We’re all looking for the perfect holiday gift for our loved ones, but what if the gift could be enjoyed by you as much as by them and perhaps others as well?
A Y-DNA paternal line ancestry test is the perfect gift for someone who has everything – and by everything, I mean they already have an autosomal DNA test like those sold by Ancestry and others.
In this post, I briefly describe the Y-DNA test and how it is used in genealogy to chip away at brick walls and resolve genealogical questions. I also share several examples for how I successfully used Y-DNA in my own genealogy research. I tested with FamilyTreeDNA, which has the largest database of Y-DNA testers, and so my examples are framed by the features offered by FamilyTreeDNA.[1]
Y-DNA can provide many genealogical gifts, including:
- Deep Ancestral Origins – Discover the migration path of your paternal ancestors from ancient times to relatively recent times. While interesting, I equate this to the ethnicity percentages we receive from autosomal DNA tests. Fun to talk about but less helpful with most research questions.
- Recent Ancestral Origins – Depending on the availability of close matches and when your ancestor immigrated, you may be able to determine where in the world your paternal ancestor originated before arriving where your family now lives. Close matches are those that are genealogically relevant perhaps within the last 100 to 400 years when documentary evidence is typically available to confirm ancestral connections.
- Kinship Determination – This is the reason to take the test. You can determine if two families of the same surname residing in the same area are related or if an autosomal DNA match with a surname of interest is how you are potentially related. You can also determine approximately where and when you branch off the main branch of your paternal surname’s family tree, which can hone your documentary research to a time, place, and family.
What is Y-DNA?
Y-DNA is DNA found on the sex chromosome, and its markers are passed down from father to son so only males have Y-DNA. Y-DNA is comprised of SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms, pronounced “snips”) and STRs (short tandem repeats). While there is value in learning the science behind SNPs and STRs,[2] the important conceptual takeaway is related to the types of commercially available tests, which FamilyTreeDNA is the only company widely available for this type of genealogy testing.
FamilyTreeDNA sells three different types of Y-DNA tests: Y-37, Y-111, and Big Y-700. The digits in the test names refer to the number of genetic markers tested. The Y-37 and Y-111 are useful in finding your genetic family surname and determining if two males with the same surname are related. However, these tests evaluate STR markers, many of which mutate frequently with some marker values mutating to a new value and back to the old value again in subsequent generations thus making it difficult to determine the precise common ancestor.
The Big Y-700 tests both STRs and SNPs, with the latter mutating less frequently. When SNP mutations do occur, the mutation is carried forward indefinitely with later generations enabling the construction of a paternal family tree where you can see where you fit within it. The Big Y can help find more recent common paternal ancestors or more distant ones anywhere from 1-2 generations back to generations more than a 1,000 years ago.
Because Y-DNA is passed down from father to son, only males can be tested, but both genders can receive the gifts from the test. Female researchers need to find a male family member or distant cousin to take the test whose direct paternal ancestry is the one in which you’re interested.
Y-DNA: The Genealogical Gift that Keeps Giving
I believe the best way to visualize how Y-DNA can be used in genealogical research is to provide case studies. I present three brief examples from my own research varying on research questions about kinship and near-recent ancestral origins.
Kinship Project 1: Neighbors of the Same Surname
Research Question: Are four Wilson families residing in Meigs County, Ohio in 1850 related?
Like many of us, it is difficult to take an ancestral line past the early 1800s because the 1850 U.S. census is the first time all members of a household are listed. At the time of my research, my oldest known Wilson ancestor was James Wilson (b. 1815 Pennsylvania), and I had run out of documentary evidence to identify his parents. However, in 1850, there were three other Wilson families living in Rutland Township, Meigs County, Ohio, where my James lived. I suspected the four Wilson heads of household were brothers, but no documentary evidence linked them. If my theory was correct, my strategy would be to research each of these other Wilson families hoping to discover evidence identifying their parents, and thus my ancestor’s parents, too.
Between 2006 and 2010, I successfully contacted fellow researchers from each of the other three Wilson families and sponsored a test for a direct Wilson paternal descendant. Using a Y-111 test (the Big Y was not yet available), I confirmed that the four families were in fact related. The genetic distance (an approximation for relatedness) for myself (A) and the test takers for the other three Wilson families (B, C, and D) are shown below. The genetic distances were within acceptable levels to be either brothers or first cousins.
Through additional documentary and autosomal DNA research gathered by investigating the other three Wilson families, I was able to identify the parents of the now four siblings to be children of John Wilson (b. 1784) and Elizabeth Boyd (b. 1784).
My expanded research strategy facilitated by Y-DNA results enabled me to find the estate file for John Wilson (b. 1784). It listed all four of the children I discovered through Y-DNA plus two more. Interestingly, the probate records were filed 500 miles away and 10 years later in Chester County, Pennsylvania when John died elsewhere in Ohio! I could not have made this discovery if it was not for Y-DNA. The story and associated supporting facts are chronicled in an earlier two-part blog post series titled Uniting a Band of Brothers.
Kinship Project 2: An Unlinked Wilson Family Cluster
Research Question: Is cluster of autosomal DNA matches related to my Wilson line or another allied line?
Through the analysis of my autosomal DNA matches, I discovered an unlinked family cluster who converged on the ancestral couple of William Wilson (b. 1827 Pennsylvania) and Louisa Lewis (b. 1835). An unlinked family cluster is a large group of matches who all descend from a single ancestor but for whom you are unable to establish a genetic relationship.[3]
The unlinked cluster for William and Louisa Wilson were strongly correlated with descendants of my previously mentioned ancestral couple of John Wilson and Elizabeth Boyd as well as other Wilsons and Boyds further back on my respective lines. William and Louisa resided in Washington County, Pennsylvania where my Boyd ancestors also resided during the same time frame.
Descendants of William and Louisa also shared matches with McMasters descendants, and Elizabeth Boyd’s mother was a McMasters. Yet, William Wilson (b. 1827) could not be a child of John and Elizabeth because they already had a son named William (b. 1809), who was definitively identified in John’s earlier mention probate file. Based on autosomal DNA alone, I could not untangle the genetic network of shared matches associated with this unlinked Wilson family cluster. I needed more data points that Y-DNA might provide.
I successfully recruited a male Wilson descendant of William and Louisa Wilson to take a Big Y-700 DNA test. Results from the test confirmed that our two Wilson families are related within genealogically relevant time. When we compare my Big Y results to the male descendant of William Wilson (b. 1827), the picture becomes a bit clearer, albeit still “fuzzy” (see image below).
There is a 99% likelihood that our common Wilson ancestor was born between 1529 and 1923. Given that the “unlinked” William Wilson was born in 1827, we can refine the range to be about 1529 to 1805 if we assume conception when his father was 21. Still a wide range, but FamilyTreeDNA provides additional estimates and averages. As depicted in the above image and across all confidence levels, the average year of birth for our common ancestor is about 1776.
Taking all my acquired knowledge, including the shared autosomal DNA matches that descendants of William Wilson (b. 1827) have with Wilsons, Boyds, and McMasters and the 1776 average year of birth for our common ancestor, it is possible that a sibling of John Wilson married a sibling of Elizabeth Boyd. It might also explain why descendants of William Wilson (b. 1827) have DNA matches to Wilsons, Boyds, and McMasters. In fact, one of John’s brothers and many of Elizabeth’s sisters are unaccounted for. While more research is needed, the additional data made available by Y-DNA has enabled the articulation of a potential hypotheses easier and narrowed the field for future research.
Recent Ancestral Origins Project: Wilsons of Bucks County Pennsylvania
Research Question: Where in Europe are my U.S. Wilsons likely from?
My oldest known Wilson ancestor now is John Wilson (b. 1716), who first appears in the U.S. in the 1740s in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. With the name like Wilson, the ancestral origins could be many places including Ireland, Scotland, England, and Scandinavia, but Y-DNA can help sort it out.
One of the features of the Big Y-700 test is the Time Tree, which mine is depicted below. The haplogroup (or branch identifier on the paternal family tree) for my Wilson cluster is circled in red and identified as I-Y106972, and FamilyTreeDNA estimates the common ancestor for the four test takers here was born about the year 1776. Myself, the previously mentioned descendant of William Wilson (b. 1827), and two other known descendants of John and Elizabeth (Boyd) Wilson through two other male child lines are members of this group.
My smaller branch connects with the larger branch (I-Y32317 haplogroup) about the year 1519 (blue circle). All three other haplogroups branching out from I-Y32317 all have ancestors who were from an area East of Enniskillen in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland (only two of the branches are visible in the image). Other research I have done suggests these County Fermanagh Wilsons arrived the area during the Ulster Plantation in the early 1600s and were most likely from Scotland.
While my connection to these Wilsons may be back in Scotland, it is probable my immigrant Wilson ancestor emigrated from County Fermanagh in the early 1700s as autosomal DNA matches to several unlinked family clusters of Pennsylvanian Wilsons from County Fermanagh seem to corroborate this theory. The results of this analysis are detailed in the research report on the Ancestral Origins of John Wilson and were the subject of a two-part podcast series on the Research Like a Pro Genealogy podcast.
Receiving Your Y-DNA Gifts
There are a couple of considerations when ordering a Y-DNA test with the first being cost. When not on sale, tests cost anywhere from $119 (Y-37) to $449 (Big Y-700). You receive the most value from the Big Y test for reasons provided in my above examples, and so I encourage you to purchase this one if your budget allows.
However, other researchers have told me that they had no Big Y matches and thus could not fully benefit from the Time Tree and other scientific details shown previously. You cannot necessarily predict this in advance, but if it is a potential concern for you, it might be best to take a Y-37 test to see if any of your matches here have taken a Big Y test (FamilyTreeDNA indicates the terminal test for your matches). If you have matches with a Big Y test, then you can subsequently upgrade your test often without having to provide another DNA sample. The downside to this strategy is that it is slightly more expensive to order both tests separately, and each test can take 4-8 weeks to post.
If buying a kit for a cousin whose paternal ancestry is not well known to you, I recommend purchasing a Y-37 test before going through the expense of a Big Y test. In more than one occasion, I sponsored the cost of a test for someone who ended up not being related to my investigated line. In some instances, this was because of misattributed parentage.
Once you order a test, be sure to join a surname group on FamilyTreeDNA. Group pages provide additional visualization tools, and group administrators are quite knowledgeable about their managed surnames and related histories. Sometimes, surname groups have funds available to sponsor tests.
Gift Summary
Like autosomal DNA, the extent of gifts received from Y-DNA greatly depends on whether others within your paternal branches have tested. Even if you have few or no matches, you can encourage others more distantly related to you to test, or you can (patiently) wait the arrival of an email indicating “We found a new Y-DNA relative!”. Finally, if you can wait (and sometimes I could not), FamilyTreeDNA occasionally places Y-DNA tests on sale – typically around Black Friday, end of year holidays, Father’s Day, and National DNA Day (April 25).
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Sources
[1] Other than testing with the FamilyTreeDNA, I have no financial or other relationship with company. My opinions and experiences are my own and easily replicable by other researchers.
[2] For additional reading, visit: https://isogg.org/wiki/Y_chromosome_DNA_tests.
[3] Bettinger, Blaine (2023), The Growing Phenomenon of Unlinked Family Cluster. Accessed 17 October 2023 at https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2023/03/16/the-growing-phenomenon-of-the-unlinked-family-cluster/.
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