Finding Where Your DNA Matches Belong Can Be Challenging

Working with DNA can be a challenge. But it can also be very rewarding. It's a puzzle (more times than not). Sure, you might have a few matches you recognize and you plop them right where they belong. But that feeling of glee fades pretty fast when you realize you have 20,000 more matches (give or take another 20,000) and you have no idea who they are or where they fit in the puzzle of your tree.

I'm not going to lie and say there's some magic formula to make it simple. I consider myself lucky every time I place just one or two folks in my tree. But studying up on DNA in general can help make the process a little less frustrating. You may need to contact you matches or use some tools to figure things out. You may need to do some chromosome mapping, or upload to other sites to find even more matches to help you narrow down where a particular match may fall. And sometimes, you may not be able to figure it out at all. 

Here are just a few posts I've found helpful in the past to expand my understanding DNA:
A Genetic DNA Glossary
17 Best DNA Upload Sites to Upload Raw DNA Data
False positive match small segmentsDNA Testing Advisor - The Independent Guide To DNA Testing

I also find using obituaries helps a lot in the search for where my matches will go. Yes, mining obits for all the people included is time consuming, and it can add a lot of names to your tree at once. Sometimes, figuring out where all the names go is a challenge in and of itself - especially grandkids with no surnames listed. But doing this makes it considerably easier when you're investigating the trees of DNA matches. Some DNA matches don't even start a tree (not helpful). Some stop at only a few direct connections (potentially helpful). Don't discount these small trees if you've been adding all those names from obits because you'll likely be coming close (if not spot on to) the generations of people listed in the documents. You may find names you recognize, even though you're working with limited information in the DNA match's tree.

You may also find you have to work backwards. Sometimes, you may have to start a quick "dirty" tree from the match, and map out the various ancestors of your DNA match. Hopefully you'll find a familiar name. This may mean you'll be identifying people not relevant to you, so you may want to do this in a new private "working" tree just for this purpose. (It's easier to add the correct names to your main tree once identified than it is to go back and find and delete the people who turn out not to be relevant. A working tree removes the need to go "clean up" once you've made the connection.) I'll be honest, I spend enough time on my "known" family members, so I don't typically employ this method. But at some point, when I've run out of clear connections, I may have to start doing this. I've read posts by other researchers who've had very good success, and it's helped them get farther back in their own trees. The paper trail based on our own research alone doesn't always provide us with all the siblings or children of our known ancestors. Working backwards from a DNA match may just be the key to breaking down brick walls.

This past week, I was able to add 3 new matches to my tree. 2 are children (managed by a parent who I recognized as the spouse of a known DNA match) so it was easy to figure out where they go, even though the DNA kits only had initials and gender. The 3rd I was able to work out without too much effort because the surname was known to me, and I was able to work down from the last person in my tree with the same name to the DNA match. But it's not always so simple. I don't spend a lot of time trying to figure out where DNA matches should be placed, but I do hop over every few weeks and see if I can work out anyone new. How much effort you'll expend depends on the purpose for your search. If you're building a tree to find biological family unknown to you, DNA matches will be much more important. For me, they're a "bonus". I enjoy adding them - it gives me a sense of satisfaction, but I find researching those I already know more satisfying. So while I recognize the importance of DNA and DNA matches, they aren't where I spend the bulk of my time.

Image by Elias from Pixabay