Our Surname Tables for DNA Research

My Surname Table

Researching your family tree using DNA can be complicated when you haven't created a surname table as a cheat sheet for referencing your data. Andy talks about these regularly in beginner DNA classes but I hadn't created one until today!

And you're about to see my jealousy rear its beastly head.
Before we begin, take a look at Andy's Surname Table:

Lee Keverne DNA Surname Table

Look at the five spots that are holes in the 4th GGP section. That's not bad. The holes beside the Garnett in 3rd GGP only indicates that the Lees aren't really Lees and from that point on the surname line changes.

Are you ready to see my chart?

I'm really sad.

Geiszler Brown Surname Table

Before you think I'm a terrible Genealogist, each missing surname comes with a challenge. The Anderson/Sparks is pretty 'righteous' (bad holey/holy pun) because Anderson and Sparks disappear from records after they have a child. There's only one record for William Anderson, of Sweden, in Missouri and nothing else. Oh, yea!  After that, the women, and then men, on that line is very sparse. This line is new to me and is concentrated in a time period where record keeping hadn't begun with consistency. That's a hard section to work on. Could DNA help?

The third column is also a challenge. The Browns and Townsends were farmers and as such, they weren't often highlighted in records. I barely pieced together the Townsend to Lynch connection. But the Gordons, Browns, Fickles, and Nashes are difficult to separate from the other Gordons, Browns, Fickles, and Nashes around the US at the time.

I LOVE my Zumstein line. My great-aunt Dorothy and the other Zumsteins, Comforts, Hedricks, Synders, Lanes, and Mootes from Ontario, Canada were a record-keeping set. There is very little that I can do to tackle this line that hasn't been done. So, my DNA serves as a reference point to anyone who is on these lines.

I'm pretty proud of the Geiszler line. This was created by rebuilding the broken bridges of family relationships. A few record keepers made this research possible. I have a question mark next to the King last name because I haven't proven that as well. I just discovered it on FamilySearch today. But the other names are well researched. The gaps belong to my German pond hopping ancestors who left little ties to their homeland so far as I can tell.



This video walks you through the process with a little more detail,
 for all of you visual learners like me! 


I'm happy to have created this table. I thought I knew all my surnames by heart, but Andy keeps saying you can't keep track of all of them. And it's true. Koller, King?, Kouck, Wright, Jenkins, and Simons were names I didn't recognize. So, it's fun to go generation by generation finding the surnames that you could be connected to via DNA.

Comments

  1. How do you set up the chart? Is it male, female, male, female?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I made the video and forgot to share how I made it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOshdUcsoK4

      Hope this helps.

      Delete
  2. Let me create a follow-up post that explains it better.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you so much!!! This Surname table is helping me tremendously!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're welcome. Super excited that you found it useful.

      Delete
  4. Andy has Ortons is his family?! So do I!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Andy's Orton progenitor is Alfred Trout Orton born 15 August 1860 in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England.

      Delete
  5. What do you do in the case of first cousins marrying each other? This happens three times in my tree, and in one case (my father's father's line) both my 2nd great grandparents have the same last nane, Hurst. They share the same grandparents. How do you chart that?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Check back in a few weeks. I'm writing another blog post for you.

      Delete
  6. Also I have Clabo/Clabough/Clabaugh in my tree. We might be related. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AWESOME. I've never see the last name spelled Clabo but there's a first time for anything.

      Devon's Claybaugh are descended from Nicholas Clabaugh b 1765 in Jerusalem, Washington, Maryland, United States. He married Rebecca Dickey, b about 1760 in Berks, Pennsylvania, United States. IF I had any American Revolutionary Ancestors, it would be this family, but I haven't seen enough evidence that this is the case.

      Delete
  7. Thank you for this chart, it looks like it will be a useful tool for analyzing DNA matches. Also wanted to tell you, I may me related to your husband. I see Saville on his Surname list. My mother’s maidan name was Saville.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Andy's proven lineage to the Saville's is
      Mary Ann Saville, b 19 February 1843 in Saffron Walden, Essex, England. In FamilySearch, the line extends several more generations but Andy hasn't worked thoroughly on this line like he has his Kevern line.

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