How to Pick the Right Genetic Genealogy Tests for Your Family Tree

Compare top genetic genealogy tests and learn when to use them to fit your ancestry research goals in this excerpt from Richard Hill’s Finding Family.

Choosing among the wide array of genetic genealogy tests on the market can quickly feel overwhelming—especially when each platform offers a completely different set of features, tools, and database sizes. Whether you are trying to break through a lineage brick wall, trace a direct paternal or maternal line, or simply find close living relatives, knowing how to evaluate genetic genealogy tests for your specific research goals is key. In this featured excerpt from his acclaimed book Finding Family, pioneer Richard Hill breaks down the major genealogy platforms along with specialized Y-DNA and mtDNA options to help you select the right genetic tests for your time and budget.

Editor’s Note: DNA testing technology and database sizes evolve rapidly. While database numbers have grown significantly since initial publication (for example, AncestryDNA now exceeds 25 million users), Richard Hill’s strategic framework for choosing genetic genealogy tests based on research goals remains a timeless guide for family historians.

Comparing the atDNA Tests

Not everyone has the need or the budget to do every test. The following summary briefly notes the major strengths and limitations of each test.

AncestryDNA

Thanks to massive amounts of TV advertising, AncestryDNA has the largest DNA database (over four million people and growing). They also have the most users with posted family trees, which can be nicely integrated with DNA results. Genetic Communities™ is an exciting new feature.

This test lacks fundamental analysis features such as segment data and a chromosome browser. To fully benefit from the family tree integration features, you need to pay extra for a subscription.

Family Finder

Family Finder includes more useful tools for analyzing your genetic matches than any other test. Plus, nearly all your genetic matches will be identified by real names instead of usernames. You also get email addresses for direct correspondence. There are real advantages to having multiple family members in this database, and you should make sure to include every tested relative.

Family Finder has a smaller database than AncestryDNA and 23andMe. But a generous program offering free or low-cost transfers from those two tests is rapidly expanding the database.

23andMe

23andMe is the only genealogical testing company to offer health reports as an option. Yet their ancestry-only version is competitively priced. Their Ancestry Composition report offers a more detailed breakdown of European ethnic ancestry. It’s also the only one of the four basic autosomal tests to report your maternal haplogroup and (for males) your paternal haplogroup.

Since many 23andMe users only tested for the health reports, you will encounter more anonymous users and probably see a lower response rate when attempting to contact your matches for genealogy purposes. Yet the database is so big that some degree of success is virtually certain.

MyHeritage DNA

Unlike the first three atDNA tests, MyHeritage DNA is based outside the United States. Ultimately, this should mean more participation from Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. They also accept transfers for free.

As the newest option, it has the smallest database of DNA testers. Like AncestryDNA, the best features require a subscription to their records service.

Living DNA

I did not mention Living DNA earlier because it does not (at the time of this writing) report on your genetic matches. Essentially, it is an expanded ethnic ancestry test for people with significant British ancestry. It breaks down your DNA mix across eighty world regions, including twenty-one in Britain and Ireland.

The British breakdown is based on the People of the British Isles Project of the University of Oxford. That study collected blood samples from 4,500 people in rural populations all over the United Kingdom. They focused on people whose parents and grandparents were all born in the same locality. For more information, visit https://www.livingdna.com/en-us/.

atDNA Summary

What is checked? A half million or more DNA locations in the DNA inherited from both parents.

Principle Uses:

• Find relatives that share a common ancestor in any branch of your family tree within five generations or sometimes more.
• Confirm close relationships out to second cousins and often beyond.
• Measure percentage of ethnic ancestry from different regions of the world.

Strengths:

• Huge databases growing fast with millions of people already tested.
• More conclusive than old technology “sibling” or “kinship” tests for confirming close relationships.

Limitations:

• Some relatives at third cousin level and beyond may not share enough DNA to show up as matches.
• Those born outside the USA and children of recent immigrants may find few matches.
• If ancestors married cousins or were part of close-knit ethnic groups, your matches may appear to be more closely related than they really are.

Recommended Tests:

• 23andMe
• Family Finder
• AncestryDNA
• MyHeritageDNA

Other DNA Tests Worth Considering

Family Tree DNA offers several tests in addition to the Family Finder autosomal test. I have done them all and can recommend them for the purposes described here.

Since this company offers multiple tests, they will attempt to save the DNA from your first test for up to twenty-five years. When you order additional tests, you won’t have to provide a new sample.

Be sure to test your older relatives now on one of the Family Tree DNA tests. Have them name a beneficiary in their account. When even better DNA tests become available in the future, someone in the family can have the stored DNA tested.

A transfer of autosomal data from another test only gets you into Family Finder. They need an actual DNA sample to do any other test.

Y-DNA Testing

Because the Y chromosome passes from father to son with only an occasional mutation, Y-DNA testing can identify or confirm men in your paternal line.

Since surnames usually don’t change along paternal lines, a man’s closest matches in a Y-DNA database will often share his surname. That characteristic of a Y-DNA test will provide male adoptees with the surname of their biological father almost 40 percent of the time.

Matches on a Y-DNA test will be labeled with a genetic distance number. The smaller the number (zero is best), the more likely that your common ancestor lived within a traceable number of generations.

Whom Should You Test?   

Only men have the Y chromosome necessary for this test. Yet females can often participate in Y-DNA testing by sampling a living male in their paternal line. This could be a father, a brother, a father’s brother, or a son of a father’s brother.   

This test will also determine your Y-DNA haplogroup, which identifies the ancient origins of your direct paternal line.   

How Many Markers to Order?

Family Tree DNA will test 37, 67, or 111 markers. A 37-marker test is adequate much of the time, though many men are now testing 67 markers. An upgrade to 111 markers is useful only if you have too many close matches on the first 67 markers. You can upgrade to more markers later without submitting a new sample.

Y-DNA Summary

What is checked? A man’s Y chromosome inherited from his father.

Principle Uses:

• Find male relatives that share a common ancestor in your direct paternal line.
• Confirm that a given man is in your paternal line.
• Determine paternal line haplogroup for ancient ancestry.

Strengths:

• Your matches must share a common paternal line ancestor with you.
• Matches can often reveal birth father’s surname.

Limitations:

• Only males can be tested.
• Checks only the paternal line.
• Common ancestors may have lived hundreds of years ago.
• The time to your most recent common ancestor can only be estimated.

Recommended Tests: Y-DNA 37 or Y-DNA 67 at Family Tree DNA   

Y-DNA SNP Testing   

The traditional Y-DNA testing mentioned above looks at markers called STRs. Using a tree analogy to represent the paternal lineage of all human males, Y-STRs help you identify your family’s leaf.

Y-SNPs, on the other hand, define branches on the male tree. The larger branches split thousands of years ago and have continued to split into smaller branches. Scientists describe all this branching with haplogroups and subclades.   

While SNPs identify our ancient ancestry, they have not been relevant to genealogy. But that is changing.   

New tests such as Family Tree DNA’s Big Y test are now uncovering thousands of previously unknown SNPs. Many of these define more recent branches, and some may even be able to distinguish among different families with the same surname.   

Cutting-Edge Research   

SNP testing is not for beginners. It’s on the cutting edge of genetic genealogy. The Big Y test costs several hundred dollars, and interpreting your results will be difficult until Family Tree DNA and the various haplogroup project managers finish analyzing massive amounts of new data.   

But if you’ve already learned as much as you can from Y-STR testing and want to participate in a new science adventure, log into your account at Family Tree DNA and order the Big Y test.

mtDNA Testing

The method that connects people in the maternal line is mtDNA testing. Since a mother passes on her mtDNA to all her children, both males and females can take this test.

You may discover a lot of matches in a database of mtDNA test results. But mtDNA mutates more slowly than Y-DNA. So even close mtDNA matches may not share a direct maternal line ancestor in the last few hundred years.

Plus, a female’s surname typically changes every generation. Because of these factors, the common ancestors responsible for mtDNA matches may be more difficult to identify than in the case of Y-DNA testing.

The Ultimate mtDNA Test

While the basic mtDNA test will identify your base haplogroup, telling you where in the world your direct maternal line lived tens of thousands of years ago, you need to do the mtFullSequence test to have any genealogical significance. This is the only mtDNA test that covers 100 percent of your mtDNA.   

Only Family Tree DNA offers that test.

mtDNA Summary

What is checked? Mitochondrial DNA inherited from your mother.

Principle Uses:

• Find relatives that share a common ancestor in your direct maternal line.
• Confirm that a given person is in your maternal line.
• Determine maternal line haplogroup for ancient ancestry.

Strengths: Your close matches share a common maternal line ancestor with you.

Limitations:

• Checks only maternal line.
• Surname changes increase difficulty of finding common ancestors.
• Common ancestors may have lived thousands of years ago.
• The time to your most recent common ancestor can only be estimated.

Recommended Tests: mtFullSequence at Family Tree DNA

Your Overall Testing Strategy

Invest most of your time and money with the atDNA tests: AncestryDNA, Family Finder, 23andMe, and MyHeritage DNA.

If you are interested in a direct paternal line and have a suitable male to test, order the 37-marker or 67-marker Y-DNA test at Family Tree DNA.

Treat mtDNA testing as your lowest priority, unless you have a specific goal to prove or disprove that two people share a direct maternal line ancestor.

Stick with the Top Companies   

You can accomplish all your genetic genealogy goals by testing with the companies mentioned in this guide.   

No other companies offer a comparable autosomal test, and those that offer Y-DNA or mtDNA testing have far smaller databases and less robust comparison tools.   

Don’t Waste Your Money

Many companies are still offering old-technology tests that don’t live up to their promises. One example is the so-called sibling or kinship test that can only estimate the probability of certain close relationships based on a handful of markers.

Such tests are inconclusive at best and misleading at worst. In Finding Family, you saw how this type of test pointed to the wrong man as my birth father.

Instead, use one of the new autosomal tests I describe here, and you will measure the amount of DNA two people have in common.

There is another old-technology test with a name that is quite like AncestryDNA that is often advertised through Groupon. Don’t fall for it. Use the websites in this guide to ensure that you are getting to the correct tests.

Avoid any DNA test that claims to place you in a specific tribe, either Native American or African, or promises to trace your ancestry to a specific village. Such tests are based on very small samples, and the results are more wishful thinking than science.

Ready to dig deeper? Unlock your DNA discovery strategy with the book.

^{Excerpt from Finding Family by Richard Hill.}