Cooley DNA Project: 12-Marker Matches

Matching on twelve markers is the lowest level match provided by FTDNA. Relationship can only be generally attributed. Its significance to genealogy is minimal. But knowing the number of matches at that level gives a rough indication of the larger population from which the tester descends.

SNP M269 is the most common terminal SNP among men of western European descent. But look at the number of 12-marker matches for CF02 and CF13. The 12-marker haplotype (the specific DNA values) is much rarer for CF02. Considering that FTDA's database has hundreds of thousands entries, matching at such a low level on twelve markers may indicate that CF02 originated with a comparatively small population. The same could be said of CF01 and CF04, both of the R1a1a haplogroup.