Family finder & Y not same names

[jannie]

If the y-dna matches took the ff test I would think they would match for the family finder - but they don't. (several took the ff test)
My male cousin -last remain male of that line took the FF test and the y-dna 67 with which he matches with a lot of Ryan's & Cannady's however for the FF test they don't show up. He matches me as being a cousin & my brother as being a cousin.

I don't understand this. Is it that the y-dna matches are too far back for a match with FF?

Confused.

[MMaddi]

I don't understand this. Is it that the y-dna matches are too far back for a match with FF?

Exactly. A close yDNA match at 37 or 67 markers may represent a common ancestor several hundred years ago. The Family Finder test can only reliably find cousins in the database out to about 3rd cousins. (That's 4 generations back - about 120 years at 30 years/generation.) For FF, only about 50% of 4th cousins share enough DNA to be identified as a match. Once you get to 5th cousins, only about 10% will be successfully found in the database.

[T E Peterman]

Eventually, I think a combo of both the Big Y & FF will enable us to ascertain with far greater accuracy just how close y-37 or y-67 matches really are.

If two men matched 66/ 67, but each had say 5 unshared novel variants, it would suggest that MRCA may have been as far back as 500 to 700 years in the past.

If you have a field of related FF participants (say 1st cousins, 2nd cousins, 3rd cousins), the field will be a lot more likely to detect distant cousin matches. The field should try to maximize the genetic diversity within a family.

Timothy Peterman

[jannie]

My cousins y-dna 67 level matches for Cannady's & Ryans are at the 3 & 4 level which must be too far back then for the Family Finder test.

[K. L. Adams]

Eventually, I think a combo of both the Big Y & FF will enable us to ascertain with far greater accuracy just how close y-37 or y-67 matches really are.

If two men matched 66/ 67, but each had say 5 unshared novel variants, it would suggest that MRCA may have been as far back as 500 to 700 years in the past.

If you have a field of related FF participants (say 1st cousins, 2nd cousins, 3rd cousins), the field will be a lot more likely to detect distant cousin matches. The field should try to maximize the genetic diversity within a family.

Timothy Peterman

Family finder is a no brainer for the ladies along with the men for the $99 price. Very powerful genetic tool for a genealogical family researcher.

[georgian1950]

Family finder is a no brainer for the ladies along with the men for the $99 price. Very powerful genetic tool for a genealogical family researcher.

Most fun that I ever have had for $99.

[Adam Nisbett]

I have many Y-DNA matches with my surname, of which 4-5 trace back to a known common ancestor born 1731 but none of them match me in FF. On the other hand I have FF matches that I can triangulate on the same DNA segment that trace back to this same ancestor, but none of them are direct male line descendants. So even when it's possible to have DNA segments from an ancestor, your Y-DNA matches may not have inherited the same segments you did.

[jsarnacki]

Yes, FF only finds matches within the first 5 generation, and when you are lucky it can find a few more generations of distant matches. I think the greatest success would be for those with y GD of 0-1. Beyond that, you would have to be very lucky that enough matching DNA is still intact.

[K. L. Adams]

Yes, FF only finds matches within the first 5 generation, and when you are lucky it can find a few more generations of distant matches. I think the greatest success would be for those with y GD of 0-1. Beyond that, you would have to be very lucky that enough matching DNA is still intact.

If you only worried about one Y-DNA surname line, maybe so.

With just one family finder kit, the results arrived yesterday, I connected cousins for 5 different surnames in this gentlemen 5 generational pedigree chart.

I had a FF match the other day with two descendants from my Great, Great Grandmother sister, which was also proven by paper.

I really push for the ladies to take the FF test, Yep! they live longer and more of them.

Every kit that I am custodian has a family finder test.

I just think some folks get to wrapped up on the Y-DNA test and just don't put much effort finding candidates for the family finder test.

Anyway, one heck of a great DNA tool for us genealogical researcher types.

[jsarnacki]

If you only worried about one Y-DNA surname line, maybe so.

Sorry, I could have worded that better. I meant in terms of looking for Family Finders that happens to match yDNA too... the most luck would be with yDNA GD 0-1 where you would most likely find FF matches. GD 2 or grater, decreases the odds of finding a FF match who is also a yDNA match. So, I was referring to those you are testing yDNA specifically and looking for FF matches to go with the yDNA matches.I hope that makes more sense lol.

That said, I 100% agree you NEED family finder! yDNA only finds those direct paternal matches, but doesn't find everyone on every other line. I only have 2 yDNA matches at 37 who are close enough to trace, one one additional one that I have hope that someday I might be able to trace. I have one the other hand found many, many other FF matches for multiple lines.