Unknown Surname

[David Nicoll]

Hi,

   Probably the easiest way to understand this is to use the cM calculator here.

    https://dnapainter.com/tools/sharedcmv4

   Just put the number in and it shows the most likely relationships in a pictoral form.

    650cM probably makes most sense in this case as the child of a half sibling.

[Spelk]

Best not to give the name of this 650cM female match.
You say that Ancestry have put this as a Paternal match. The link is presumably through John’s mother. Have you or your daughter tried to contact this woman? Does she have a tree online?
It would be useful if you also took a DNA test. That way any match you share with her you could discount as being linked to John. EDIT it is possible this female match is a cousin of yours.
Has your daughter put a tree online in Ancestry? She should even though some branches will be very short - John UNKNOWN. When I look through my matches to see which I can see how they connect to me I often filter out any which do not have a tree as without at least a few names dates and places ro work from it is pointless even clicking on them.

[sonyao]

Thank you for your reply, the answer to  your questions, yes I have  done a DNA test with Ancestry,  this woman didn't come thru as a match for me, no I haven't contacted the woman not sure what to say, the woman has a tree on Ancestry with seven people on it, my daughter doesn't have a tree on Ancestry nor is she a member. I checked the DNA match and this woman is a grand aunt or half aunt not cousin. I am in my late seventies and a novice with genealogy, barely understand the language, although I thought paternal meant male family whereas you suggested the match was thru John's mother. How naïve am I, I thought I would put my post on here and someone would say 'do this and this' and I would find him.  Thank you again for your suggestions.

[David Nicoll]

Hi,

   It can be confusing. Yes Paternal is father's side, the fact that they are not a match to you would confirm this.
   I will Private message you.

[Spelk]

Hi Sonya
Where Ancestry says a match is paternal side or suggests the relation is a grand aunt or whatever their algorithm is just making a guess based on limited information and it ca be very wrong.
My first thought was that the Paternal suggestion was wrong but if the match is to a relative of John’s mother then of course it is right. A paternal match just means that the genes come from John and thereby all of his ancestors - male and female. So it includes his mother.
The person tested could ba a sister of John’s mother but unlikely as she would be very old and likely dead by now. More likely the tester is a child (niece?) or grandchild of John’s mother. The age of the terser could help if it is given and is accurate. Sometimes I knock a few decades off when giving my age.
Does your daughter have Shared Matches with the 650 cM woman? These will be other relatives of John and his parents. So some are related to John’s dad and some to his mam. By their location you can decide which are which quite easily. Some of them might have large trees.
For all the matches on Ancestry :(and MyHeritage if you have you DNA on there,) you should add notes as to where they link and maybe allocate them to groups. Say blue for for connected to John’ dad, pink for his mother, green for your dad and yellow for your mam.
You might also want to make up a separate table on your computer using excel or word. Maybe even pen and paper.