Sorting DNA family groups

Schnurrbart

Schnurrbart

Well-Known Member
My son gave me a DNA kit a few years ago and I've built up a large number of distant and not so distant cousins. They appear on both my Dad's and Mum's sides and using my family tree I can group together each parent's line, at least for the near cousins. But that has just left me with a large number of people I have no idea where they fit.
Is there a way to assign them to either parent? Also, is it possible to exclude those related to an individual, say a great great uncle who went to China and raised a family there, or conversely, identify his specific group through his wife?
 
Schnurrbart said:
My son gave me a DNA kit a few years ago and I've built up a large number of distant and not so distant cousins. They appear on both my Dad's and Mum's sides and using my family tree I can group together each parent's line, at least for the near cousins. But that has just left me with a large number of people I have no idea where they fit.
Is there a way to assign them to either parent? Also, is it possible to exclude those related to an individual, say a great great uncle who went to China and raised a family there, or conversely, identify his specific group through his wife?
Click to expand...
If this is on Ancestry you will see on your DNA matches page a box on the left that says Groups..click on that and you can see how to create family groups by colour coded circles...
 
Thanks Jan. Thanks Sue, I had already started various groups and loaded them with people I know about. It still leaves the majority of people where I haven't a clue where they fit. Are they on Mum's side, or Dad's?
Going back to the "Chinese" example, how do I identify individuals for that Group where there are no credible trees to follow?
 
Daft Bat said:
@arthurk is this something that you can help with? :reading:
Click to expand...
Hmmm... assuming this is about Ancestry, I don't think there is a way to do this with any guarantee of precision.

The best two methods I can suggest are (a) look at your Shared Matches; and (b) use the filters at the top of the page to look for particular names or places that are connected with your family. That should help you to identify where some of these matches might belong, but there will probably still be a large number where you still can't see a link.

As for the great great uncle in China, if you have a known DNA match with a documented descendant of his, you might be able to use that to help you identify a group of shared matches, but even that's not certain to work. Your great great uncle would have been brother of one of your great grandparents, but because the amounts of DNA inherited can be so variable, it might be hard to distinguish his descendants from those of any other siblings there might have been.

(Mrs K has helped me with this - she's better at DNA than I am!)
 
arthurk said:
Hmmm... assuming this is about Ancestry, I don't think there is a way to do this with any guarantee of precision.
(Mrs K has helped me with this - she's better at DNA than I am!)
Click to expand...

Thanks to you and Mrs K (I am jealous, when someone asked my wife if she was into Family History, her reply was" No, I paint................ and then watch it dry")
Anyway, it is Ancestry. I have already used Plan A and formed several groups, which was the easy bit. It was the 27300 others that elicited "Who the *** are you and where did you come from?", so I was looking for a crafty wheeze. Oh well, it was worth a try.
 
Schnurrbart said:
Thanks to you and Mrs K (I am jealous, when someone asked my wife if she was into Family History, her reply was" No, I paint................ and then watch it dry")
Anyway, it is Ancestry. I have already used Plan A and formed several groups, which was the easy bit. It was the 27300 others that elicited "Who the *** are you and where did you come from?", so I was looking for a crafty wheeze. Oh well, it was worth a try.
Click to expand...
I have lots that I can't figure out and then some close ones who because of other matches I know what family they belong to, but not how they do..( if you know what I mean!) I really wish more people would put where they are from and perhaps even a small tree on their pages..it might help.I think most of my matches got roped in to the TV ads to find out where you are from and really aren't trying to find out anything else. :(
 
Depending on how many close cousins you already know, you might find the Leeds method helps you. It helps you sort your matches into family groups. If you Google it you will find many 'how to's
 
Also, uploading your kit to another site Gedcom for starters, I also uploaded to 'MyHeritage' & earned another chute full of cousins, not just the USA lot as in Ancestry.
I have sorted more cousins from M H than Ancestry even tho' Paternal lot triumph there.
 
I am trying to work my Ancestry DNA out and I have made a little progress(which for me is unbelievable). I first sorted out my maternal and paternal matches that I could recognise, then I went through people who had common ancestors and put these in the respective maternal/paternal groups. After a while I found people with long lists of shared matches, so I grouped/colour coded those and have ended up with four mystery groups.
I have also looked at lines in my family tree that have been 'confirmed' by DNA matches and have been left with a couple of obvious branches that no one appears connected with. I guess now I have to look at areas they lived and see if there are any clues there.
I find it quite sad, to have to question a whole branch that I have got attached to and 'connected" with. I have to accept not everyone was 'honest' or were economical with the truth.
The only thing I dont like about this DNA way of doing genealogy, is people seem less interested in communicating, just ticking boxes. I have over the years struck up some wonderful relationships but not recently.
Best of luck Schnurrbart in your quest. I hope you get more answers.
 
[QUOTE="Amle, post: 175837, member: 94"

The only thing I dont like about this DNA way of doing genealogy, is people seem less interested in communicating, just ticking boxes. I have over the years struck up some wonderful relationships but not recently.
Best of luck Schnurrbart in your quest. I hope you get more answers.[/QUOTE]

I agree with you @Amie... glad we still have our friends on here. ;)
 
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