Bubba is one of my DNA matches.

Tommy is also one of my DNA matches.

When I look at my shared matches, Tommy is a match that Bubba and I share. That does not necessarily mean that Bubba, Tommy, and I have the same family in common. It means that Bubba and Tommy share DNA, Tommy and I share DNA, and that Bubba and I share DNA. We may all come from the same family.

Or we may not.

  • Bubba and I could descend from our common ancestor, Samuel Neill.
  • Bubba and Tommy could descend from a different ancestor–called Ancestor A in the illustration.
  • Tommy and I could descend from yet a different ancestor–called ancestor B in the illustration.

Shared DNA matches are a clue. Remember what they tell you–and what they do not.

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