Is a y DNA test different from the DNA test I already took ,it being a general test I guess???
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@CharmaineAndrews stapp
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Charmaine
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Once again ...
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As an aside ...
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Due to the nature of your 'Question' ...
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I am AGAIN "Tagging" this (General) 'Question' of yours in this "Community.FamilySearch" Forum, SOME specific 'Groups' in the Forum being:
(1) "Adoption and Unknown Family Research"; and,
(2) "Genetic Genealogy Research"; and,
(3) "Genealogy and the Y Chromosome",
in the hope that, the members of those groups may be able to answer/assist you.
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Brett
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@Adoption and Unknown Family Research
@Genetic Genealogy Research
@Genealogy and the Y Chromosome
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You probably took took an autosomal test. That includes all chromosomes except for the Y chromosome, which only men have. Because only men have it, only men can take the test. Because only men have it, it always comes from their fathers -- all the way back. Therefore, it says something about the tester's father, paternal grandfather, paternal great-grandfather, and all the way back -- the same way surnames conventionally pass in our society. Therefore, they're great for surname studies.
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As Michael sas above, Y is a separate test. While autosomal tests like you most likely took are good in general for about the past 4-6 generations, the Y tests tend to be finding you matches in the last few thousand years. Some families are very well tested and in those cases, we are finding matches in the last several hundred years at this point. That will continue to get closer to today as more people test.
You can essentially test a male from each "surname" in the western tradition. So your father's surname, your mother's maiden name, your maternal grandfather, your paternal and maternal grandmother's maiden names, etc. You just need to track down a living male who descends from that line.
I look at taking these tests as adding a genealogical record to the databases. We all use those records, and it is kind of cool to add some back in.
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