Locating overlapping relatives in MyHeritage?

[StrongRaven78]

Greetings all,


I am hoping someone here will have an answer or advice on how best to go about this as I cannot find anything online. I am currently working with a possible relative of mine in the Czech Republic on our family tree using MyHeritage. We’ve reached the point where my tree is about 1100 people, his is roughly 200, both go back to around the mid-1700s. I have been trying to find a way to see if any of my tree’s relatives match any of his but all I find online are articles on how to use DNA results which only I have. My possible Czech relative does not have any DNA results by which to compare so we are going off of the records and data we find in MyHeritage and online.


It appears all the community pages and forums on MyHeritage have been closed a few years ago and I’m not sure where else to turn. Does anyone know of any tips or tricks on how to go about finding matching results like as a hidden feature somewhere I’m not seeing? There is an option to import a GEDCOM file however I’m not sure that will help if there is no confirmed link between ours. Oddly enough, when I go to view his tree, it automatically goes straight to one person but there isn’t anything saying they match nor do they appear in my tree.


Thank you!

[webwiz]

I am confused. You say he does not have DNA results but then later you refer to "matching results". What results? What makes you think you might be related?

If you don't have a report of shared DNA then the only way of finding a common ancestor is by finding the same person in both trees using traditional methods.

If you do have matching DNA then In my experience unless shared DNA is over 1% the common ancestor will be many generations back and impossible to trace. Also, all families have one sort or other non-paternal events where the paper trail, even if it exists, does not reflect biological reality.

When I used MyHeritage I found their matching system more trouble than it's worth. You can easily copy huge swathes of other trees into yours at the click of a button. Consequently many or most of the trees there contain data not researched by the tree owner and of dubious reliability.

[StrongRaven78]

I am confused. You say he does not have DNA results but then later you refer to "matching results". What results? What makes you think you might be related?

If you don't have a report of shared DNA then the only way of finding a common ancestor is by finding the same person in both trees using traditional methods.

If you do have matching DNA then In my experience unless shared DNA is over 1% the common ancestor will be many generations back and impossible to trace. Also, all families have one sort or other non-paternal events where the paper trail, even if it exists, does not reflect biological reality.

When I used MyHeritage I found their matching system more trouble than it's worth. You can easily copy huge swathes of other trees into yours at the click of a button. Consequently many or most of the trees there contain data not researched by the tree owner and of dubious reliability.

I thought I made it quite clear in my post I was not looking to find relatives using DNA, rather I pointed out that the only option I see currently on MyHeritage is the DNA option which will not work in this situation. "Matching results" refers to identical/shared relatives that appear in both trees with matching data (name, DOB, POB, etc. Generally from the same records that appear through automatic prompts in the Record Search options and the 'Smart Matches' feature.)

We are confident we are relatives in some fashion as both our families came from the same village of roughly 500 people that appears for the last 300 years and our surnames are different only by one letter which seems to be used interchangeably due to the language difference in records (i.e. Czech surnames were recorded in German and did not capture the correct spelling as we've seen in different records for the same person over a few years and censuses.)

[cbcarolyn]

All I can think is searching for same names in his tree. If he only has 200 people in the tree, can you not just follow up the tree and see if you recognise names? I must admit I have always thought it would be handy to be able to search on line trees by pob, you could do this in various software packages if they are happy for you to have their GEDCOM.

[Anne in Carlisle]

Both trees are very small and the connection may be further back or on an unexpected branch. Personally I find My Heritage completely useless. They send me the most ludicrous so called matches I have ever seen. I bitterly regret paying for a sub this year and will never gave one again. Sorry that's not really what you want to hear.
Anne

[PhotoFamily]

gedmatch has a compare gedcom option. If you both load your gedcoms there, it will run a comparison. Warning, I have not had much luck using it - in fact, I'm not sure the function is still there.

So, still somewhat confused about your posts - I think you're saying that you do not share any DNA in common with this person? Not clear if either of you has even tested?

Yes, the function is still there. Free registration, free function to use
Genealogy Comparisons / Searches

• 1 GEDCOM to all
• 2 GEDCOMs Comparison
• Search all GEDCOMs

[StrongRaven78]

Both trees are very small and the connection may be further back or on an unexpected branch. Personally I find My Heritage completely useless. They send me the most ludicrous so called matches I have ever seen. I bitterly regret paying for a sub this year and will never gave one again. Sorry that's not really what you want to hear.
Anne

I would agree that MyHeritage is certainly useless in some regards however I seem to have been fairly lucky with my records thus far though I suspect that luck has its limits. I figured I'd get all that I could out of my remaining subscription before not renewing when it expires next year.

[StrongRaven78]

gedmatch has a compare gedcom option. If you both load your gedcoms there, it will run a comparison. Warning, I have not had much luck using it - in fact, I'm not sure the function is still there.

So, still somewhat confused about your posts - I think you're saying that you do not share any DNA in common with this person? Not clear if either of you has even tested?

Yes, the function is still there. Free registration, free function to use
Genealogy Comparisons / Searches

• 1 GEDCOM to all
• 2 GEDCOMs Comparison
• Search all GEDCOMs

Knowing that feature exists elsewhere may come in handy so thank you! I've edited my post for better clarification but only I have had my DNA tested while my suspected relative has not. As I am quite young and the family diverged over 5 generations ago after moving to the United States, my DNA yielded no results other than vague distant matches. I am going off my father's results which do narrow down to the region that my suspected relative's family for the past 5 generations came from. It's a bit of a shot in the dark however any shot and chance is better than none I figure.

[Anne in Carlisle]

Just as an example of My Heritage's so called matching. I just received an email today alerting me to 'matches they had discovered in their records. Firstly many of the record examples given were from Family Search, Wikitree or Geni and not from My Heritage at all. Secondly, out of 15 'matches' 9 were for completely different people, ie different date of birth, different place of birth, different current abode and different relations. Of the other 6 records, which identified the right person, I already have more detail than MH was flagging up. So far in nine months of membership I have not found any new record at all.
Anne

[PhotoFamily]

Raven - unfortunately, you have a steep hill to climb. There are lots of peeps who have tested in the US, and now more in other countries, but I don't think there have been so many from the Czech Republic who have.

The more sites you migrate your results - or better, your father's results - the more likely you are to find a match. The traditional Big Three have been AncestryDNA, 23andme and ftDNA. MyHeritage has definitely caught up to that group. Gedmatch is a convenient meeting point, as they take kits from all companies to allow comparison.

Y-DNA testing might provide some clues. ftDNA is a standard company for testing, but for Europe especially, I'd suggest taking a close look at YSEQ (http://yseq.net/). Again, testing is more than just getting your DNA results, it's matching in the company's database. In an ideal world, you'd want to try to match in both databases. I don't know if either site will accept Y-DNA results from the other company for matching.

Good luck.

Oh, and -
* Y-37 testing is usually considered a good place to start (and even finish) for Y-DNA testing
* ftDNA has projects, with volunteer admins who may be helpful

https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/czech/about

* ftDNA has a sale for the holiday season

Dunno if this might help
https://phylogeographer.com/how-to-a...line-research/

[webwiz]

If his tree has only 200 people in it and yet he goes back to the mid 18thC then I suppose he basically has only his direct ancestors and their immediate families. You are more likely to find a connection, if there is one to be found, if he constructs his full family tree as far as he can. This is likely to mean over 1000 people if he can find them all. Very few people know all their second cousins let alone 3rd and 4th whose ancestors could have been alive in 1750.

[StrongRaven78]

Raven - unfortunately, you have a steep hill to climb. There are lots of peeps who have tested in the US, and now more in other countries, but I don't think there have been so many from the Czech Republic who have.

The more sites you migrate your results - or better, your father's results - the more likely you are to find a match. The traditional Big Three have been AncestryDNA, 23andme and ftDNA. MyHeritage has definitely caught up to that group. Gedmatch is a convenient meeting point, as they take kits from all companies to allow comparison.

Y-DNA testing might provide some clues. ftDNA is a standard company for testing, but for Europe especially, I'd suggest taking a close look at YSEQ (http://yseq.net/). Again, testing is more than just getting your DNA results, it's matching in the company's database. In an ideal world, you'd want to try to match in both databases. I don't know if either site will accept Y-DNA results from the other company for matching.

Good luck.

Oh, and -
* Y-37 testing is usually considered a good place to start (and even finish) for Y-DNA testing
* ftDNA has projects, with volunteer admins who may be helpful

https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/czech/about

* ftDNA has a sale for the holiday season

Dunno if this might help
https://phylogeographer.com/how-to-a...line-research/

Thank you for the DNA information! I had tried to find ones located in Europe but was unsuccessful, we'll definitely have to look into that. I'll keep my fingers crossed that they will accept Y-DNA results and possibly vice versa if my 23andMe will accept any results they or anyone else may receive.

[StrongRaven78]

If his tree has only 200 people in it and yet he goes back to the mid 18thC then I suppose he basically has only his direct ancestors and their immediate families. You are more likely to find a connection, if there is one to be found, if he constructs his full family tree as far as he can. This is likely to mean over 1000 people if he can find them all. Very few people know all their second cousins let alone 3rd and 4th whose ancestors could have been alive in 1750.

I find it odd how far mine has branched out to even second cousins, 3rd, 4th, etc. so I hope the same will be the case with his and off of that I may be able to trace it a bit closer. It seems however MyHeritage attempts to prevent "piggy backing" as when I try to search for records on his tree it treats my account as a 'standard' account with no premium features which greatly limits what I can find. I can understand why they did it but it still feels like a money grab to the extreme...

[PhotoFamily]

Thank you for the DNA information! I had tried to find ones located in Europe but was unsuccessful, we'll definitely have to look into that. I'll keep my fingers crossed that they will accept Y-DNA results and possibly vice versa if my 23andMe will accept any results they or anyone else may receive.

I don't know much about YSEQ except that it exists, and the posters on another forum seemed to like it. If you will buy from them, ask them how their database and matching work. Without matching, there's almost no reason to test.

Disclaimer - Y-DNA testing is a very broad test. It may give you a connection to a specific surname or area. Usually it does not give specific genealogy tree connections.

I'd suggest joining the Czech project on ftDNA. They may be willing to subsidize testing, or give good advice about DNA and genealogy.