YDNA and autosomal DNA test results can be used to fill in missing gaps in your genealogy research. Read how Brian used YDNA and autosomal DNA to find his wife’s 3x great-grandparents.
Brian’s story of working on his wife Dorothy’s genealogy is a great example of how combining what you learn from YDNA and autosomal DNA testing may be just the thing you need to fill in some missing gaps in your genealogy research.
Dorothy’s 2x great-grandfather Frank had always told the family that he came to the U.S. on a ship and changed his name. He also told them the town in England he came from and his parents’ first names. But for over 50 years, Frank’s descendants had not had any luck finding records of his parents (Dorothy’s 3x great-grandparents) based on the information he gave them.
Using Relatives at RootsTech (a social network from FamilySearch offered during the annual RootsTech conference), Dorothy’s daughter found a possible direct male descendant of Frank who was willing to take a YDNA test.
While YDNA tests can’t identify an exact person, it can sometimes identify a surname (or more than one) that is associated with this paternal line.
From the YDNA testers’ results, they learned that his surname matches were Hobbs, Holly, or Hawley. (Note that Hobbs and Holly look a lot like each other in cursive.)
YDNA and autosomal DNA work together
Using this information gained from YDNA testing, Brian was able to apply it to Dorothy’s autosomal DNA test results. After he attended Diahan Southard’s class at RootsTech 2023, “Shared DNA Matches – the only DNA Tool You Will Ever Need,” Brian started using the shared matches tool looking for descendants from each of Frank’s children. While searching, he found one of his wife’s matches had a Hobbs line.
Brian followed the Hobbs line back to the time of Frank’s birth. He discovered a couple who lived in the English town Frank said he was from. The couples’ names also matched the first names of Frank’s parents. Brian was then able to find Hobbs family immigration and census records in FamilySearch.
Once Brian had a surname to search for, thanks to YDNA test results, he was able to locate his wife’s 3x great-grandparents in genealogical records and connect them to her family tree.
Are you ready to get started with YDNA but not sure where to begin? Our FREE YDNA Get Started Course will teach you what you can learn from YDNA test results and next steps you can take to get YDNA to work for your own genetic genealogy research!
Enroll in the FREE YDNA Get Started Course
Clicking this button will take you to the Your DNA Guide online community in Circle for DNA learning! You’ll need to create a Circle account and join our community (it’s free!) to take this course.
