Tracing Surnames or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Balkin

My last name is Balkin. Your last name is not Balkin. This makes researching the surname Balkin very difficult.

These three sentences are all you need to know about the frustrations you will feel when you decide to research your surname.

There are admittedly a few Balkins around the world. For example, if you Google my name, you will find me. However, you will also find that I am an Australian entrepreneur who seems to be, at least on the internet, far more successful. My aunt has been inviting me every year to Passover dinner via email. She always wondered why I never showed up and I always wondered why she doesn't like me. This was the case until she realized she had been emailing Australian me the entire time. This is not part of the topic at all. I apologize.

When researching your surname, if your surname is not Balkin, then you're off to a really good start. So, go research!

DNA testing should be a supplement to your research. Y-DNA testing is recommended for possibly tracing your surname. Autosomal DNA can sometimes be used for tracing a surname (I'll get into that in a later post). mtDNA should NEVER be used for this purpose. mtDNA testing will frustrate you. I'm not just talking in terms of tracing a surname. I'm talking in terms of tracing anything ever. mtDNA is the genealogical equivalent of municipal traffic laws. It's super frustrating but sometimes necessary.

Back to Y-DNA. If you don't already know, you have to be male to test. This was not my decision. I had a caller once that yelled at me for about 25 minutes because we were being sexist by not letting her test. I was at a loss for words but I think I eventually blamed lawn gnomes this social injustice.

If you are not male, you will need a male paternal relative to test (ie. brother, father, father's brother, father's brother's son, etc.). If you are able to get a Y-DNA test and look at your results, your match list may (or may not) surprise you. This leads to another genetic genealogy misconception that needs to be corrected: Your Y-DNA matches will very likely not all share the same surname.

Simply because your matches have different surnames does not mean that tracing a surname is impossible. If your match list consists of a bunch of different surnames and you recognize none of them, look for patterns. Look to see if you can see, among the matches, a group that all share the same, or similar, surname. Once you have done this, click on Projects at the top and see if a project exists corresponding to this name. If so, join the project to see 1. if you fit among other members and 2. if you can email the project administrator(s) for more possible information.

Another important aspect is marker level. For example, 37 marker matches are more closely related than 12. Also, let's say you have a lot of similar surname matches at the 37 level. You likely descend from whatever surname this is within a closer amount of time than if you have a group of surname matches at the 12 marker level. This is especially true if this surname is different than the one at 37.

The principal reasons why your matches do not share your surnames can vary. A common reason is non-paternity events (ie. adoptions, illegitimate births, etc.) Another reason could be changed immigration records, changed birth records, and a variety of other possibilities. Finally, modern surnames have only been around for a few hundred years and your matches can potentially share common ancestry with you going back as many as about 600 years. This means that while surnames have only been around roughly 300 years or so (this can vary), the ancestry you share with these matches can go much deeper (up to 600 years). Because of this, your matches may have unrecognizable surnames.

If you do have a lot of matches with the same, or similar surname (whether it's your surname or not), this is great (hopefully)! Contact them. Respond to them if they contact you. This is genealogy! This is sharing information with family! This is the reason I'm currently employed!

Your test results are a direct reflection of you as a person (and common misconceptions about results)

Before I took my first DNA test, I was a relatively well-adjusted late twentysomething living in the Houston, TX suburbs. I had just lost some weight, had a nice job, and had relatively decent hygiene. I took my complimentary test on my first day of work here (as a perk) and didn't think much of it. I left the conference room where the testing was administered and headed to the restroom to do restroom-type activities. How was I supposed to know that, on the other side of the office wall, my tiny samples were all being transferred to the lab as part of a sinister plot to destroy my humanity? Here, this is what I looked like before I tested:

After I was notified of my results, I went into my account and viewed them. I was no longer a decent guy from the suburbs. I was now a grotesque, reptile-like creature who fed solely off of small bugs and low-hanging fruits from within the deep interior of the Amazon rainforest. If another snake saw me as a match, they would change their match settings. Here is a photo of me from just after my results came in:

Look away! I'm hideous!

This overly-dramatic introduction is meant to show that nothing and nobody else can change who you are. A DNA test may uncover clues as to where you came from, but where you are now, and where you are going, are completely up to you. It is really easy for me to sit here and say that not to worry if your father doesn't show up as a match to you. That can potentially be devastating. My only point is that a test result should not ever negatively affect the way you feel about yourself. It won't take away your accomplishments and shouldn't alter your well-being.

I've had customers over the years that their percentage breakdown has a percentage they don't want/believe or they have a match they don't want or don't have a match they do. If you go back far enough, everyone matches everyone and all of our percentages are the same.

That being said, it can be jarring to uncover something you were not aware of. There are some misconceptions regarding 'surprising' results. This will not cover all of them.

First, Y-DNA haplogroups are being reported shorthand now (Haplogroup-Terminal SNP/ie: I-M253). If this is your haplogroup, all of your Y-DNA matches should be the same general group as you (I). However, even an extremely close match may not share the same Terminal SNP as you (M253). You could have a perfect match that is I-L287. Your haplogroup is the same! However, your perfect match may have had a different level of SNP testing, which would cause this to happen. This is no cause for concern.

Second, if you are tracing a specific ancestral group, and it doesn't show in your results, this doesn't necessarily mean that you do not have it. As I had hinted at in an earlier post, genetic testing cannot always disprove ancestry. If you know you have Native American ancestry and your autosomal percentage breakdown does not show a Native American percentage, this simply means that you did not inherit enough Native American markers from your recent ancestors to meet the testing system's minimum percentage requirements. It is not definitely saying you have no Native American ancestry.

Third, if a cousin does not show as a match, this does not necessarily mean they are not a cousin. This is more in regards to autosomal testing. With this test, because it is based on genetic markers you randomly inherited, there is about a 99% chance that two 2nd cousins or closer will match, about a 90% chance that two 3rd cousins will match, about a 50% chance that two 4th cousins will match, and only about a 10% chance that two 5th cousins will match. This leaves a considerable amount of room for some 3rd, 4th, etc. relatives to not show.

There are many more examples and I will cover them in later posts.

Now that you are the exact same person you were before you read this and before you tested, enjoy the rest of your afternoon!

Breaking Genetic Distance

Contrary to unsubstantiated scientific evidence, 'Genetic Distance' does not refer to the length (in miles) at which you try to distance yourself from that uncle you have. You know the one. Take a shower Uncle Jake!

Also, despite a more common belief, 'Genetic Distance' does not directly correlate with generations. I mean it!

Look how serious I am! In my semi-formal attire! Simply because you and a genetic match share a genetic distance of 1 does not necessarily mean that they are your father.

Genetic distance simply refers to the number of mutations between yourself and another individual. Therefore, the greater the number, the more distant the relationship. A genetic distance of 0 refers to a 'perfect match'.

Genetic Distance or 'Steps' is actually prevalent in all 3 of genetic genealogy's main tests.

Regarding Y-DNA testing, it refers to the amount of Y-DNA markers you do not share with a match. This is easy to interpret in Y-DNA because of comparison charts that are available. When looking at FTDNA's matches, for example, clicking on the small orange box to the right of a match's name will reveal a percentage probability of how distant the match likely is. This is based on number of generations. This data is computed using marker level, genetic distance, and mutation rates of individual markers.

Regarding mtDNA testing within FTDNA, genetic distance is used only at the Coding Region (highest level) of matching. At this level, matches, regardless of genetic distance, can typically go back as many as about 16-24 generations. The greater the genetic distance, the closer to 24 and the smaller, the closer to 16, or even closer.

Regarding Autosomal DNA testing, genetic distance exists only within the context of the size of an individual genetic segment that you share with a match.

This topic, however, does not exist within a vacuum and genetic distance, along with any one factor, must be taken into the context of the subject. If a match has a genetic distance of 4 at 37 markers, the comparison chart may show that the relationship likely goes back as many as 15 generations, when you know he's your 2nd cousin. Everything is about probability, and while it's not likely that your 2nd paternal cousin has a genetic distance of 4 at 37 markers, it's possible. Genetic genealogy is much better at proving things than disproving them. For example, it can't necessarily disprove that you and another person are 12th cousins, but it may be able to prove that there's a relationship there somewhere.

No matter how big of of a genetic distance you wish you shared with your Uncle Jake, your test results show it's actually 0, and your crowded voicemail inbox shows that it's time to invite him for dinner.