So you decided to try Genetic Genealogy!
So now that you want to join a DNA Surname Project who do I test? This is a great question and it depends on what you want to know.
The Paternal Line
To DNA test an actual surname, you must test a male member of your family. You can take the test yourself if you are a male genealogist researching your surname. It is a simple cheek swab that is returned in a supplied mailer. It takes about eight weeks for the results to be posted when you return the sample.
If you are a female genealogist, you must enlist a male in your line, a brother, father, your father's brother, or one of his sons(a cousin). An example would be...you were born a Jones, you must find a male Jones member willing to submit to the cheek swab. It could be your brother or your father. If there are no immediate family members to test, you must look for a brother of your father or the son of your father's brother. You cannot test the son of your father's sister. It must be a straight-line male from your paternal side. If you want to test a nephew, it must be your brother's son, not your sister's.
Click here to see the FTDNA inheritance chart open in a new window.
