DNA: 7 - FAQ
Q: My surname is not Dowling yet I am connected by a Y-DNA test to Dowling's, what is going on?
Y-DNA follows the male line, you, your father and your father's father and so on. We often expect it to follow surnames, and use it as a guide to surname lineage but Y-DNA does NOT actually follow surnames it follows the blood!
If your Y-DNA test is suggesting that you come from Dowling's with matches [or if you are a Dowling and your test suggests you are not connected to a Dowling] there is probably what is called and NPE. A NPE (Non-Paternity Event) is probably far better described as an MPE (Mis-attributed Paternity Event), this is where someone's actual father is not the person they think it is, or the records say it is. So, at any stage down your male line, an event could have happened, for example, adoption, a name-change, or the mother had a male child from a father other than her husband [my technical expression for this is 'shenanigans' but their could be different reasons for this and not all of them negative].
Remember, if your connection is via a very old DNA haplogroup, they didn't have surnames then! In Ireland surnames came about around the 10th century.
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Q: Does it matter which DNA test I take?
Yes. It depends on what you want to find out of course, but each test is different and tests a different part of the human cell.
The Y-DNA tests the male line only, it has important mutations but is pretty much identical for thousands of generations (expensive).
The mt-DNA tests the female line only, it has important mutations but is pretty much identical for thousands of generations (expensive).
The at-DNA tests both male and female lines but only back 4 or 5 generations with accuracy (cheaper). Good for recent relatives and cousins. Note there is an X-DNA but that is often packaged in with at-DNA to sort some of the results into maternal or paternal lines.
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Q: I have already taken a DNA test but do not know which one?
The probability is that if you had a Y-DNA or mt-DNA you would know it because it cost you dearly and you tested with a company that distinguishes the difference. If you are a Dowling or connect to one by all means contact me and we will try to find out for sure but my guess would be that, if you don't know, it is highly likely an at-DNA test. This is because it is cheaper and often bought as a present or a first dip into the apparently complicated world of DNA testing.
Importantly, some companies ONLY do at-DNA tests and pass it off as a THE "DNA Test" as if it is the one-and-only definitive test when that is just not true. I can only surmise they do this because they feel the public cannot understand the difference and if they are confused they may go to another company that does all the tests and/or because they only want to market the product they sell.
So, if you can't tell on the company's website it is probably at-DNA. Some companies use another name to describe their at-DNA test, for example, 'Family Finder', I guess "autosomal DNA test" is not catchy enough for a product!
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Q: I have taken an at-DNA and a Y-DNA, my at-DNA connects me to a Dowling father and grandfather but Y-DNA does not, what is going on there?
As above, there is a 'shenanigan' alert here! The at-DNA only goes back with accuracy to 4 or 5 generations, 6 at a push (but the material from that far back is tiny and could mean anything). So, track your documentary ancestors as far back as you can to Dowling's but at some stage the Y-DNA tells you that your male ancestor was not probably not a Dowling. This is a simple answer and I would need to see the results.
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Q: I have taken an at-DNA and a Y-DNA, my at-DNA does NOT connect me to Dowling's but Y-DNA does strongly show Dowlings in my matches, what is going on here?
As above, there is a 'shenanigan' alert here! The at-DNA only goes back with accuracy to 4 or 5 generations, 6 at a push (but the material from that far back is tiny and could mean anything). So, track your documentary ancestors as far back as you can and see if you connect to Dowling's but the connection to a male Dowling is likely to be after 5 generations. This is a simple answer and I would need to see the results.
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Q: I have taken an at-DNA and have a Dowling in the matches but none I know of in my male line?
There could be 'shenanigans' here but it look a little early to comment for sure. In this case the Dowling's could be in your mother's line! Remember that the at-DNA test gives results on your father AND mother's side for about 4 or 5 generations.
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Q: Which DNA test should I get?
If you can afford it, get them all. If you can afford it, get the tests for your oldest living relatives (you may not get another chance!).
If money is an issue start with an at-DNA test as that can corroborate what you know already or throw-up some interesting questions for investigation to test the accuracy of what you thought you knew. It can get expensive but you can test other people to test a hypothesis. The at-DNA estimates of ethnicity are, in my opinion, suspect as they use a muddle of quite small to tiny amounts of DNA as the generations get older. If the popular 'must have' birthday gift in Finland was an DNA test then a little later we would all find ourselves related to the Finnish!
Then, if you are interested in the male surname, go for a Y-DNA test (this in itself comes in different levels). IF YOU ARE FEMALE you cannot do this test, so test your father, brother or nearest male relative. The Y-DNA test give a good estimate of ethnicity but may differ from the mt-DNA.
If you are interested in the family diversity this is often evident in the mt-DNA test of the female line (men and women can do this). The surnames, of course, change with every generation. The mt-DNA test gives a good estimate of ethnicity but may differ from the Y-DNA.
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Q: OK, I'll get a Y-DNA test but which one should I get?
If you can afford it, get the biggest you can as that includes the lower tests. If money is an object get the cheaper lower level but try to stretch to Y-DNA67. If you get a lower level test you will get a Y-DNA result and if you then order a deeper test it will not change the result just refine it. So if a Y-DNA67 test says you are connected to haplogroup 12345 than a Y-DNA111 test with not change that result but may additionally show that you are in a sub-group of haplogroup 12345 called sub-clade abcde. This may allow you to connect more precisely to some matches.
The more expensive the test the less people have taken the test so the number of matches drops off at a high level. In the future we are expecting that the Y-DNA test will have an option of being complete (even though the meaningful data for family research needs only some of the data); I wouldn't put-off getting a Y-DNA test to wait for the Y-DNA full test.
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Q: What is a haplogroup?
This definition is really important for your DNA understanding. A haplogroup is a major branch on the tree of humankind. Haplogroups are associated with early human migrations and many are linked to certain regions of the world.
What distinguishes a haplogroup is a DNA mutation. All those of you who test that show a particular mutation are related by that mutation and put in the haplogroup.
Really Important: a haplogroup is a group and NOT a single individual.
You will be connected to a 'tree' of haplogroups. You can follow them back to the 'Chromosomal Adam'.
The value that denotes a haplogroup is called a haplotype. A sub-group of a haplogroup (that is, it shares a mutation and common ancestor) is called a 'clade'. A sub group of a clade is... you guessed a 'sub-clade'.
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