevant information meaning your reason for wanting them to test.)

Given that my surname is x (or I’m a female), we need to test the Y-DNA of a male who is descended from (ancestor) through all males to the current generation. (Or mitochondrial DNA descended through females to the current generation which can be male.)

FamilyTreeDNA provides this testing and shows who you match on that specific line using the Y chromosome (mitochondrial DNA).

This testing may connect us with earlier ancestors. Genetics can be used to determine when we share common Estes ancestors with others who test, where we come from overseas, and when. Even if we match ancient DNA samples that may tell us where our ancestors lived before surnames. In other words, where did we come from?

(Include a nice paragraph, but not a book about your ancestral lineage here.)

I have a DNA testing scholarship for someone from this line and you are the perfect candidate. I would like to take advantage of the current sales. If you’re interested, I only need two things from you.

First, permission so that I can order (or upgrade) and pay for the test, and second, an address where to send the test (unless it’s an upgrade). (If it’s an upgrade at FamilyTreeDNA, they can use a stored sample or will sent them a new kit if there’s not enough DNA.)

If you have any questions, please let me know. I’m very excited that we may be able to learn more about our heritage.

Please email me at xxx or call me at xxx if you have questions.

Your name

I know one person who offers to review results over Zoom. Someone else stresses that the tester’s email is attached to their test and they are always in control of their results. Another person asks them to join a project they manage to assure that they can follow their matches over time.

Customize this communication in your own voice and to fit the circumstances of each match.

It’s just me, but since I’m ordering while the tests are on sale, unless the person uploads their DNA file from another vendor, I add on a Family Finder test too and explain why. You never know if they will match you or another cousin, and they may have that match that eventually breaks down the next brick wall. Shared matches are powerful evidence and it’s a lot easier to add that test on now than try to contact them again later.

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

Which ancestors do you need Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA results for? Methodically check each line.

There’s so much to learn. Don’t leave information on the table by virtue of omission.

Leave no stone unturned!

You don’t know what you don’t know.

Who’s waiting out there for you?

____________________________________________________________

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I receive a small contribution when you click on some of the links to vendors in my articles. This does NOT increase your price but helps me keep the lights on and this informational blog free for everyone. Please click on the links in the articles or to the vendors below if you are purchasing products or DNA testing.

Thank you so much.

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MyHeritage Releases LiveMemory™ & Knocks it Clean Out of the Ballpark

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You’re going to need a full box of Kleenex. Seriously.

Let me set the scene for you.

Daniel Horowitz with MyHeritage asked if he could set up a Zoom call with me. Not only do I always enjoy Daniel’s company, but he generally has something quite interesting to discuss. This time certainly didn’t disappoint.

Daniel revealed that MyHeritage was releasing something new, LiveMemory animated photos, and I thought to myself, “Well, that’s nice,” but I wasn’t terribly excited. Not at first. I changed my mind shortly.

Daniel popped a photo of my Mom onto the screen, one that I’ve used in my articles and uploaded to my MyHeritage account. In case you’re wondering, I’ve given  MyHeritage blanket permission to access my account for new features and other things like this.

However, I was NOT PREPARED for what followed.

“Would you like to see,” Daniel asked?

“Of course,” I replied

I need to explain something. My mother was a professional ballet and tap dancer in the 1940s. I’ve written about her career previously. Mom had retired by the time I was born, and I’ve never seen my mother dance.

Not until today.

I never expected this.

Nor my reaction.

Tears streamed uncontrollably down my face, and I couldn’t even speak – not a single word. I tried not to flat-out ugly cry. I think Daniel might have shed a tear or two too.

What an incredibly emotional experience. Especially since it was so unexpected. It felt kind of like running into my Mom on the street one more time, which, of course, can’t happen in real life.

Mom has been visiting with our ancestors for 18 years now, and there’s not a day that goes by when I don’t think of her and miss her.

I never realized until I saw her dance that I had never seen her dance. This amazing 5-second video required an entire handful (or two) of tissues and brought her back to me in a way I had never imagined possible.

Yes, it’s AI. No, it isn’t perfect, but it’s her, “alive” again.

Please note that you may need to view these in full screen mode (on this blog) so that heads aren’t cut off in what you’re viewing. They aren’t in the LiveMemory videos or when sharing on social media.

Here’s an animated video of Mom riding a tricycle as a child, looking back at me through time.

Of course, I couldn’t have known Mom then, but I’d recognize that smile anyplace.

This video shows Mom with her dance partner and roommate, Mary Tan Hai, outside the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago on a blustery day.

One of my favorite photos of me and Mom wearing matching dresses and holding hands. As you can see, the photo is grainy, but I still love it. What would LiveMemory do? (Please view in full screen mode.)

Now, we are walking in the neighborhood where I grew up and smiling.

I need more Kleenex!

Oh, to be able to do that just one more time. Even for just a minute.

Thank you, MyHeritage, for this incredibly moving experience! You sure know how to impart joy in a way no black-and-white record, or photo, ever could!

LiveMemory – Now It’s Your Turn

Here’s how this works! Please read all the way through before doing anything.

  • MyHeritage is releasing this beta version of their new LiveMemory feature only in English-speaking countries. Other locations will be added soon. No, I don’t have more details.
  • Initally, and for the near future, LiveMemory will only be available on the MyHeritage mobile app, so not on your computer.
  • MyHeritage is working to put LiveMemory on their website, but an ETA is not known. I wouldn’t count on waiting if you want to try this new feature.
  • Download a new version of the MyHeritage app from either the Apple or Google store by clicking this link and scanning the QR code on your phone.
  • Animations are 5 seconds, no more and no less. No, you can’t combine photos or add audio in this app.
  • The video includes a watermark that says it was generated with AI.
  • You can animate “a few” photos for free, so choose wisely. No, I don’t know how many “a few” are, but when you hit the limit, you’ll be prompted to purchase either one of two types of subscriptions.
  • The Omni Subscription is the deluxe “everything subscription” and includes the ability to animate 30 photos per year using LiveMemory. I like Omni because it includes all of the My Heritage genealogy tools – unlimited trees, historical records, photos, DNA tools, OldNews, Legacy Tree Webinars, Geni Pro Access, all research data in all collections – everything MyHeritage offers under one umbrella. I have the Omni subscription and use it every day.
  • The Photo Subscription is an add-on subscription for any other type of subscription, other than Omni, or if you want photo features only, such as the ability to scan, repair, or colorize. The Photo Subscription costs $49 per year and includes the ability to animate 20 photos per year using LiveMemory.
  • LiveMemory videos will not be posted to your MyHeritage account. A link is sent to you via email when the video is ready, generally within a few minutes. You can download the videos, and I strongly suggest that you do so you can share them with family members.

Special Omni Subscription Price

I reached out to MyHeritage and asked for an Omni special subscription rate for my followers. They have graciously provided a 50% discount on an Omni Subscription, but you have to click here to receive the discount. This is by far the best value I’ve ever seen or been able to offer for the Omni plan.

Which photos are you going to animate?

Holiday Strategy

Folks in the US will be gathering for Thanksgiving within a few days. Select a few photos, animate, and surprise everyone on your laptop or even connect to a TV screen. You might want to record their reactions to seeing a favorite family photo come alive.

I have some photos of family gatherings in which almost everyone is now visiting with our ancestors. I’ll use LiveMemory to animate some of those, with an entire box of Kleenex available to share with those of us here.

If any of your family members haven’t yet taken a DNA test, now’s a great time for that, too, because MyHeritage’s Black Friday DNA sale price is $33 through November 24th. Click here for the $33 DNA test deal.

Your family members, meaning siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins, carry some of the DNA of your ancestors that you don’t – which is just as useful to your genealogy as your own DNA.

And all of this just in time for the holidays!

_____________________________________________________________

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MyHeritage: Upload Your DNA and Receive All DNA Tools Free, Forever

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From now through October 6th, you can upload your DNA file from Ancestry, FamilyTreeDNA’s Family Finder, or 23andMe and receive all of the MyHeritage DNA tools for free, forever.

Normally, the unlock for advanced tools costs $29.

This limited-time offer ONLY pertains to new uploads, not files already uploaded to MyHeritage. This is better than a sale, it’s free.

MyHeritage has a garden of great features, but three exceptional reasons to upload your DNA file now are:

  • More European matches – they have the best European database
  • Great way to leverage your 23andMe DNA files, given what’s going on over there
  • Their genealogy tools, aside from DNA

Everyone receives DNA matching for free at MyHeritage, but if you upload your DNA file this week, the advanced features are free too:

  • Ethnicity Estimates including Genetic Groups
  • Chromosome browser with triangulation
  • AutoClusters
  • Theories of Family Relativity

AutoClusters and Theories of Family Relativity are my personal favorites. I utilize a very easy 4-step process.

Step 1 – I use Theories of Family Relativity to see potential trees of how another match and I might be related.

Step 2 – I use AutoClusters to determine who else might fall into that same relationship group.

Step 3 –  I use triangulation, that little purple button, below, to see if the people in the AutoCluster share a common segment of DNA. Of course, I can then compare them and others from the autocluster in the chromosome browser.

Click to enlarge any image

Step 4 – I follow that with Shared DNA Matches to view an estimate of how one of my matches is related to another DNA match.

The Shared Matches feature displays the estimate of how they are related to me, on the left, and how they are related to my match, on the right, along with how much DNA is shared. By the way, this isn’t new – it’s been there all along.

Using these combined tools, I can connect lots of dots together and not wander around aimlessly in my matches.

Upload Your Tree, Too

To reap the maximum benefit, be sure to upload your tree for free, too.

MyHeritage uses trees to connect you with others in Theories of Family Relativity who share common ancestors, and also to provide information in the DNA match summary, above, provided for every match.

Without trees, MyHeritage can’t provide important information such as Ancestral Surnames and Ancestral Places, plus maps. Clicking on “Review DNA Match” shows hints, maps, and a whole lot more.

OK, it’s time to get started.

Upload Instructions

I wrote articles about how to download files from all vendors.

Click here to upload your DNA file to MyHeritage.

I hope you make lots of new discoveries!

_____________________________________________________________

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Ask the Experts with MyHeritage on Facebook Live

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I’m inviting you to join me and my colleagues, Janna Helshtein and Diahan Southard, this Tuesday, September 17, for an “Ask the Experts” session with MyHeritage on Facebook Live. You probably recognize their names and know that all three of us specialize in genetic genealogy education and solving those thorny problems.

The live session takes place at 2 PM EST, but you’ll be able to watch the video on the MyHeritage Facebook page later. I’ll update this article with that link when they post it after the live session.

You can also convert the live time to your local time, here.

Do you have a burning DNA question? You can ask your question in advance, here.

Keep in mind that we don’t work for MyHeritage, so we won’t have “inside answers” to company-specific questions, but we do have decades of wide-ranging how-to experience between us!

You can read more about the live session in the MyHeritage blog article, here.

We are all looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday. Hope you can join us.

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I receive a small contribution when you click on some of the links to vendors in my articles. This does NOT increase your price but helps me keep the lights on and this informational blog free for everyone. Please click on the links in the articles or to the vendors below if you are purchasing products or DNA testing.

Thank you so much.

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