When you take an AncestryDNA® test, you can choose to see and be seen by your matches—others who have also taken an AncestryDNA test and who are likely related to you.
To calculate your matches, we compare your DNA to the DNA of everyone else in the AncestryDNA database. Depending on how your DNA compares, we determine if you're related—and if you are, how closely you’re related. We don't use any family tree information to create your list of matches. They're based only on DNA.
The tips below can help you best use the information your matches provide.
*Some AncestryDNA® features may require an Ancestry® membership. (Learn more)
Link a public family tree to your AncestryDNA® results
Having a public family tree on Ancestry® that’s linked to your DNA results can help you find the ancestors you have in common with your matches and figure out how you’re related.
So the first steps in getting the most of your matches are to:
- Build a family tree if you don’t already have one.
- Make your tree public if it's not already public.
- Link your tree to your DNA results.
The bigger your linked tree is, the better the chances are of finding things like common ancestors with ThruLines® and matching surnames and birthplaces. If you haven’t already, try to fill out each of your parents’ and grandparents’ lines as completely as you can.
If you don't know much about your biological family, that’s ok—start a tree with what you know and add to it as you learn more. A tree can help you keep track of what you discover and show your matches that you’re interested in learning more.
Explore common ancestors with ThruLines®
Not sure how you're connected to your matches? Common ancestors with ThruLines can help.
Depending on how much of your linked tree you have documented, we can find where your family tree overlaps with your matches' trees. For example, if Uncle Fred appears in both your tree and a match’s tree, then Uncle Fred is the overlap. By finding people that appear in your tree and your matches’ trees, we can determine which ancestors you likely have in common with a match. These are your common ancestors.
When we find a common ancestor between you and a DNA match, we can chart how you might be related. These possible relationship paths are called ThruLines. In addition to showing how you might be related, ThruLines can help you find new relatives (potential ancestors) to add to your tree.
However, ThruLines are just one piece of evidence that the identified common ancestor is your ancestor, but they do not guarantee that your and your matches’ family tree research is correct—use our other DNA and family history tools to verify your relationship.
Review matching surnames and birthplaces
If you and a DNA match both have public trees linked to your DNA results, we can show you a list of last names and birthplaces your trees have in common. To populate the list of surnames and map of birth locations, the contents of your tree must overlap with your match's tree. For the best results, try to build your tree back several generations (and make sure it's public).
From your list of matches, look for someone with a large public linked tree. Filtering your list of matches for those with Public linked trees makes these matches easier to find.
Click on the name of a match, then scroll down until you see the matching Surnames and Ancestor Birth Locations.
Check your shared matches
A shared match is someone who appears both on your list of matches and on someone else's. For example, if you and a match both match with Jane Doe, then Jane Doe is a shared match.
Shared matches can help you figure out how you're related to other matches by allowing you to trace your relationship connection through a common ancestor. For example, if you know how you're related to a certain cousin on your match list, you can click on that cousin's name to see which matches you share. You can then narrow down your relationship to those shared matches to the side of your family your cousin is on. For more information, see AncestryDNA® Shared Matches.
Compare ethnicities and communities
Using DNA compare, you can see which ethnicities and communities you share with others and which are unique. These similarities and differences can help you trace your family tree, offer new insights, and showcase opportunities for working together.
Ethnicity estimates reveal where your ancestors lived thousands of years ago. By comparing your ethnicities with others, you may find shared regions that direct your search for common ancestors and help you figure out how you’re related. It can also highlight where a match might have valuable insights to share. For example, African Americans might discover shared ethnicity regions with a match who has known ties to specific African groups, helping them learn more about their possible roots.
Communities offer a glimpse into where your relatives may have lived in the recent past, down to specific counties or towns, and how they moved around the world. By comparing your communities with others, you might find shared communities or new communities you didn’t inherit enough DNA to be assigned to, uncovering new areas to focus on or expand your family history research.
Create custom groups
As you learn about your DNA matches, try grouping them to discover more.
Grouping isn’t just about organization; it’s a powerful tool that can showcase inheritance patterns, reveal how matches are related, and deepen your understanding of your family’s history. This is especially useful for adoptees and those with unknown parents, as it can highlight possible relationships between matches.
You can create groups for anything, but many people find groups like these to be helpful:
- Surnames
- Family branches
- Common ancestors
- Research follow-up
- Certain ethnicities
- Certain communities
A match can belong to multiple groups. This flexibility allows you to group your matches in multiple ways, making it easier to analyze and understand your family's history.
Introduce yourself with a message
Your matches can be a valuable resource. They might be able to share information, answer your questions, and even connect you with new family members. Send them a message to say hi, offer to help, and learn what they can share.
To message a DNA match:
- From your list of matches, find the match you want to message.
- Next to them, select the three horizontal dots and choose Message.
- At the bottom of your screen, enter a message and click Send.
Not sure how to start the conversation? Try this:
- Introduce yourself.
- Explain why you’re reaching out. For example, you're DNA matches, and you’re wondering how you're related.
Note: Some members manage more than one DNA test. If your match list says “Managed by [Name],” you're messaging the person managing the DNA results, not the person who took the test. Let them know whose results you're messaging about. - Offer to help in their research and ask if they can help with yours.
Share the love—AncestryDNA® is better with family
With AncestryDNA, your parents, siblings, and other relatives can help unlock new details about your family history. This is because your DNA is unique—even among your closest relatives.
For example:
- Parents and their children share about half of their DNA.
- Full siblings (except identical twins) also only share about half of their DNA.
- Aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews share about 25% of their DNA.
So, while you might not have inherited certain genes from an ancestor, another biological relative could have. The more biological relatives you have who use AncestryDNA, the more everyone can learn about your family's history.
