3-step match on full sequence mtdna test

[Martina G]

Hi everyone,

I am hoping someone can explain this to me.

I have a 3-step match on the full sequence mtdna test. My match is in Russia and as far as my mom and myself know we have no Russian ancestors but that of course is unproven to us. On my mother's side we can only go back to her grandmother and now nothing of anyone before that.

Is my Russian match a possible cousin or just a coincidental match?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[georgian1950]

Can you share what your haplogroup is?

Thanks,

Jack

[loisrp]

Hi everyone,

I am hoping someone can explain this to me.

I have a 3-step match on the full sequence mtdna test. My match is in Russia and as far as my mom and myself know we have no Russian ancestors but that of course is unproven to us. On my mother's side we can only go back to her grandmother and now nothing of anyone before that.

Is my Russian match a possible cousin or just a coincidental match?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

How do you know where your match's ancestors were before they were in Russia? It sounds like both possibilities are open--your matrilineal ancestor might have been in Russia, and your match's matrilineal ancestor might not have been in Russia. So there's nothing particularly odd here.

Just as an example, many western Europeans went to Russia during the time of the czars, because they were hired for specific occupations and skills.

Do you have an estimate for the time of the most recent common ancestor?

[Martina G]

My Haplogroup

My Haplogroup is T2b3-C151T.

I have several matches and some of them repeat on the list of matches. Exact same name but once without a number and then again with a number. Those numbers are either a 1 or a 3.

If I view my matches on a map, my Russian match with the number 3 is the only one that shows up for my HVR1, HVR2 and the full sequence match.

The other matches only show for HVR1 and HVR2.

Thanks,

Martina

[rmm0484]

Just as an aside, Martina is a russian name....

[Martina G]

The name Martina is also very common in Spanish or in German. All of my known ancestors come from Germany.

I have no genealogical record of anyone being from another country. Doesn't mean they couldn't be but if they did come from somewhere else it is unknown to my family.

[MikeP]

Ethnic germans have migrated eastwards since before the Roman Empire. So having a Russian match could easily be from one of the migrations to Russia. In particular "Since 1762, Russia called in German settlers. Some settled the Volga area northwest of Kazakhstan and therefore became known as Volga Germans. Others settled toward the coast of the Black Sea (Black Sea Germans, including Bessarabia Germans, Dobrujan Germans and Crimea Germans) and the Caucasus area (Caucasus Germans). These settlements occurred throughout the late 18th and the 19th centuries.". Source Wikipedia.

[MMaddi]

The most relevant point for the OP to understand is that a 3 step match in mtDNA could easily represent a common ancestor over 1,000 or even 2,000 years ago. Even a 0 step match could represent a common ancestor over 500 years ago. Unless both sides of the match have documentation of their maternal lines for that length of time (not likely), there's no chance to identify a common ancestor.

[Martina G]

Thank you everyone

I was hopeful that since she matched my full sequence she may be a more recent cousin. If there is a 1000 or perhaps more years between her and me, it really is just fishing in the dark. I can't get past 1880 on my mother's side.

Thank you everyone.

Martina

[loisrp]

I was hopeful that since she matched my full sequence she may be a more recent cousin. If there is a 1000 or perhaps more years between her and me, it really is just fishing in the dark. I can't get past 1880 on my mother's side.

Thank you everyone.

Martina

Do autosomal tests give any hints about your mother's side?