When working the Ancestry DNA’s Shared Matches and Circles, I’ve often wondered how spelling of names affects those shared matches. After looking at a shared match today, I have proof that the names do matter!
Below is a screenshot of a shared match going back to Leah Gillies making me a 6th cousin to my shared match.
When I studied this connection, I recognized the name William Henry Harding as a sibling to Julia Harding. Ancestry isn’t recognizing my William G. Harding as the same person as William Gillies Harding in my match’s tree.
My match has the following information for William Gillies Harding;
While, I have the following information for William G. Harding:
After studying my match’s tree, I believe that William Gillies Harding and William G. Harding are the same person. That makes us 4th cousins instead of 6th cousins.
Based on this experience, I believe that shared matches ARE AFFECTED by the spelling of the name!
Thus, I’m facing a decision: Do I change a name to match other DNA matches? OR Do I accept that I may not get shared matches or circles because of differences in the names?