Saturday, August 13, 2016

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- How Many Autosomal DNA Matches Do You Have?

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

 It's Saturday Night again - 
time for some more Genealogy Fun!!



Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):

1) Have you had you autosomal DNA tested by a genetics company?  Which companies?


2)  How many autosomal DNA matches do you have at each company, by approximate relationship?

3)  Tell us about them in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or on Facebook or Google+.  Please add a comment to thisp ost so folks can find your information.

Here's mine:

1)  I have had an autosomal DNA test done on AncestryDNA, FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe.  I have also uploaded my autosomal DNA raw data to GEDMatch.com.

2)  Here is a summary list of my matches down to the approximate 4th cousin level:

a)  AncestryDNA (about 80% with trees, many back 5 generations):

*  1 second cousin (1 with a Hint)
*  3 third cousins (2 with a Hint)
*  254 4th to 6th cousins (14 with a Hint)

b)  FamilyTreeDNA (very few with trees back at least 5 generations):

*  65 2nd to 4th cousins
*  178 3rd to 5th cousins
*  243 4th to Remote cousins

c)  23andMe (very few that share, or have trees at all):

*  1 2nd to 3rd cousin
*  3 3rd to 4th cousins
*  44 3rd to 5th cousins
*  303 3rd to 6th cousins
*  1209 3rd to Distant cousins
*  2 4th to Distant cousins 

d)  GEDMatch (some trees):

*  1 with less than 4 generations (> 64 cM)
*  58 with 4.0 to 4.4 generations (64 ==> 32 cM)
*  388 with 4.5 to 4.9 generations (32 == > 17 cM)

I'm not sure of the value of any of this.

As you can see, the four websites measure things based on different criteria.  But it was interesting.

I do recognize the names of some of the same testers in the different systems.  Some have data in only one website, and a few have data in all four of them.  I should do a comparison between the websites for some of those persons that I match with.  

I have not done any triangulation yet trying to find matches on the same chromosome the way others have.  This is made more difficult because AncestryDNA doesn't provide a chromosome browser, but has the most know matches (Hints).  The GEDMatch chromosome browser can be used if an AncestryDNA has uploaded their autosomal DNA data to GEDMatch.  Not all have.

Unfortunately, I don't have any really close family members tested.  The closest known relatives I have a match with is a second cousin, and then her son and her mother.  


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Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

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7 comments:

Shirley Ann Rankin said...

Hi Randy,

1. I first tested with National Geographic. There were no matches,but they supplied good scientific material that was easy to understand. Later I tested with FTDNA [mitochondrial and autosomal]and at Ancestry. I also tested both my parents [Y for dad, Autosomal for mom].

2. AncestryDNA:
3 second cousins, but only two have trees. I know both second cousins.
6 third cousins, but only three are playing nice. 2 have no trees, and one has a very small tree.
230 fourth cousins, but 109 have no tree.

Family Tree DNA:
24 second to fourth cousins
126 third to fifth cousins

3. I have not tested at 23 & Me.

4. I work with Gedmatch frequently and I like their tools, but I haven't found any matches there yet.

Shirley Ann Rankin



John said...

AncestryDNA: Two 2nd cousins, six 3rd cousins, 1065 4th-6th cousins (too many for me to go through and figure out how many have a tree or not. Most of them don't, or the tree is way too short to be helpful). Close to 22,700 total matches. 454 pages.

FamilyTreeDNA: One 2nd-3rd cousin, 912 'Distant', 5751 total matches.

I suspect there is still a high number of false-positives for those of Jewish descent at both places.

Mary Rohrer Dexter said...

I get another "Fail" this week. Here is my post: http://skeezicks1957.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-how-many-autosomal-dna-matches-do.html

Wendy Callahan said...

When I upgraded my mtDNA test to the Family Finder, I was really hoping to make a connection with someone. Alas, I haven't got responsive 2nd-4th cousins, it seems. ;)

http://www.newenglandgenealogy.net/2016/08/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-how-many.html

Wendy Callahan said...

I'd like to add that this has prompted me to go into my Family Tree DNA account and fill out my family tree up to my great-great grandparents! I hadn't realized all I had listed were myself and my parents. Maybe having a few generations listed will help others decide if it's worth their while to reach out to me.

Janice M. Sellers said...

I have a lot of matches, but I'll never figure out most of the connections.

http://ancestraldiscoveries.blogspot.com/2016/08/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-how-many.html

nancy said...

I did for all 3 kits I administer ...

http://schlegelstorckroots.blogspot.com/2016/08/sngf-autosomal-dna-matches-by-testing.html