Is Y-DNA testing for a rare surname a waste of time?

[gatty]

I am beginning to think so. My surname Gatty and variant spellings-Gattey and Gattie is relatively rare. Only one other Gatty seems to have tested. We are a GD of 2 at 37 markers. Overtures for him to upgrade to 67 have fallen on deaf ears and our paper trails as far as we have traced our lines back(1810 -me and late 18thC him) do not connect.
Neither of us can trace our lines back to Cornwall where the Gatty surname was first found in the UK before a branch went to Devon and used the variant Gattey

[dna]

It is difficult to answer not knowing your objectives...

W.

[gatty]

To use the y dna to narrow down potential areas of research.

[dna]

To use the y dna to narrow down potential areas of research.

Yes, it is better to have Y-DNA results, since you can expand and/or prioritize avenues of your research.

Even if you have zero matches If you did not test your DNA, you would not know how widespread your Y-DNA is. The family name can change for many reasons, sometimes leaving no or almost no paper trail.

In my opinion, at this moment, testing of Y-DNA SNPs is not worth it.

W.

P.S.
For the same reasons, Family Finder test can be useful as means of double checking the paper trail.

[1798]

I am beginning to think so. My surname Gatty and variant spellings-Gattey and Gattie is relatively rare. Only one other Gatty seems to have tested. We are a GD of 2 at 37 markers. Overtures for him to upgrade to 67 have fallen on deaf ears and our paper trails as far as we have traced our lines back(1810 -me and late 18thC him) do not connect.
Neither of us can trace our lines back to Cornwall where the Gatty surname was first found in the UK before a branch went to Devon and used the variant Gattey

Where do the testers come from who are closest to you at 67 markers? Those testers who match you at 57/67 should be in the same SNP branch as you are. You may find some of the SNP branch in Cornwall.

[gatty]

Where do the testers come from who are closest to you at 67 markers? Those testers who match you at 57/67 should be in the same SNP branch as you are. You may find some of the SNP branch in Cornwall.

4 give most distant ancestor in USA(2 with surname Harris) and 2, with same surname, in Barbados(Corbin). I am E-L17. One match is E-L17 and the rest E-M78.

[1798]

4 give most distant ancestor in USA(2 with surname Harris) and 2, with same surname, in Barbados(Corbin). I am E-L17. One match is E-L17 and the rest E-M78.

Harris and Corbin are both British surnames so you could be related to an E-L17 subgroup with British origins.

[Armando]

4 give most distant ancestor in USA(2 with surname Harris) and 2, with same surname, in Barbados(Corbin). I am E-L17. One match is E-L17 and the rest E-M78.

E-L17 is a subclade of E-V13 which is a subclade of E-M78. Your E-M78 match probably hasn't ordered an E-L17 SNP test and there is a possibility he would be positive for it.

E-V13 seems to be the most common subclade of haplogroup E in Europe.

Did you order SNP tests or is E-L17 your presumed terminal SNP?

[gatty]

I ordered test for E-L17. Also Big Y but no other E-L17 seem to have tested for that. This is the E3B project E-L17

http://www.haplozone.net/e3b/project/cluster/54 and candidates(highly speculative) for the cluster http://www.haplozone.net/e3b/project/cluster/47

[John Gossage]

Is Y-DNA testing for a rare surname a waste of time?

I have read your posts and have to say that I do think it is a waste of time. My patrilineal ancestor is John Gossage who was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England in 1837. He was my great great grandfather.

However, there are lots of problems tracing the Gossages. They had lots of children with the same set of names, they were relatively poor so have grown up with the view that anything like DNA wasn't worth paying for so it is almost impossible to get anyone to take a test that doesn't know you closely.

I think, also that there is a lot of suspicion about DNA testing. A lot is made of this on crime entertainment series so people think that they might be connected to a crime even though they haven't done anything wrong.

Finally, we are at the beginning of the birth of DNA testing for tracing either origins or families. Not enough people have tested so it could well be in a generation or so, that the benefit of our having tested, might be seen.

Initially, I got my father to test a couple of years before he died at the age of 90 because he wanted to know where he came from - ie geographically because a teacher at school had once told him that he must have Anglo-Saxon ancestors. That doesn't seem to be the case. In fact his haplogroup has recently been confirmed as E-L17* by YFull.com.

In the meantime, I bide my time and hope that my children might pick up my search when I die.

[Cairokid]

I know this is an old thread but just to say that there is a Gatty One-Name Study at the Guild of One-Name Studies https://one-Name.org

[gatty]

Is Y-DNA testing for a rare surname a waste of time?

I have read your posts and have to say that I do think it is a waste of time. My patrilineal ancestor is John Gossage who was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England in 1837. He was my great great grandfather.

However, there are lots of problems tracing the Gossages. They had lots of children with the same set of names, they were relatively poor so have grown up with the view that anything like DNA wasn't worth paying for so it is almost impossible to get anyone to take a test that doesn't know you closely.

I think, also that there is a lot of suspicion about DNA testing. A lot is made of this on crime entertainment series so people think that they might be connected to a crime even though they haven't done anything wrong.

Finally, we are at the beginning of the birth of DNA testing for tracing either origins or families. Not enough people have tested so it could well be in a generation or so, that the benefit of our having tested, might be seen.

Initially, I got my father to test a couple of years before he died at the age of 90 because he wanted to know where he came from - ie geographically because a teacher at school had once told him that he must have Anglo-Saxon ancestors. That doesn't seem to be the case. In fact his haplogroup has recently been confirmed as E-L17* by YFull.com.

In the meantime, I bide my time and hope that my children might pick up my search when I die.

Screenshot_2020-08-27 YFull SNP matches.png