The Cohen Modal Haplotype Badge
If you have a The Cohen Modal Haplotype badge in the Badges section of your dashboard, it means that you match or are close to the historic Cohen Modal Haplotype (CMH). One of the earliest [...]
Do I have Jewish ancestry on my direct paternal (Y-chromosome DNA) line?
Judaism is a religion and not an attribute definable by a DNA mutation, but we can give you hints about having Jewish ancestry by comparing your results against our database. Look on the Y-DNA - [...]
How does the nature of Jewish genealogy make autosomal DNA research more challenging?
Using Family Finder results for genealogy is more challenging for individuals of Jewish ancestry because of a lack of genealogical records, surname changes, and frequent intermarriage. The lack of genealogical records means that finding the [...]
How does the nature of Jewish genealogy make Y-DNA research more challenging?
Because Jewish genealogists cannot assume that paternal line ancestors have had the same surname for over 300 years, interpreting close and exact matches requires more thought and consideration than would otherwise be the case. Where [...]
How does Y-DNA help with the challenges of Jewish Genealogy?
Unlike many other populations, the Jewish people adopted hereditary surnames relatively recently. Surnames changed during recent emigrations. Some families modified their surname spellings to fit with local norms. By testing the Y-chromosome DNA, you and [...]
Is my direct paternal (Y-chromosome DNA) line Cohanim?
Because the Jewish populations of the world have suffered many trials and population upheavals, it is not possible to say definitively that one person is genetically Cohanim while another is not. However, scientific papers over [...]