To date. I have 110,981 matches. I have 110,981 people in the Ancestry.com DNA data that match my DNA in some way. That number astonishes me, but it’s not nearly as astonishing to me as the number of people that are 4th cousin or closer. There are 3,265 and counting. I still look a few times a week to see if I have any ‘new’ family.
4th cousin or closer is defined as people with whom you share great-great-great grandparents. You could share a “complete” set of great-great-great grandparents, or just one great-great-great grandparents. It’s pretty mind-blowing. Equally mind-blowing is that I only know people on my mom’s side up to 3rd cousin. Argh, it’s so confusing. Here’s a chart:
Ancestry.com matches you within a few categories: Close Family, 1st Cousin, 2nd Cousin, 3rd Cousin, 4th Cousin and 5th and higher. My first surprise was in the 2nd Cousin category. That is where I found my Great-Aunt. In that same category or closer, I have 28 people that I share DNA with on this site. I know 5; my two nephews, my 1st cousin (mom’s sister’s daughter) and 2 other cousins on my maternal grandfather’s side. So that meant I have 23 new people on my paternal side.
When I discovered my who my paternal grandparents were, I also found out they both came from very large families and that makes up for the other 3,260 people in my story.
The one person that responded and helped me figure out who my paternal grandfather was sends pictures every now and then. This one is of her Uncle Gene (my paternal grandfather), his wife and 4 of their 5 kids.
Reddish hair! But it could be dyed. And man-o-man, my dad looks like his dad and one of his brothers. The cousin that sent these pictures continues to be in contact both on Facebook and over email. She is pretty kind and level headed politically. In this 2020 climate, it’s quite a relief to see that family I have connected with is on the right side of justice. Here is another she sent side by side with my dad.
Where Does That Red Hair Come From? 