Big Y Matches

 

Source: FTDNA. 14 Feb 2026.

The match time tree for cousin Greg's Big Y results shows two matches in the same haplogroup, with a most recent common ancestor born about 1234 CE. The time predictor tool on one match shows a range of 950-1650 CE, likely about 1350. There are also a few Y-37 matches that show a most recent common ancestor at about 1500 to 1550.

I provided a prompt to Claude that we have a Big Y match with STR differences 3 of 590, and what tools could I use to understand if this was an actionable match. The response was "A STR difference of 3 of 590 is actually quite close and could definitely be worth exploring. Here are several tools and approaches you can use to determine if this is an actionable match." I've already looked into the suggestions for using FTDNA's tools on the Block Tree, Match Time Tree and Time Predictor, so I'll skip down to Claude's suggestions on why this could be an actionable match.

"With a 3 of 590 STR difference, this suggests a recent shared ancestor, likely within the past few hundred to perhaps 1,000 years." This is consistent with FTDNA's statistics in the time predictor, and in the image above.

Next, Claude says "check for shared SNPs - do you share any terminal SNPs beyond your haplogroup assignment". This is good and gives me something to check.

"Compare family trees - look for surname matches, geographic overlaps, or common ancestral locations." So far, the surnames do not overlap, but from a geographic location we're dealing with northern Mexico and Spain as common locations.

"Review genetic distance - FTDNA should show a genetic distance value that helps estimate generations to a common ancestor." Also a good suggestion.

Claude recommends the following next steps:

1. Contact the match 
2. Check geographic origins - do the paternal lines come from similar regions? (I'd like to see a bit more information on common regions in Spain).
3. Look at surnames - any surname matches in my own ancestry? (Not yet).
4. Consider STR marker patterns - which specific markers differ? Some mutate faster than others.

I am rewatching the YDNA course on YourDNAGuide, and need to review the modules on STR markers.

Discover Relatives at RootsTech

 

FamilySearch. Relatives at RootsTech.

The countdown is on for RootsTech 2026. Earlier today FamilySearch kicked off the Relatives at RootsTech feature (see YouTube). A screenshot from my own page shows as of this evening there are 13760 participants registered, and of those, 1196 are relatives. I have not yet checked the 2026 version of this feature, but last year most of these were very distant connections.

When I look at the famous relatives feature, most of the suggested ones have an indirect path, but one stands out as we have common ancestors in my 9th-great-grandparents George Read and Elizabeth Martiau (JOGG article PDF) with Queen Elizabeth II.

Another connection through George and Elizabeth is with President George Washington.

As I look at the historical relatives pages, the Relatives at RootsTech count keeps growing (now 1400).

On Streaming: Our Father

 

Wikipedia; Netflix. Our Father (2022).

Our Father is a 2022 documentary currently available for viewing on Netflix. Although this has been available for a while, I recently watched it, and thought the documentary was important to share given the topics of DNA testing and the location of my school age home in Indianapolis. The documentary centers on a woman (Jacoba Ballard) who learns her mother went to a fertility doctor, and the doctor used his own sperm to impregnate unsuspecting patients. Ballard learned through testing on 23andMe that she had eight half-siblings (see this summary on Time from May 2022). The documentary describes her story and several of the half-siblings as they seek justice.

It's not a spoiler that at the end of the documentary, there were 94 half-siblings. Three years later, the sibling count is up to at least 107 (source: Reddit). There is an April 2025 article in the Indiana Capital Chronicle on another lawsuit against the doctor.

I partly watched this because the story is set in Indianapolis. We had moved away from Indy when the story initially broke on this case, so I was not familiar with this at the time. I certainly could have gone to school with people who were of the age of the children involved, who would now be adults. The doctor in the cases and documentary retired in 2009, and DNA testing may continue to reveal additional half-siblings.

The documentary highlights a consequence of DNA testing - relationships that exist will be revealed. Ancestry, MyHeritage and 23andMe have tools that show match relationships. Ancestry shows how matches of matches are connected, and if you have ProTools, it is incredibly powerful for identifying how people through their DNA matches are connected to each other.

Big Y one year later

A year ago I received my Big Y-700 results through FamilyTreeDNA. On my own results I am no closer than last year, as there still are not other Jones testers connected to my line in East Tennessee. As hinted in my last post, cousin Greg has now received the upgraded Big Y results on his Campuzano kit. Unlike my own Jones kit, Greg has two matches on the Block Tree, so now I definitely need to revisit the YDNA materials to understand how or whether these are actionable matches.

Made in Ideogram. A Spanish soldier, 1580.

His new haplogroup is a subclade of the larger R-DF27, which has a high connection to Northern Spain and Basque Country. There's more to do analyzing the results, but this is a promising sign for the links to Spain.

An update on our Spanish YDNA line

 

FTDNA Discover Report for R-BY70696.

Our cousin Greg's YDNA haplogroup has updated, giving a closer in time most recent common ancestor of about 1250 CE. The scientific details page provides a bit more information, showing the range for the most recent common ancestor is 724-1583 CE. The 1500s takes us into the age of the conquistadors and Spanish colonization of Mexico.

FTDNA.

This haplogroup update has arrived before the Big Y 700 results, so perhaps there will be further refinement in the near future.