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Family Tree Surname Projects

How would you like to discover family members you never knew you had? Or go deep into the roots of your family tree? Well now you can, and it’s never been easier . Family Tree DNA has the largest DNA database in the country. More than 280-thousand people have joined this 21st century genealogy science by submitting DNA samples for information about their families.

If you have an unusual last name or surname, it’s not surprising others with that surname are your relatives. But what are the chances you’re related to the other Smith’s or Jones’s? That’s where a Y-DNA test comes in. Y is for the Y chromosome found only in men. Men who wish to find out about their ancestry submit a simple and painless cheek swab to Family Tree DNA and the experts in the lab take it from there, matching your genetic makeup with others across the globe.

If you’re a woman seeking information about your paternal heritage, ask a brother or other male relative if they’ll submit a cheek swab for testing. Women lack the Y chromosome and therefore are eligible for a different genetic test called mtDNA.

There are surname projects underway all over the world and Family Tree DNA is at the forefront of this bold new technology. If you want to join in an existing surname project, simply type in your last name in the box above me to see if a project for your surname is underway. If not, consider starting one yourself. It’s only a matter of time before you learn of others both near and far who share a common ancestor with you.

Y-DNA testing at Family Tree DNA. Finding familial bonds in people you’ve not yet met.

Click this link to view another video about Family Finder to find relatives on the inner branches of your family tree.

Family Tree DNA launches the “Family Finder” DNA test. (Latest press release)

“Houston, TX – February 16, 2010 – Family Tree DNA, the pioneer and largest DNA testing company for genealogy purposes, is launching today their newest test – named Family Finder – which will allow connecting with family members across all ancestral lines.

“This is the most exciting genetic genealogy breakthrough since the company launched its Y-DNA test, which uncovers relatives in the direct paternal line”, says Bennett Greenspan, founder and CEO of Family Tree DNA. Initially available to current Family Tree DNA members, Family Finder will be offered to the general public in mid-March.

While the Y-DNA matches men with a specific paternal line and the mtDNA finds potential relatives only along the maternal line, Family Finder can look for close relationships along all ancestral lines. Anyone, regardless of their gender, may now confidently match to male and female cousins from any of their family lines in the past five generations. The science – linked blocks of DNA across the 22 autosomal chromosomes are matched between two people.

Based on this concept, Family Tree DNA bioinformatics team has worked extensively to develop the calculations that would yield the closeness of the relationship.

The possibilities to find matches abound: grandparents, aunts and uncles; half siblings; first, second, third and fourth cousins; and, more tentatively, fifth cousins.

Unlike other companies that offer autosomal testing for relationship purposes, the Family Tree DNA “Family Finder” focuses on the genealogy of the test takers: matching contact names and email addresses are readily available for easy communication, and special tools have been developed to assist in the genealogy and matching process.”

So this is great news for our readers, as when you are tested by Family Tree DNA, the chances of being able to locate many more cousins is greatly increased.

Please type your surname of interest in the affiliate banner at the top of this page for more information on Genealogy DNA testing at Family Tree DNA.

Update: Click this link to view another in-depth video regarding DNA Testing for Genealogy.

Now find out if two families have a common ancestor, CLICK HERE: Family Finder and add new people to your family tree.

Simply put, genetic genealogy is the use of DNA to ascertain a genetic relationship between individuals.  The Father of Evolution, Charles Darwin, is also credited with the early study of genetics, before the discovery of microscopic cell part deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA.

Darwin’s son George was able to study surnames in Britain and determine the rate of incidence of marriage among people with the same last name.  Interestingly, upper-class families were more likely to marry a cousin than the lower classes.  In fact, Charles Darwin himself was married to his first cousin Emma Wedgwood.

It wasn’t for another 100 years that major advances would be made along Darwin’s theory and it took an unlikely American running for U.S President to thrust the issue in the public eye.

Barack Obama is reported to have German roots that go back to the 1700s.  According to a popular ancestry website, Obama’s great, g, g, g, g, grandfather Johann Conrad Woelflin was born in Besigheim, Germany in January, 1729.  He emigrated to America in 1750 and settled in Pennsylvannia under the name of Wolfley.

This is intriguing because the findings follow another report that Obama bears some Irish ancestry.  No one who looks at Barack Obama would doubt he is anything but the product of a white American mother and a black Kenyan father, but Obama’s family tree is a common one.  Many Americans believe they have only a few national strains in their DNA when in fact they have the influence of several countries in their family tree.

When told the charismatic American President was a descendant of Germany, the country responded with cheers.  This isn’t the first U.S. President to be so named.  Dwight Eisenhower also had German roots.

Dive into your genetic genealogy and prepare yourself for wondrous information about your family you never believed possible.