Doubts about “Personal Genomics”

I chose Family Tree DNA for my Velten y-DNA project because they have the largest database of results and host over 6000 surname projects, and they specialize in genealogy and nothing else. But it was hard to resist the 23andme year-end $99 offer. The 23andme tests include an Ancestral portion, with samplings from both y-DNA and mt-DNA (and I think autosomal DNA), and a Health portion that will supposedly screen me for risks of disease and for traits like baldness. In fact, the marketing hype on the 23andme web site heavily pushes the health aspects of their testing and has caused increasing scrutiny from the FDA and Congress.

Velten y-DNA Project on Family Tree DNA

In August, I finally took the plunge and had my DNA tested. At the same time, I decided to volunteer to administer a Velten surname project on Family Tree DNA (FTDNA.com).  What convinced me to try DNA testing was the increasing number of queries I was getting about possible relationships after my web site was published. Velten is a saint’s name, the Germanic form of Valentine, and occurs throughout Western Europe, in various phonetic spellings. There was migration around Europe and a lot of emigration to the United States and elsewhere. The Velten surname variants are not extremely common, but are not rare either. A search on just Castle Garden shows arrival records for 89 Velten, 5 Velton, 153 Felten, and 67 Felton immigrants (a total of 314). That’s a lot of people to keep track of.