Help with DNA results

[Razzle Dazzle]

Hello
This has probably been asked a million times but my head is about to explode if I read and try to understand anymore DNA information...  Apologies in advance but here goes....

Both myself and my mother did the Ancestry DNA test and my mother has a recent new 'extended family' match pop up. The match with my mother is 184CM across 12 segments with the longest segment being 36CM (184CM unweighted). It says that person is a potential 2nd cousin of hers.  For me the match is 50CM across 5 segments with the longest being 16CM (70CM unweighted shared) and is potentially my 3rd cousin. Their tree only has 12 people on it so struggling to work out the link.

My question is - do these match numbers indicate a close family connection?

Many thanks.

[davidft]

You can use the shared cM tool for free at

https://dnapainter.com/tools

If you do you will see a likely relationship of the match to your mother is a great grandparent. Armed with what you know about the match, your own tree and online trees you may be able to establish the match more accurately - or you could contact the match.

Good luck.

[Gadget]

My question is - do these match numbers indicate a close family connection?

They do.

 Have a look at the Painter chart, as David suggests, and also think about uploading your results to a site that has a chromosome browser - My Heritage or Gedmatch - there might be people on there with larger trees that you can investigate.

Gedmatch is free and My Heritage will chare a small fee to unlock all the details.

https://www.myheritage.com

https://www.gedmatch.com

[Razzle Dazzle]

Thank you both so much for your quick replies and suggestions. Much appreciated! I will certainly give them a try.

[Razzle Dazzle]

Hello again..

I haven't yet tried the GEDmatch option yet but did check out the DNA painter. Still a little confused if I'm honest but it does make a little more sense now. I believe that the match is either my mothers 2C or 2C1R (they are a generation behind my mother and the same age group as me) and as you say they may share great grandparents. Does that sound correct?

I have also been doing my own searches on the names and family ancestors based on the information in the matches tree. I have found their previous generation details including the great grandparents - none of which match with my mothers known family.

And just to give you some back story - my mothers father was illegitimate so am wondering if this might be the match that I have been looking for to find out who his father was? The matches family and ancestors all lived and worked within streets of my great grandmother and grandfather when he was born.....

I have contacted the match but so far not had any response.

[Albufera32]

Nothing is ever certain, but from reading your latest post, my tentative answer to the question of whether this might be the match to find the identity of the father of your mother's father's is, "Probably, yes".

If the names do not match any you know, the match fits with that side of the family, geographically the person appears to be in the right place and the right time, and the DNA indicates a close relationship, it all SEEMS to point in the same direction.