DNA Report: The Story Continues

After gathering enough spit to fill the DNA test container, I sent the test off to Ancestry and got back this receipt. I decided to "Learn about our lab" and the link took me to this webpage:

I linked my tree to the DNA test and searched on my surname.

Since the "Tanner" surname is prevalent in both the United Kingdom and Switzerland, I was not at all surprised at the number of documents Ancestry.com has available for that name. The numbers merely point out the need to do careful research to avoid equating a name with a valid ancestor. I was a little bit surprised to see that the name was also found in Finland. That probably adds to why the name is so common in the United States although recently, it has become a given name more than a surname.

The Tanner name distribution showed me what my experience has been in the past, that the Tanner surname originated in several separate areas of America. My particular family originated in Rhode Island and there are still a lot of Tanners in that state. Part of my Tanner family moved from Rhode Island to New York, but I suspect that there are other unrelated Tanners in that state as well as in the New England States. My research shows that there were several probably unrelated Tanner families in Rhode Island and in Connecticut.

The Ancestry Tanner Family Origin cites the New York Passenger List. But none of my Tanner surname family came through New York so none of their people were my ancestors. But the list still confirms what I knew about the surname

Likewise, the Tanner immigration information fails to go back far enough to account for my Tanner ancestor who arrived in America or was born in America in the 1600s.

The rest of these analysis lists only serve to point out the need for careful research and the further need to avoid generalizations.

Well, it will be interesting to see what the DNA test results bring. If it takes as long as the estimate, I will probably have forgotten about the test by the time it comes.