FAQ

The answer depends on what you hope to learn or accomplish with the test.
– If your goal is finding genetic relatives on both sides of your tree, then the AncestryDNA test is the best place to start. Ancestry has the largest database and will give you the most number of matches. You can also download your raw DNA results and upload it to other sites (GEDmatch, FTDNA, etc).
– If you are trying to go back more than 5 or 6 generations, then a Y-Chromosome DNA test from FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA) is the best solution. They have many different levels of Y-DNA testing, and we recommend the Y-37 (37 markers) as the minimum starting point. You can always upgrade (without retesting) if you need a more exacting analysis.
– If your goal is just to find out if you are German or Scottish, then save your money. Although this is the feature that is most advertised to the public, it is the least informative. If you go back 6 generations, then your tree is 64 people wide. On average, each of those 64 people contributes less than 1.6% of your DNA. If your heritage analysis claims that you are 2% Viking, that may be an interesting fact and story, but it probably won’t help you build your tree, and it won’t tell you which branch of your tree it came from.
– Our article “DNA Testing: A Case Study With Staggering Conclusions” provides a detailed comparison of the major DNA testing and analysis companies.

DNA is not a requirement for genealogy. Our ancestors did all of their genealogy research without the benefit of DNA. Our recommendation is to start building your tree at WikiTree.com, which is a free site. Two good free research sites are FamilySearch.org and FindAGrave.com. Don’t overlook the older members of your family, and be sure to check grandma’s family bible. It was customary of many of our ancestors to record all family births, marriages, and deaths in the family bible. Cousins, aunts, and uncles can be good sources too.

Primarily out of respect for their privacy. WikiTree provides some rules and guidelines regarding privacy, and they have 7 privacy levels. One rule is that the profiles for living people (who are not members) should be set to “Unlisted,” which is the highest level. If it is your own personal profile, then YOU can choose to adjust the privacy level. I personally have mine set to the 3rd level (7 being the highest) which is “Private with Public Biography and Family Tree.” It is the most liberal setting for living people, and to me, it makes the most sense for an active genealogist. The lowest privacy setting is “Open” and is required for any person born more than 150 years ago or died more than 100 years ago. Everything else is a gray area. The US Census national archives have a 72-year rule – details are not released until 72 years after census day. That means census records up through 1940 are available today. The 1950 census details will become available in April 2022.