Newbie needing advice on best test/result hosting sites

[wotcha]

Thinking of taking my 1st DNA test to break down a "brick wall", of many years standing, in my direct paternal line.

I initially thought about taking a test that I could upload to a "One Name /Surname" site but realised this is useless to me; my brick wall is due to the fact that my Welsh g g grandfather lived in an area where, in early 1800s, the patronymic (i.e. no fixed surname) system was in use.

So can anyone recommend the best route? i.e. a UK rather than US weighted site that's best for hosting results to help with brick walls & which are not "One Name /Surname" sites.

Many thanks

[RobertCasey]

Since you are talking about one surname, do a Google search for "surname FTDNA project" where you put in your surname. This will quickly give you a link at a FTDNA web site. Look around in this site for links to external sites that go into more detail about your surname of interest. Another approach, do a Google search for "surname DNA" and you may get a web site about what is going with your surname within the context of DNA research.

It would help to know the surname as the frequency of the surname being researched has a major impact on what you will find. Larger projects (more common surnames) are usually better done due to a larger base of interested individuals - but there are many exceptions.

[DevonCruwys]

You need to test with a company that has a Y-DNA matching database. There is only one such company which is Family Tree DNA. They are based in Houston, Texas, but they do testing for people from all over the world. All our projects run through the Guild of One-Name Studies are hosted at Family Tree DNA.

A surname project is probably not relevant in your case but there are two Welsh projects at FTDNA:

https://www.familytreedna.com/public/WalesDNA

https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/welsh-patronymics/about/background

If you order a test through a project you get a discount.

If you're coming to Who Do You Think You Are? Live FTDNA will have a stand there. They usually have a special show price.

[wotcha]

Thanks for the replies!
RobertCasey: Unfortunately, there is no surname. As I say, my area of Wales still used the 'no surname' system (patronymics) in the early/mid 1800s - which rules out One Name /Surname sites. The name was Evans after 1820s - but before then it wasn't - due to the patronyms; i.e.where the children were not given their father's last names.

DevonCruwys: I didn't know about the Welsh DNA projects, so thanks. I've followed the 1st link - seems the number of participants was last listed in 2013 & there's not been an update since them, so I wonder if the group is still running? Also as it has 572 participants, this seems  - and excuse my inexperience - a low number. If so, I suspect that finding a DNA match (to help with my brick wall) with other participants doesn't seem likely. I was wondering if the Ancestry DNA test would be more likely to match my results with other participants?

Thanks again, both.

[davidft]

ftDNA would be better for you than Ancestry as you are specifically looking to follow your male line which yDNA tests are for. ftDNA do these tests but Ancestry do not. Also with ftDNA your results are automatically (unless you opt out) put on ysearch whether they can be compared with other people who tested with different companies. Also you could upload any results you had to a comparison site like Gedmatch.com where you could compare results with people who tested with different companies.

However, a word of warning, I have seen people match very quickly and unlock brick walls but myself I have had no lock with my yDNA search despite taking the test 4 years ago (trying to unblock my yDNA line was why I first became interested in this DNA testing game)

[DevonCruwys]

There are over 600,000 people who've taken a Y-DNA test at Family Tree DNA. It is the world's largest Y-DNA database. FTDNA projects are all run by volunteers, and only a subset of people in the database actually join the projects. However, by ordering through a project it's a convenient way to get a discount.

The AncestryDNA test is an autosomal DNA test. They don't do any Y-DNA testing. Autosomal DNA is best used for finding connections within the last five or six generations. Such a test could potentially help with your brick wall but the difficulty is determining which line the match is on as you could be matching on any of your ancestral lines and not just your brick wall line.

[wotcha]

Thank you all again for the information below. 

Given the autosomal DNA limits of five or six generations, that's a no-go for me.

Also, I'd not realised that I could utilise Y-DNA tests is a situation where there are no surnames - so this has been a great help.