Centimorgans, What the heck are those????

centimorgan

A unit of distance between two genes on a chromosome, representing a 1 per cent probability of recombination in a single meiotic event. Named after Thomas Hunt Morgan (1866–1945) the American Nobel-prizewinning geneticist often described as the father of modern genetics.

First Known Use of centimorgan was in 1919.

Click on the link below.

Check this link out to read more about centimorgans so you can understand them better.

These are my cousins.  You can see that JS and I share 777 centimorgans across 30 segments.  The more centimorgans, the closer you are related.  

His sister, below him, and I share 731 centimorgans.  

Genetic make up varies.  I have a cousin who is one of 18 children.  He and I share 191 centimorgans.  However, his brother and I share 245.  It is not a mistake.  One parent can have many children and yet not share the same genes with each child.  Don't let that surprise you when you are looking at your DNA results.  

I have another cousin who I was matched with who shares 328 centimorgans with me.  We are definitely cousins, but we don't know exactly how. 

Here is my DNA summary page:

You can see that I have 1000+ 4th cousins or loser.  

When you get your DNA results you will not know everyone they tell you you are related to.  

Many of you know I recently found my brother using DNA.  He and I share 1999 centimorgans. 

So, remember when looking at your DNA, those with the highest numbers of centimorgans will be more closely related to you.  

This will give you an idea of how that all works and where everyone fits in.  Don't be too set on the numbers and the relationships.  It's all sort of a guessing game.  I have noticed on other charts that a first cousin once removed fits in the same category with a half first cousin.  

Half first cousin, by the way, happens when one of your parents had a half sibling.  My mother had a half sibling because her father had 10 children and his wife had only 9. 

We will touch more on genealogy and centimorgans later.  

If you haven't started a tree, you should think about starting one.