Distance to MRCA (Most Recent Common Ancestor)
Distance: 0 - Very Tightly Related
37/37 Your perfect match means you share a common male ancestor with a person who
shares your surname (or variant). Your relatedness is extremely close with the common
ancestor predicted, 50% of the time, in 5 generations or less and over a 90% probability
within 8 generations. Very few people achieve this close level of a match. All confidence
levels are well within the time frame that surnames were adopted in Western Europe.
Distance: 1 - Tightly Related
36/37 You share the same surname (or a variant) with another male and you mismatch
by only one 'point' at only one marker--a 36/37 match. It's most likely that you
matched 24/25 or 25/25 on a previous Y-DNA test and your mismatch will be found
within DYS 576, 570, CDYa or CDYb. Very few people achieve this close level of a
match. Your mismatch is within the range of most well established surname lineages
in Western Europe.
Distance: 2 - Related
35/37 You share the same surname (or a variant) with another male and you mismatch
by only two 'points' --a 35/37 match. It's most likely that you matched 24/25 or
25/25 on previous Y-DNA tests and your mismatch will be found within DYS 439 or
DYS 385 A, 385 B,389-1 and 389-2, from our first panel of 12 markers, or from within
the second panel at DYS #'s 458, 459 a, 459b, 449, or within 464 a-d. If you matched
exactly on previous tests you probably have a mismatch at DYS 576, 570, CDYa or
CDYb in our newest panel of markers. Your mismatch is likely within the range of
most well established surname lineages in Western Europe.
Distance: 3 - Related
34/37 You share the same surname (or a variant) with another male and you mismatch
by three 'points' --a 34/37 match. Because of the volatility within some of the
markers this is slightly tighter then being 11/12 or 23/25 and it's most likely
that you matched 24/25 or 25/25 on previous Y-DNA tests. Your mismatch will most
often be found within DYS 439 or DYS 385 A, 385 B,389-1 and 389-2 from our first
panel of 12 markers, or within the second panel: DYS #'s 458, 459 a, 459b, 449,
or within 464 a-d. If you matched exactly on previous tests you probably have a
mismatch at DYS 576, 570, CDYa or CDYb in our newest panel of markers. Your mismatch
is likely within the range of most well established surname lineages in Western
Europe.
Distance: 4 - Probably Related
33/37 You share the same surname (or a variant) with another male and you mismatch
by four 'points' --a 33/37 match. Because of the volatility within some of the markers
this is about the same as being 11/12 and it's most likely that you matched 23/25
or 24/25 on previous Y-DNA tests. If you matched exactly on previous tests you probably
have a mismatch at DYS 576, 570, CDYa or CDYb in our newest panel of markers. If
several or many generations have passed it is likely that these two lines are related
through other family members. That would require that each line had passed a mutation
and one person would have experienced at least 2 mutations. The only way to confirm
is to test additional family lines and find where the mutations took place. Only
by testing additional family members can you find the person in between each of
you...this 'in betweener' becomes essential for you to find, and without him the
possibility of a match exists, but further evidence must be pursued. If you test
additional individuals you will most likely find that their DNA falls in-between
the persons who are 4 apart demonstrating relatedness within this family cluster
or haplotype.
Distance: 5 - Only Possibly Related
32/37 You share the same surname (or a variant) with another male and you mismatch
by five 'points' --a 32/37 match. It is most likely that you did not 12/12 or 24/25
or 25/25 in previous Y-DNA tests. If several or many generations have passed it
is possible that these two group members are related through other family members.
That would require that each line had experienced separate mutations and one person
would have experienced at least 2 mutations. The only way to confirm or deny is
to test additional family lines and find where the mutation took place. Only by
testing additional family members can you find the person in between each of you...this
'in betweener' becomes essential for you to find, and without him only the possibility
of a match exists, further evidence should be pursued. If you test additional individuals
you must find the person whose DNA results falls in-between the persons that are
5 apart demonstrating relatedness within this family cluster or haplotype.
Distance: 6 - Not Related
31/37 is too far off to be considered related, unless you can find an “in-betweener’
as for determining ‘Only Possibly Related,’ above. It is important to determine
what set of results most typifies the largest number members of the group you are
'close' to matching. You may be 31/37 with an individual, but 34/37 with the center
of the group, and your potential relatedness to him is through the center of the
group.
Distance: > 6 - Not Related
You are not related and the odds greatly favor that you have not shared a common
male ancestor with this person within thousands of years. You are probably even
in different Haplogroups on the Phylogenetic tree of Homo Sapiens.
The above information from our testing company, Family Tree DNA.