Shared Matches of Matches
Do you ever feel overwhelmed? I’m feeling a bit like that right now after signing up for two of Your DNA Guide’s courses. While I enjoy the structure of the courses—especially the ability to re-watch videos and complete guided practice (or “homework”)—it can still feel like a lot to take in.
For example, I recently finished the videos for Unit 4 of the Shared Matches of Matches course. I understood the steps but had trouble visualizing how they would help. My confusion stemmed from focusing on what I shared with the match, rather than what the match shared with others.
So, I decided to put the lesson into practice with my own DNA matches. I found a ‘mystery match’ who shares 189 cM with me. According to Ancestry, this person is likely a half second cousin on my dad’s side. When I checked our shared matches, it confirmed the relationship on my dad’s side and suggested that we might share a common ancestor in my great-grandparents.
As I looked through the shared matches, I found a group of four matches who each share more than 400 cM with my ‘mystery match’.
At first, I didn’t realize it, but Ancestry is actually predicting a relationship between my ‘mystery match’ and our shared matches.
Even though my ‘mystery match’ used initials instead of a full name, the information from our shared matches allowed me to identify them as someone already in my genealogy file. This was a true ‘Aha!’ moment—not only did I grasp the process, but I could also clearly see how it could help with other, more distant DNA matches.
Now, I just need to finish watching the remaining videos and complete the homework so I can learn how to properly log the steps and tackle more ‘mystery matches.’