No Matches at any Level

[JMSaxby]

My husband did the Y-37 test 2 years ago. He still has ZERO matches at any level. Not just no good matches but no matches at all. His haplogroup is R-M 198 and we believe his paternal line is possible German.

Could this be right? Is there any way to get FTDNA to run the test again without buying a new one?

[spruithean]

My husband did the Y-37 test 2 years ago. He still has ZERO matches at any level. Not just no good matches but no matches at all. His haplogroup is R-M 198 and we believe his paternal line is possible German.

Could this be right? Is there any way to get FTDNA to run the test again without buying a new one?

It's possible that no one who shares a common ancestor with him has tested their Y-DNA. That could explain the lack of matches. It took me a number of years since my initial test to get more than 1 (a known cousin) match.

However, perhaps you could contact FTDNA and inquire as to why no matches for your specific case.

Also worth noting, what are the settings on his match page set to? The entire FTDNA database or just for his surname specifically?

[MMaddi]

Also worth noting, what are the settings on his match page set to? The entire FTDNA database or just for his surname specifically?

The answer to these questions may explain why there are no matches. If someone doesn't have their settings right, they could have 1,000 or 1 million matches in the database but will never see them.

First of all, make sure that your husband signed the green release form and included it with his DNA sample that he sent back to FTDNA. If he didn't sign the release form, FTDNA can't include him in the matching database. If he didn't sign the form and return it, FTDNA does allow a customer to log into their account and electronically sign permission to be included in the database for matching.

A more likely possibility is that your husband has clicked on a setting to not receive notification of matches. Many people don't realize that by doing this, they will not only not get notification of matches, but will not be shown their matches either. It's not that uncommon for people to click this setting and turn off their matching to the database.

To make sure you don't have notification/matching turned off, log into your husband's account and click on the orange link labeled "Manage Personal Information" in the left column. This sends you to a page where you'll see a tab labeled "Match and Email Settings" - click on it. Finally, the page you're sent to will have a section titled "Y-DNA Matches and Email Notifications." All levels of testing should have the "yes" circle clicked. If the "no" circles are clicked, click the "yes" circles.

If that's not the problem, then it just may be that your husband truly doesn't have any matches in the database. He may have several uncommon marker values that don't allow him to meet the threshold for mismatches at 12, 25 and 37 markers. If that's the case, there's not much you can do about that.

[JMSaxby]

The answer to these questions may explain why there are no matches. If someone doesn't have their settings right, they could have 1,000 or 1 million matches in the database but will never see them.

First of all, make sure that your husband signed the green release form and included it with his DNA sample that he sent back to FTDNA. If he didn't sign the release form, FTDNA can't include him in the matching database. If he didn't sign the form and return it, FTDNA does allow a customer to log into their account and electronically sign permission to be included in the database for matching.

A more likely possibility is that your husband has clicked on a setting to not receive notification of matches. Many people don't realize that by doing this, they will not only not get notification of matches, but will not be shown their matches either. It's not that uncommon for people to click this setting and turn off their matching to the database.

To make sure you don't have notification/matching turned off, log into your husband's account and click on the orange link labeled "Manage Personal Information" in the left column. This sends you to a page where you'll see a tab labeled "Match and Email Settings" - click on it. Finally, the page you're sent to will have a section titled "Y-DNA Matches and Email Notifications." All levels of testing should have the "yes" circle clicked. If the "no" circles are clicked, click the "yes" circles.

If that's not the problem, then it just may be that your husband truly doesn't have any matches in the database. He may have several uncommon marker values that don't allow him to meet the threshold for mismatches at 12, 25 and 37 markers. If that's the case, there's not much you can do about that.

Thank you for the responses.

The matches are set to the entire database and Yes, the release has been signed.

In the matches and notifications setting Yes is marked for "all matches" and for all the Y-DNA levels.

At least I know I have checked the usual problems. I guess we just keep waiting.

[MoberlyDrake]

My father was Italian. He tested several years ago and has no matches at any level. I think it's probably because few Italian men have tested.

[MMaddi]

Thank you for the responses.

The matches are set to the entire database and Yes, the release has been signed.

In the matches and notifications setting Yes is marked for "all matches" and for all the Y-DNA levels.

At least I know I have checked the usual problems. I guess we just keep waiting.

If your husband hasn't yet joined the R1a Project at https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/r-1a/about, he should do so. The project administrators are the most knowledgeable people about R1a and may be able to see what are the unusual marker counts he has that have stopped him from getting matches.

They may be able to see if he fits into some subclade with a specific geography. Also, they may recommend an upgrade to 67 markers and/or SNP testing to better place him in the project results table.

[The_Contemplator]

Certain groups of people simply haven't been tested. I'm in the same boat. My Y67 has no matches at any level. I don't even have Big Y matches at all, crazy. At least other kits I manage give me something to work with. The notifications/match settings being off wouldn't hide your matches though. They would still show up being only their surnames and they wouldn't be clickable so you wouldn't have access to their emails to even contact them.

Other than waiting, you can go on a hunt for possible candidates. Not always easy but they may be out there. Some might even be autosomal DNA matches who simply never took a Y-DNA test. I managed to track down a paternal cousin but he hasn't shown interest in any DNA testing so far. The hunt goes on.