Author Topic: Can yDNA help find earlier family  (Read 657 times)

Offline Seelife

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Can yDNA help find earlier family
« on: Monday 11 July 22 12:10 BST (UK) »
Hi Folks, this may be a very newbie question.  Can yDNA help find or identify earlier members of a family through the male lineage. I have got back to 1751 and now the trail is confused, partly due to a common name (Winn&Wynne in the Durham UK) and where records start to become sparce.
I understand that the Winn/Wynne name goes through several permutations as it migrated out of Wales. Factors I can think of to conside :
1  it would depend on other lineage members having had DNA tests.
2  It still requires record confirmation via parish records etc

I have no experience of checking DNA linkages, but I think it may be possible to intuit possible connections. Does anyone have experience of this and any thoughts.
Best regards 

Winn, Wynne, Wynd, Wind, Winde

Offline Carmella

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Re: Can yDNA help find earlier family
« Reply #1 on: Monday 11 July 22 14:20 BST (UK) »
Hi,

Yes you are correct, Y-DNA can trace further back in time, thousands of years in fact.
As you probably already know, only males can take Y-DNA tests & it traces a man's father's line, his grandfather, gt grandfather etc etc.

Autosomal DNA tests by comparison can be taken by males & females and reach back around 500 years or so - they test all ancestral lines of the family tree and are cheaper to buy.

There is lots of helpful info on the Rootschat DNA board -
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/ancestral-family-tree-dna-testing/

I did a search on the FTDNA website for the surname Winn/Wynn and there is a Y-DNA surname project for Winn (+ variants) - see these links:

https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/winn/about

https://www.familytreedna.com/public/winn?iframe=yresults

There are 440 members of the Winn/Wynn surname project which is pretty good. If you are male & only interested in your direct paternal line of Winn then a Y-DNA test from FTDNA is worth a shot.

As long as there are no non-paternity events in your paternal line back to the 1700s hopefully your DNA should match one or more members of this project.

An Autosomal DNA test from: Ancestry/MyHeritage/LivingDNA/23andme may bring some near or distant cousin matches on the Winn/Wynn line which might also help.









Offline Seelife

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Re: Can yDNA help find earlier family
« Reply #2 on: Monday 11 July 22 22:14 BST (UK) »
Super useful info. Thank you.
Winn, Wynne, Wynd, Wind, Winde

Offline Ruskie

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Re: Can yDNA help find earlier family
« Reply #3 on: Monday 11 July 22 23:44 BST (UK) »
Good advice from Carmella, but be aware that you are not guaranteed to find any useful traceable matches with a YDNA test.

There may be various Wynnes with different origins, or you may match somewhere back in time prior to the use of surnames, so you may not find that specific 1751 missing Wynne link. 

You are almost guaranteed to get reasonably close matches with an autosomal test. Whether you will be able to find how you connect with them or if they came from your Wynne lineage is another matter. Checking the female lines can be very useful in autosomal tests (they marry and change their surname so won’t be Wynne). Ideally you should be looking to test 111 markers or the Big Y test.

If finances permit, you may benefit from taking all tests. If you take an FTDNA YDnA test first, you can later upgrade to an autosomal (family finder) test using the same sample. You can upload the raw data from your FTDNA test results to a couple of other companies such as My Heritage (which requires payment of an ‘unlock’ fee), but You can’t upload to Ancestry. They like you to pay up in full to take their test. And they like you to take out an annual subscription to make the best use of your results.:)

This has probably all been covered in Carmella’s links.

As an example, my husband tested 67 markers quite a few years ago. His surname is Wright. He got something like 6 matches overall, (on all levels) and none of them have the same surname. We joined the surname project, and they said he was a “singleton” ie no matches. Some people probably have good luck stories, but don’t necessarily expect your mystery to be solved.  ;)

Good luck with it all though.  ;)

Added: I see you are a new member. Maybe consider starting a thread about your brick wall ancestor - tell us everything you know about him and his family and maybe someone will be able to help you.  :)


Offline Seelife

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Re: Can yDNA help find earlier family
« Reply #4 on: Tuesday 12 July 22 07:10 BST (UK) »
Hi Ruskie, thanks for those caveats. It was pretty much as I expected, that there would be limitations on matches. I may have to wait a little to try the bigger tests, but do intend to go with a starter test when its practical to receive the kit. I will post a little about where I am up to and maybe some good soul can see a pattern. I am making progress, however there was a spanner in the works just yesterday as someone matched or altered a Father (husband of spouse) on my FamilySearch tree. I am sure the edit is wrong but I need to backtrack and check.
Thanks for the additional input.
Winn, Wynne, Wynd, Wind, Winde

Offline Ruskie

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Re: Can yDNA help find earlier family
« Reply #5 on: Tuesday 12 July 22 08:42 BST (UK) »
There are regular sales on DNA tests - unsure when the next one might be but someone is sure to know.  :)

For a novice, an autosomal test is probabaly easier to work your way around, and you are bound to get a useful match or two.  :)