I’d love to hear from those of you who have found out through your DNA or family trees that you and your spouse or significant other are really cousins! I first noticed in our tree that we had ancestors back in Virginia in the early 1700’s that had the same surname as my son-in-law’s mother had in her family tree. Sure enough, we found a common ancestor. Even though my daughter never met her future husband until years after college, they are 8th cousins, according to the "Genealogy Relationship Chart" to be found on About.com at:
http://genealogy.about.com/library/nrelationshipchart.htmRecently, a match to my husband’s DNA test had a name that was very familiar to me; it was an ancestor from my own tree! Since my husband’s family was Irish and emigrated to the U.S. in the late 1800’s, and my own family had come to the American colonies in the 1500’s and 1600’s, it seemed incredible that we might have a common ancestor! My ancestor is my 9th great- grandfather, born in Ireland or England in 1580. We haven’t been able to trace my husband’s Irish ancestors back any farther than his third great-grandfather, born about 1751 in Cork, Ireland. I think this would make my husband and myself at least 10th cousins!
Has anyone else found such a relationship? I guess this may occur several times in families that have lived in the same geographical area for generations.