The most basic test offered by many DNA testing services is a 12 marker test. Using a 12 marker test you can determine whether or not two people are related.
So long as your surname is the same, and your genetic distance is not greater than 1, then two people can assume that they are related. This means that if you and I compare our 12 marker results, and all of them match, or all but 1 of them match within 1 number (11 versus 10 or 12, but not 9 or 13).
But the caveat is that if this proves to be true you probably need additional tests to look for more relevant indications of a true match.
What did we learn here? Well our results produced more than 600 possible matches with a genetic distance of 0 or 1, but none with a Whitehead surname. But a trend does emerge if you look at the data broader. Of the 640 exact matches, 97% believe their origin to be in the British Isles (England, Ireland, Scotland, or Wales) with Ireland being the dominant location at 60%. If you expand to the 1 mutation level the percentages only drop by 1% for each category. |
Other than the obvious that a 25 marker test includes 13 more markers than a 12 marker test, what do we learn at this level of testing? Well the first thing to understand is that currently fewer people have paid for test with more markers. So you are really going for a smaller subset of the 12 marker group each time you move up the marker count, but with more definitive data.
At the 25 marker group we have only 64 exact matches, and if we expand to 1 mutation the number grows to 223. In the exact match group only 1 person was from outside the British Isles, and 58 of the 64 were from either Ireland (32) or Scotland (25). In the 1 step mutation level the numbers were just as dramatic, with 220 of the 223 people being identified with the British Isles, and Ireland (135) and Scotland (52) still dominant.
What more did we learn here than at the 12 marker level? The first thing we start to notice is that the more markers we test the more we narrow our search down to Ireland and Scotland. Not that our immediate immigrant Whitehead ancestors had to leave there for the United States, but that our deep roots are probably in one of the two. |
Things get tougher at the 37 marker test for several reasons. First of all many people question testing up this many markers, and second you are starting to get into more serious testing costs, especially if you had to buy the tests piecemeal as many of us did.
Our results at 37 markers eliminate all countries of origin other than Ireland and Scotland, even though we have no matches closer than a 2 step mutation, and it was two individuals in Scotland. At the three step mutation Ireland and Scotland were both in play with 3 individuals matching from each country. At 4 step mutations we were still limited to Ireland and Scotland, but Ireland now had 9 matches to Scotland's 6.
Do I feel I am still learning anything here that I did not know back at 25 markers, "Yes." Unfortunately what I learned at the 37 marker testing limit was a negative. Since no person tested was any closer than a two step mutation, and we did not share the same surname, then in all likelihood I have no tested relatives at this juncture. But, my directional leaning toward Ireland and Scotland are still hanging in there and I am looking for more. |
If you thought things were tough at 37 markers, just wait on 67. The debate among researchers now gets hot and heavy. The primary reason is that a person with a 2 step mutation at 37 markers has the same likelihood of being related as a person matching 65 of 67 markers at the 67 marker testing level. It gets only slightly better for someone who is a perfect match.
But I think we overlook two factors at this testing level. First, testing an additional 30 markers will force many to drop out of the running. And second, unless we test at 67 markers and make the results available the knowledge of 67 marker matches will never be there. It is a bit like a game where everyone waits on the other person to make the first move, and everyone loses because nobody ever moves.
Our closest match at this testing level was at three step mutations, and of course from the 37 marker test you know they have to be from Ireland and Scotland, with just about equal numbers from both. But I learned something about ancestral marker testing at this level that was worth all the money that I will explain below. |
If you think the debate on marker testing is heated, just wait until you do your deep haplogroup testing. Opinions range from "wasted effort" to "real confirmation."
I tend to lean toward the "real confirmation" side of the argument because I did not find any surname matches among those tested. To me it is a bit like finding information in the census, birth certificates, and military registration that almost agrees. In those cases I look for additional confirmation until I settle on something. So at this point armed with my 67 marker test I am 99% sure my family is from the British Isles area, most likely Ireland or Scotland.
But my haplogroup was identified as R1b1, the most common group in Europe, so this tells you nothing. Then Family Tree DNA offered additional testing to further define your haplogroup which I took several months ago. In this test (which took two tries because of bad swaps) I further sort out to be R1b1c7.
R1b1c7 is a specific group of people known to have lived in Northern Ireland, so in my mind I am starting to sort my family out as originally Irish in origin and not Scottish, and for sure not English as had been family lore. |
More confirmation was just around the corner for the potential Irish roots. Way back at the 37 marker testing level I received a note from Family Tree DNA that my markers carried a unique pattern believed to belong to an ancient Irish War Lord named "Niall of the Nine Hostages."
To some degree this has to be speculative because no one can test good old Niall. But tests have been run which prove that 1 in every 12 Irishmen carries a common set of markers that scientists believe can be traced to this one man. He lived around 400 AD, so there have been enough generations to know that if you have just a few mutations you are definitely related.
So just how close are my markers? Based on the research done at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland I am a perfect match all the way up through 25 markers, 37 markers, and finally all the way to 67 markers. So to the degree that they have correctly identified the Niall of the Nine Hostages DNA, I am a match.
So what? For me this points me toward Ireland as a starting point if I want to work our Whitehead line from both ends. I might discover later that I need to look in other areas of the British Isles for answers, but I know around 400 AD we were in Northern Ireland. I also now understand just how slowly DNA markers mutate. Assuming this information is correct, then my DNA has not deviated from the Niall of the Nine Hostates by a single marker in 1,600 years. |
I read recently that when we do genealogical research we should never overlook the obvious. Examples given were that before there were surnames, people often had names associated with physical characteristics or locations.
It is a true shot in the dark to believe that my family is from Whitehead, Ireland but when we were in Ireland last year I had to see it.
Whitehead is a seacoast town about fifteen miles west of Belfast. While we were there the weather was not great, but the town had the feel of a small Sausalito, California with many houses right down on the beach front.
From what we could tell the town is predominately Protestant. Thanks to our cab driver the trip there gave us a real lesson in the politics of Northern Ireland.
If your surname is Whitehead, and you have Irish roots, and you are going to Ireland, by all means go to Whitehead, Ireland.
Views of Whitehead, Ireland. |
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