I would like to work out what my family name is.

Question

I am trying to work out who I am biologically related to.I made a DNA test with Ancestry.com and have had a very interesting week or two reflecting on the complexity of the results.I would really appreciate some guidance in the matter of how to proceed,how best to engage with WikiTree.Is there a method of presenting my results to the community here and would that be helpful in any way.I imagine my situation is far from unusual and I would be delighted if someone among you had any advise they would be willing to offer me.Thank you....Mark

Answer 1

Mark, for what it is worth, you are you regardless of your name. Within 10 generations there are 1,024 ancestors that existed to create you here today, so our habit of picking a single name is just a label.

I wish you luck in your quest, but wanted to put that out there. We are all a tapestry, and we are all related somehow.

Answer 2

Welcome aboard, Mark!

I have a couple of suggestions for you. Start with the DNA help pages:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:DNA_Help

If you edit this post and add topic tags (ie DNA) you will get the attention of members with experience in this area.

If you want additional assistance, contact a mentor. The mentor page can be found under the Help drop down menu. Some mentors specialize in DNA.

Hope that helps. Come back here to the forum anytime if you have any further questions.

Comments

Thanks for your time and good advise.That was very helpful.

Answer 3

I am a DNA amateur, but can can say from my own experience:

Autosomal DNA (like Ancestry), combined with some sleuthing, will help you find living biological relatives.

If you are a male trying to identify the traditional surname of your male line biological ancestors, then taking a Y DNA test (like FamilyTreeDNA ) is your best bet. (Unless you are from Sweden or another place where Patronyms have been prevalent, then it would likely be unhelpful)

Comments

Thanks for the guidance Joe.I am slowly starting to understand the website a little better.

Answer 4

Hi Mark,

Depending on your circumstance, reaching out to the Adoption Angels Project group here at Wikitree might be appropriate:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:Adoption_Angels

Comments

Thank you Matthew

I will consider your suggestion.Sounds like a good idea.

All the best and Keep well.

Answer 5

Do you know who your biological father is?  If not, then there is a good chance of discovering his surname if you order the Y-37 (or Big Y-700) test at https://www.familytreedna.com/?cjevent=d7637fb8f0ce11ed806382270a82b82c&cm_mmc=CJ-_-3382244-_-831997-_-Evergeen%20Discover%20More%20With%20FamilyTreeDNA&utm_source=cj&utm_content=3382244&utm_term=13710348&cjdata=MXxOfDB8WXww

Answer 6

Mark,

O'Brien is a fairly common surname with a long history which I believe originated before the time when most surnames began. I have a couple of suggestions for you. I'm going to assume that you are searching for your father's surname, but the following should also work whether that is true or not. Please let us know if you have specific things you are looking to get out of your DNA test. Does your DNA ethnicity results show Irish roots?

Since you really don't have any relatives shown on Wikitree, I would first, on Ancestry look at your closest DNA matches, and look at the shared matches when you compare. By doing this with the first 20 or so strongest matches, you can determine a list of potential surname candidates.

Start building up your information here on Wikitree.  Add your parents, then grand parents, then great-grandparents, etc. until you connect up to the global tree.  Once connected, you can follow these families back often hundreds of years or more. You can also check what you find against the list of potential surnames found on Ancestry.

As Jonathan mentioned, by the time you get back to about 10 generations back, you have as many as 1,024 potential ancestors which each also have as many as 1,024 potential ancestors that came before them, so it's virtually a nightmare trying to do it all at once.  Because of this, I follow the "How do you eat an elephant" rule. By tackling this nightmare one family line at a time you will find it's not the nightmare you thought it was.

Hope this helps!

Edited to fix a typo....

Answer 7

First, fill in your WikiTree profile with as much info as you know about yourself.  Year and place of birth, names of any known biological relatives.  Any details you can share will help us help you. Set your privacy lock to Private With A Public Biography and Family Tree. Is O’Brien your biological father’s surname?  I think you need to start with your father’s surname.  

Next, copy your Ancestry test over to FamilyTreeDNA.  It is free to copy the test over.  https://www.familytreedna.com/autosomal-transfer

That will give you a kit number/account in the FTDNA database.  Use that kit number to join the WikiTree DNA project:  https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/wiki-tree

Next, purchase a YDNA37 marker test on your FTDNA account/kit number.  The YDNA is passed from each father to each of his sons, so this is your best clue to a paternal surname line.  https://www.familytreedna.com/group-join.aspx?Group=WikiTreecomDNAProjec. The YDNA tests might go on sale around Father’s Day.

That would be my suggested start to your research.  Best of luck to you, and I hope we can assist your quest.

Comments

Hello Kitty and thank you so much for connecting and offering valuable Before I started to enter this reply I had a quick browse through your work here.I am so impressed.There are some fine individuals wandering through this world.Thank you for the helpful suggestions and keep well.

Mark.

Answer 8

Mark, I am possibly going to get some negative feedback here, because I am going to buck the trend. In my opinion, Wikitree is not very helpful in using your DNA to FIND matches. Because it is not a key focus.  WT is about building family trees, the data is entered manually by volunteers. You are better to work your DNA matches through Ancestry, or the other sites. I have approx 27,0000 matches on Ancestry. So far, only 1 of those has entered data on Wikitree, and that was after I explained the process. However, that is not to say that WT can't help.

There are members in this community that are great experts on the ins and outs of DNA. The Adoption Angels and DNA team have already been mentioned. I don't want to pick out names, but one of the best tools I found through this site, was Greg Clarke's Ancestry Matches Sheet which enabled me to get a better mental picture of those 27000 matches I have. Previously I had been overwhelmed by the data.

So for me, WT can only confirm a DNA match after you and your match (or someone else) enters the data, and despite the 1 million active members, if your relatives aren't involved in WT, it can't help directly.   

Answer 9

Mark, I would just like to ask one point of clarification.  Are you adopted, as I am, and looking for two parents, or just looking for an unknown father? The process can be a little simpler if the later. You can input your maternal side, and connect your DNA matches. Then the ones you have left on Ancestry are paternal and the real detective work can start. I know Ancestry try to break your matches down, but I have found one or two issues with their breakdown. Like WT, the more information you can give Ancestry, the more accurate it's estimates become.

Comments

Mr Stynes

You are a gentlemen of a high order.Thank you so much for your very useful suggestions.I spent my first  20 yrs in Tipperary and the last 40 or so in Greece.I will message you soon.It is late night for me now.Once again,thank you for your very generous attitude.