Survey of number of DNA matches of different kits by country - a stark contrast!

[melba_schmelba]

2 more since I gave you kit 1 info, melba

Keep me updated and I'll do the averages again every couple of weeks .

[Gadget]

If it's any use for your project:

19 century emigrants ~

My Scots emigrants were farmers from Dumfries and Galaway who went to Ontario originally and then moved throughout Canada and into the States. Many of their descendants became medics and lawyers, although some remained farmers.

My Welsh/Shropshire kin were miners, who went to Pennsylvania and  tended to move around adjacent states. Again, a high percentage of their descendants became lawyers, academics and similar professions.

[AngelaR]

I don't know if this is confusing or not but I have my own DNA on 3 different sites and the matches are very different, both in numbers and in the apparent nationalities of the matches. I think it may not be helpful to list these but if anyone thinks it is, I will.

The other annoying thing about the Ancestry declared numbers is that the figure given for "4th cousins or closer" actually, on inspection, appears to consist mainly of matches in the category of "4th to 6th cousin" when listed. 

[Gadget]

If you click on the blue cMs for 20 and below matches ,you get an extended list of possible relationships similar to those shown in the Painter app - from 3rd to 5th and distant, with >1% closer relationships.

You also get an extended table for all cMs.

[brigidmac]

Gadget the only blue button I see on ancestry settings is for unviewd matches and it doesn't give me the number

Re stats I have access to 6 DNA
1 )My  late Scottish aunt 96 percent scots 4 percent Irish has 464 matches I've 40cm

6 aunts or uncles emigrated to NZ USA  Australia and Canada 1930- 50s
And there was a great uncle who went to Canada in earlier generations .

2) my mother over 1000 matches Latvian Jewish grandfather source of many matches mostly now in USA but also Mexico and a few in eastern Europe or Israel

 also a Welsh JONES gfather  who had over 60 grandchildren .who ended up in different parts of UK Australia New Zealand and france

3) my mum's 2nd cousin from USA cousin same Latvian ancestors
Lots of matches

4 ) my English cousin also over 1000 definitely more from our  side but quite a lot on his father's side in usa some from salt lake city and going way back no idea where the connection is but suspect polygamists and big families in some descendants

5) myself 421 over 4th cousin level more from my Welsh and Latvian lines than the Scots

6 ) English woman unrelated to me 331 matches at least 40 coming from a London based gggfather who ended up in salt lake city had 3 wives and 27 children so a lot of her matches are based in USA
Also latter day saints have a tendency to test and have accurate trees because family history is part of their culture

[brigidmac]

Very interesting topic
I wonder what role age plays ?
3 of my testees were born 1927- 1940
3 born 1949-60

Older generations can surely link to people who have shared gggparents and cousins twice or 3x removed in younger generations

[melba_schmelba]

I don't know if this is confusing or not but I have my own DNA on 3 different sites and the matches are very different, both in numbers and in the apparent nationalities of the matches. I think it may not be helpful to list these but if anyone thinks it is, I will.

Angela, I think I will probably keep the survey to Ancestry for consistency purposes, but I assume in general, most people will have most matches on Ancestry, then perhaps MyHeritage, followed by 23andme and LivingDNA? On Ancestry, as far as I know it is not possible to categorize by nation of residence as most people do not list it, but on MyHeritage it seems to be shown by default and you can filter by it, which is an interesting feature, especially if you have ancestry from outside GB. A lot of people of British descent seem to see an unusually high level of Scandinavian matches on MyHeritage but no one seems to quite know why. I did find someone who did a study of their matches compared to their parents which suggested a high percentage of MH matches with small largest segment were false matches.

The other annoying thing about the Ancestry declared numbers is that the figure given for "4th cousins or closer" actually, on inspection, appears to consist mainly of matches in the category of "4th to 6th cousin" when listed. 

Not sure what you mean on this - the number I get on the main DNA page (i.e. if I click DNA at the top) matches what I then see if I click the Shared DNA filter at the top and then select the '4th cousin or closer' button?

[melba_schmelba]

Gadget the only blue button I see on ancestry settings is for unviewd matches and it doesn't give me the number

Re stats I have access to 6 DNA
1 )My  late Scottish aunt 96 percent scots 4 percent Irish has 464 matches I've 40cm

6 aunts or uncles emigrated to NZ USA  Australia and Canada 1930- 50s
And there was a great uncle who went to Canada in earlier generations .

2) my mother over 1000 matches Latvian Jewish grandfather source of many matches mostly now in USA but also Mexico and a few in eastern Europe or Israel

 also a Welsh JONES gfather  who had over 60 grandchildren .who ended up in different parts of UK Australia New Zealand and france

3) my mum's 2nd cousin from USA cousin same Latvian ancestors
Lots of matches

4 ) my English cousin also over 1000 definitely more from our  side but quite a lot on his father's side in usa some from salt lake city and going way back no idea where the connection is but suspect polygamists and big families in some descendants

5) myself 421 over 4th cousin level more from my Welsh and Latvian lines than the Scots

6 ) English woman unrelated to me 331 matches at least 40 coming from a London based gggfather who ended up in salt lake city had 3 wives and 27 children so a lot of her matches are based in USA
Also latter day saints have a tendency to test and have accurate trees because family history is part of their culture

Thanks Brigid. I am not surprised in your relatives with the high number of matches with Latvian Jewish connections and USA connections. I think Ancestry's Timber algorithm was partly developed specifically to try and limit people of Jewish descent connections, because Ashkenazi Jews are a very homogenous group, many genes are retained undivided over many generations so it appears that people are closer relatives than is in fact the case. But I suspect they also had large families but so did Catholics! If you could give me the exact number from the Shared DNA tab on the DNA match list page I can include them in my survey .

[brigidmac]

re location
yes ancestry does give a map where you can find location of your matches ancestors you can look up the most recent wave of immigration

oh i thought there was a way of knowing where they are now but maybe its on individual profiles