No Matches

[AlisonT]

How common is it to get no matches at all at 37 or even 25 markers? This is the position I'm in right now regarding my grandfather's yDNA test. At least we know his haplogroup, so that's something. Does zero matches at these levels literally mean that NO ONE related to him through his father's line within the past 10? or more? generations has tested? I guess we can wait and hope that someone who is a closer match tests in the future.

One other thing: my grandfather was adopted, but we know he has French Canadian ancestry (based on where/when he was born, as well as the matches he's getting on AncestryDNA). At 12 markers he has four zero step matches and nine one step matches, and none of them have French surnames. Is that significant at all, or are they related so far back that the surnames are totally irrelevant?

[Itai]

If it can reassure you, I have no matches at all, whether at 67, 37, 25 or even 12 markers ! So, yes it can defintely happen.

[Brunetmj]

If you consider that most of people taking DNA tests are likely to be Americans
with heritage from the UK this should not be a surprise given French ancestry.
My family dates back to around 1650 into French Canada so the odds of a match are slim. Few people from France test which just leaves other French Canadians who also do not test often. I have just a handful of 1 step mutations
at the 12 marker level and nothing even close at markers higher than that.
But regardless 12 marker tests are useless to determine ancestry. Just out of curiosity what is his haplogoup? Also has he joined the French heritage project? The best bet for an eventual match may come through there.

[fbirder]

It seems to be fairly common. I have zero exact matches, eleven 1-step matches at 12 markers, three 2-step matches at 25 markers, five 8-step matches at 37 markers and nothing at 10-steps for 67 markers.

[rivergirl]

My relative, who is I1 has no matches at all at any level, (except for another close relative we had tested at SMGF)
It just tells me no one related to us has tested.
He does have a few marker mutation results that are unusual for his haplogroup and subclade, so that might be skewing results at the low levels, eg 12 markers.

[AlisonT]

If you consider that most of people taking DNA tests are likely to be Americans
with heritage from the UK this should not be a surprise given French ancestry.
My family dates back to around 1650 into French Canada so the odds of a match are slim. Few people from France test which just leaves other French Canadians who also do not test often. I have just a handful of 1 step mutations
at the 12 marker level and nothing even close at markers higher than that.
But regardless 12 marker tests are useless to determine ancestry. Just out of curiosity what is his haplogoup? Also has he joined the French heritage project? The best bet for an eventual match may come through there.

His haplogroup is I1. Thank you for the tip about the French heritage project - I'll definitely check that out.

[gtc]

One other thing: my grandfather was adopted, but we know he has French Canadian ancestry (based on where/when he was born, as well as the matches he's getting on AncestryDNA). At 12 markers he has four zero step matches and nine one step matches, and none of them have French surnames. Is that significant at all, or are they related so far back that the surnames are totally irrelevant?

I have 72 matches at 12 markers, then none after that. Many of those "matches" are in a different sub-haplogroup from me. That's the problem with the first 12 markers; they are common to many haplogroup subclades.

However, within my surname project when my 111 markers are lined up with others I have sufficient of them in common to be part of a cluster that shows a common ancestor albeit a millennia or more ago.

Joining the French Heritage project is a good idea, however given that FTDNA project haplotype records are all derived from the one common FTDNA database, if your grandfather has a close match in that project it will also show on his Y-DNA match page.

If you haven't already done so, I suggest that you also upload his haplotype into Ysearch as it contains data from testers from various labs, not just FTDNA's, thus widening your chances. See the "Additional Possibilities ..." panel on his Y-DNA Matches page.

[1_mke]

Its not that uncommon and I agree that its at least partially sampling bias. I have zero exact matches at any level and only a single one step match at twelve markers which quickly vanishes as the number of markers go up.

Its frustrating but the situation should improve over time. Somebody has to be first I guess.

[Itai]

Here's a good article on the subject.

[AlisonT]

Thanks, interesting article. I definitely don't feel ripped off. We knew coming into this that there was a very real possibility he might have no matches, especially considering his ethnic background, and now considering his haplogroup isn't the most common. Maybe someone more closely related will test in the future, but in the mean time we can hope autosomal testing leads us somewhere.

[rootbound]

y Matches

My Dad had to wait 5 years for a match. He tested out to 67 but he only had 46 12 marker matches in 2007. Some of these matched his haplogroup at G2a3b1a1a or G L13 but nothing else. His Peachey surname is common in southern England and I had been begging on the various Peachey surname sites for English Peacheys to test. Our Family history points to either Sussex or Suffolk county, England. It took me stumbling on a another Genealogy researcher from my past who had a relative who married a Peachey for us to find a match. Interestingly he matched my Dad with only 1 mismatch at 12...he did NOT match out to 25 or 37 ....a couple more mutations, but out to 67 he is a perfect match. 62/67. His family comes from Mildenhall, Suffolk, England. Now I can narrow my search to Peacheys from there. So have patience....and keep asking people with the same surname to test.

k peachey