DNA Matches

Should you have surname matches with distant cousins? What does it mean if you don’t see your surname or maiden name in your list of DNA matches?

Are you confused by a DNA match?  In this post, I’ll go over some tips and strategies – ranging from the basic to the advanced – to help you figure out your connection. We all have that one match – trust me.  Each time we log in to our results, we can’t help but see …

Want to know how half-siblings show up on Ancestry DNA? I’ll show you how to find out if your match is a half-sibling and so much more! Read more now!

You got your DNA results back, and you’ve taken a look through your DNA matches.  Maybe you recognize some of the names from the top matches, and everything seems to make sense. There is more to see, however.  In this post, I’ll teach you how to analyze your DNA results using your DNA match list. …

When you are examining a DNA match, one of the best indicators of how far back your common ancestor might be is the size of your shared DNA segments.  Generally, the common wisdom is that the longer the segment, the closer the relationship between you and your DNA match.  In other words, the longer the …

If you are exploring your DNA results and find a new sibling, or are wondering if you and your known siblings share the expected amount of DNA, you have come to the right place. In this post, I’ll tell you what you need to know about the number of shared DNA segments between siblings. How …

Want an example of how DNA segments get smaller over generations? Here, see how a segment breaks up over time, and how this affects your DNA match list.

The best way to figure out how you are related to a DNA match is to build a basic family tree for them back to your common ancestor. In this post, learn why this works and how to do it. I know that this sounds like a crazy idea.  You have enough work on your …

What is a double-fourth cousin, and how are they related? Do double-fourth cousins share more DNA with each other than they would otherwise? In this post, I’ll explain the meaning of a double-fourth cousin, show you an example of my own double-fourth cousin, and talk about how this “double” relationship affects the amount of DNA …

Want a way to use your unique DNA to find biological family connections? You can use DNA testing to find relatives, and I’ll tell you exactly how to do it.