If you have looked through your Ancestry DNA match list, chances are good you have seen matches marked “Unassigned.” In this post, learn what this term actually entails.
Ancestry match lists are my favorite part of DNA test results. Through exploring them, we can gain so much insight into which ancestors we share in common and gain so much knowledge!
As DNA matches provide us with opportunities to connect and build family trees, exploring them can often become daunting when trying to determine where the match fits in our family tree. Sometimes trying to figure out who these matches may belong can become confusing or bewildering.
Unassigned DNA matches come into play here.
Please be aware that “Unassigned” on the DNA Match List differs from “unassigned” that appears in Chromosome Painter (part of ethnicity estimation) feature.
What Does “Unassigned” Mean on Ancestry? Unassigned DNA matches on Ancestry refer to those matches which could not be assigned as either Parent 1 or Parent 2 on your DNA match list, due to Ancestry’s software not recognizing whether this match belongs maternal or paternal DNA matches.
Ancestry’s DNA matching feature allows it to assign many of our DNA matches as Parents 1 or Parent 2, maternal or paternal, depending on what labels have been edited for your family tree. Ancestry does not use our family trees as a way of calculating this information.
This feature utilizes Ancestry DNA Matches by Parent technology to assist us in determining whether our matches lie on either our maternal or paternal sides of our family trees.
Unassigned DNA matches indicate that there is not enough information for us to determine their parentage; over time we may assign some or all of these unassigned matches with Parent 1 or Parent 2, but not always.
Below you will see an example of an Unassigned DNA match on Ancestry, likely one of my distant cousins – they estimate we may be 5th-8th cousins!
Although it is possible that we could be closer than 5th cousins, Ancestry estimates are more likely accurate. DNA matches who share only an 8 centimorgan segment do not belong together closely – meaning we would need to look back further in both families’ family trees for our common ancestor.
Are Unassigned DNA Matches False? Because the Unassigned match I presented above shared only a very small portion of DNA with me, I must take into account the possibility that we may not actually be related. Individuals sharing one, small DNA segment are more likely to be false matches than people sharing more DNA with us.
However, simply because a DNA match is classified as Unassigned does not imply we are unrelated. Simply being labeled Unassigned doesn’t make them less likely to be related.
Will My Unassigned Match Move into Parent 1 or Parent 2 Groups? As more people take DNA tests with Ancestry and technology advances, our list of matches organized By Parent will become updated more often – possibly moving some from Unassigned into either Parent 1 or Parent 2 categories. When these updates take place, some matches might move from Unassigned into either of those two categories.
As your DNA match list evolves over time, it’s essential that you regularly revisit it to assess any changes and look out for any surprises! In addition, new DNA matches should likely appear.
In order to assist Ancestry with sorting our matches by parent, we can ask some of our close and extended family members – such as siblings, aunts, uncles and first/second cousins – to take DNA tests on Ancestry. Doing this will allow us to learn about shared ancestors more fully while improving the quality of our DNA match lists.
What Does “Pending Update Mean?
If “Pending Update” appears in your Unassigned DNA matches, it could indicate that some or all of those matches could potentially receive their parental labels (i.e. Parent 1 and Parent 2) after the next update of DNA match data.
Simply, this means that the Unassigned DNA Match list could evolve over time.
Assuming you have an Unassigned DNA match, there are still ways of finding out their relationship to you and possibly identifying their common ancestor.
First Step in Assessing Relationship: Examining Shared DNA
To start your evaluation of your relationship accurately, the first step should be assessing your shared DNA. You can gain more details by clicking on an Unassigned DNA match’s name, then on their blue link that displays how much DNA they share with you.
Here, for example, I observe that we share 8 centimorgans across one segment and 12 cMs of DNA unweighted between our segments.
On this page you can also see some relationship possibilities listed. When I selected “All Possible,” however, the default was “Most Likely,” which happened to be empty.
Ancestry indicates to me that we may not be related, and upon further investigation I came to this same conclusion.
Unassigned DNA matches don’t need to be extremely distant relatives – for example, my top three unassigned matches share between 108-179 cMs with me!
If after checking your shared DNA with your match and discovering more, there may still be ways for you to unravel how you are related.
From your DNA match profile page, select the “Shared Matches” tab to see if any shared DNA matches exist between yourself and an Unassigned match. If there are known close or extended relatives in common between yourselves, one could assume they belong on one side of their family tree as you.
If either of your parents have taken DNA tests, now would be an ideal time to see if you share any DNA matches and hopefully identify which side of the family they reside on.
If both of your parents have tested and neither one shows up as a match for any DNA matches that you find, this can also help establish that they’re not related. Since all our DNA comes from our parents, if no two share DNA matches we can assume we share only an “ecologically identical DNA segment”, not genetic relation.
Once you know on which side of the tree your match resides, take a look at their family tree to see if they have attached one to their DNA results. Ideally, your own family tree should also be connected.
Search the Surname Databases Here are several effective strategies for discovering common surnames.
Search for a “Common Ancestor Hint”
If both of your DNA matches have family trees attached, Ancestry’s algorithm may have already provided you with a “Common Ancestor Hint”. This “hint” uses both DNA and tree information to suggest who the likely common ancestor may be.
If you have a Common Ancestor Hint with an Unassigned DNA Match, this information can be found on your DNA match profile page. I have shown an example so you can identify where to search.
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