Adoptive or biological surname

[ylgitn]

I was adopted shortly after birth, but am in regular contact with my biological father. I have received a large amount of genealogical information about my paternal biological family from him. I recently ordered the Y-DNA37 kit and have yet to receive it. At the time I ordered, I used my adoptive, legal surname, which is of English origin, instead of my biological father's surname, which is of Irish origin.

I note that a lot of emphasis is placed on similarity of surnames for purposes of determining the relevance of near matches. My concern is that if I return the kit under my "legal" surname, the results will be published under a surname that is a red herring for purposes of determining genealogical links. Will there be any way I can utilize my "biological" surname for purposes of tabulating and comparing the results?

[lgmayka]

1) Join the appropriate surname project for your biological surname.

2) Mention your biological surname in the Most Distant Ancestor box of your Setup Preferences [when Family Tree DNA receives your kit and creates your account].

[efgen]

The name and contact info that you supplied for your order is primarily for administration. Once your kit is returned to FTDNA and you're given access to your online myFTDNA account, you can change your name in your contact info, if you would like -- or you can even include both surnames. The name you supply in your contact info will be shown to anyone whose DNA matches yours, but FTDNA doesn't do any automated comparisons based on your surname alone. You'll also be able to join a surname project for your biological family's surname, if one exists.