In an effort to learn more about my family’s history, I’ve ordered several DNA analyses.

First, I ordered an autosomal DNA analysis from Ancestry.com. This test was an attempt to identify missing links in my family tree. Almost every week, Ancestry.com provides me with a list of new potential matches — other customers who tested their DNA who may be third, fourth, or more distant cousins. Since the company provided me with the initial results, I’ve received hundreds of these new potential matches.

I have yet to confirm a relationship with anyone listed as a potential relative. These false positives may be a common problem among those with certain DNA associated with Ashkenazic Jewish ancestry.

The Family Finder DNA test from FamilyTreeDNA provides a similar type of analysis. Again, I have hundreds of matches; in fact, I sent a few emails to those listed as potentially being third cousins, but I’ve received no responses. This is an old service; those who received their results many years ago may no longer be checking the email addresses they provided originally, or just aren’t interested in determining whether there is a relation.

FamilyTreeDNA also offers testing of Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA. The Y-DNA test focuses on patrilineal ancestry. Assuming the analysis is correct, I fall within haplogroup G2c. Or at least, that is what I assumed based on the markers when I received the data from the test. Since then, FamilyTreeDNA has changed the way it describes haplogroups. I am now categorized as G-M201. My testing did not go far enough to determine my specific subgroup within haplogroup G — that would require a more expensive test. Part of haplogroup G migrated from the Middle East into Europe while another part migrated to South Asia.

When I ordered the mitochondrial DNA test from FamilyTreeDNA, I chose to full package, which analyzes the complete mitochondrial DNA sequence. This gives me the fullest picture of my matrilineal ancestry, which I share with my mother, her sister, and her mother’s sister. The designation for my mtDNA haplogroup subclade is K2a2a1. The individual in charge of the haplogroup K community on FamilyTreeDNA contacted me soon after, helping me navigate all the information available.

The image on the right shows the migration path for haplogroup K. The “Eve” indicated on the map isn’t the biblical Eve, it’s Mitocondrial Eve. All mitochondrial DNA can be traced back to this theoretical woman, the most recent common ancestor of all living women, who lived in Africa about 200,000 years ago. The K2a2a1 subclade of haplogroup K is identified as being exclusively Ashkenazi.

In addition to the proposed relatives listed among the Family Finder matches, the Y-DNA and mtDNA tests also provide a list of potential matches. Very few people provide their family trees, however, so it would be almost impossible to determine if there are any close relatives in the system without sending out mass emails.

Taking all the DNA tests into account, I appreciate the idea that I can trace the historical migration of my patrilineal and matrilineal ancestors back to practically the origin of the species, but those two lines make up a small portion of me. Going back four generations, my Y-DNA and mtDNA represent 12.5% of my ancestry (two ancestors of sixteen). Going back eight generations, the same DNA represents only 0.4% of my ancestry (two ancestors of 256). Go back 1,000 years, about 50 generations, and my Y-DNA and mtDNA represent about one five-hundred-trillionth of my total ancestry (assuming there has been no duplication of ancestors, but is also impossible because there were only about 400 million people alive in the year 1000).

That’s the extent of my satisfaction with these DNA tests. So far, the results have done little to identify relatives who might help me build my family tree. There has been one potential close call, but my skeptical nature prevents me from agreeing to a potential relationship without some sort of documentation, or at least some fairly convincing evidence.

In order to determine more about my ancestry and genealogy, I ordered several DNA tests last year. The first was an autosomal DNA test from Ancestry.com. The purpose of this test was to find potential relatives by comparing a large portion of my DNA fingerprint to others who have also provided their DNA to the same project.

The results haven’t been very encouraging. Although the Ancestry.com DNA database seems to be growing very quickly, and I receive a list of new potential every week, since July last year the best match I’ve found so far is a potential third cousin with a confidence level of 98%. As far as I can tell, this does not mean there is a 98% chance of this individual being my third cousin. I don’t know what these numbers really mean, and as I mentioned in an earlier post, I’m part of a community — Ashkenazic Jews — whose DNA tests are more likely to present false matches.

And that’s why I have hundreds of potential matches with Ancestry.com at a confidence level of 96% or higher, listed as potential fourth to sixth cousins. I have checked the families trees of every potential match at this confidence level, for those who make their family trees available to others in the community, and I have yet to find a single confirmed match. The results are a little disappointing, but that doesn’t mean some of these matches aren’t cousins. There are a few obstacles:

• I have details going back only four or five generations for most of my ancestors.
• Most of my potential DNA matches have even less information listed on their trees.
• To confirm a fourth cousin you need to have a great great great grandparent in common, and I only have information about a few of mine.

That may be because many other testers have not provided enough information about their trees, or that my ancestors may have siblings I have not yet discovered, but the results are a little disappointing.

One potential DNA match is a neighbor’s family from my childhood, and we may have found a link based on what might be my second great grandmother’s maiden name, but I have several conflicting records, and there are some other location discrepancies. It might be interesting to find out the girl next door was my third cousin once removed, but this is a long way from being a verifiable fact.

Late in the year, I ordered a similar test from FamilyTreeDNA, which this particular company is branding as “Family Finder.” Because the two companies have different sets of users, in theory, I could find different potential cousins by submitting my DNA to FamilyTreeDNA. Although FamilyTreeDNA supposedly corrects their matching results to take the problem with Ashkenazic DNA into account, my results, provided at the beginning of 2013, identify 230 potential distant relatives and two close relatives — second or third cousins. For the most part, FamilyTreeDNA does not link family trees to DNA, so I can’t peruse potential cousins’ families for matches. Emails to the two potential close relatives have not yet been answered.

What is the point of all this? Why spend so much money for DNA tests to discover cousins? At this point, the discovery of new blood relatives is unlikely to change much in my life. It seems to be for the sake of curiosity only. And with what seems to be such poor results so far, I’m not sure whether there’s a point in continuing to browse through strangers’ family trees looking for a possible connection. At the same time, I haven’t exhausted all resources yet. I have very little information about my ancestors who lived in Russia and Romania.

Sources from Lithuania, England, and Germany have been helpful, but these come from records that are already available online. To go further into my ancestry, I’ll need to find records on the ground in Eastern Europe. Perhaps a potential relative’s family tree provides some clues, like a brother or sister of one of my ancestors I haven’t confirmed yet. The chances seem low, however.