John, Its real easy to conduct a "Y" DNA test. This is a test for males, only, and is especially beneficial for families trying to track their family name to see if it matches another person from the same family. In case you did not know, the male "Y" chromosome is passed from father to son, unchanged. So, a male's "Y" chromosome is the same as his paternal father, grandfather, GGF and all the way back in his paternal male line. This being the case, you can use it to find other families of your same name that are related to you. In my case, my "Y" goes all the way back to my 3rd GGF, Frederick Carl Wilhelm RICHTER (ABT 1750-AFT 1799) of Reichenbach, Liegnitz, Schlesien, Prussia To take this test go to... Go to http://www.familytreedna.com/ Search for the DNA Project for the name of a project covering the surname you want. In this case, PARKER. I already have done it for your, so here is the link. If someone does not want the name, PARKER, they can search for some other surname project from the opening page of this website: http://www.familytreedna.com/surname_det.asp?group=Parker Contact the person who is running the list (there is a form, provided) and join their group. The coordinator for the project will send you all the details. Then, you can buy the kit and they will send it to you. All you do this is a mouth swab, according to the instructions in the kit. Then, send it back to them for testing. It takes about 2-3 months to get the results back. After you get the results, your Project coordinator should group you results on another website and show you who matches whom. Regardless, FamilyTreeDNA will have a link to your test kit number and it will show you everybody who matches within 2 markers, the results of your test. Some say that if you match 23/25 makers you are family but the problem with this, they do not tell you when you shared a Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) and a drift of 2 markers means that MRCA could have been about the time of Christ but I suggest looking at their statistical data only after you get your results. Take for an example our 25/25 marker matches. This tells us we have a 50% probability of having a MRCA in 7 generation but no statistician worth his salt would ever consider a 50% probability as meaningful so you really need to look at the 90% probability curves and that says we probably shared a MRCA in the past 14 generations, which for most of us is about the time of the Colonial American period - 1600. If you have any drift (23/25 or 24/25) this drift just extends the time frame for which you shared a MRCA. I do not remember the exact 90% probability curve for a 24/25 marker match but it was well over 20 generations and that puts you back into the Dark Ages before the use of surnames were even in use. BTW, surnames came into you sometime in the 12th Century for most Europeans. I assume you know that you could have a 25/25 marker match with someone named SMITH or even JONES even if your name was PARKER. This just means you descend from a common ancestor who lived in an era before surnames were in general use (1100 AD). There are three "Y" DNA tests available for males - a 12 marker, a 25 marker and a new 37 marker. Each one generally costs more than the other. A 12 marker is about $100, a 25 marker about $200 and a 37 marker about $300. If you go in an already established Name Project, the costs are generally less than those listed on their website. The prices I quoted above are our costs for the DANIEL family project. Here is my opinion on the three "Y" DNA tests 1. A 12 marker test -- this is used to prove who you are not related to as opposed to who you are related to. I would not use this test. 2. A 25 marker test - this is the first reasonable test you should consider because a perfect 25/25 match on this test will tell you that you have a 50% probability of sharing a MRCA within the past 7 generations and this means in simple terms you have a good chance of having a MRCA in the Colonial American Timeframe. 3. A 37 marker test -- this drops the 50% probability down to five generations if you both have a 37/37 match. BTW, I am a traditionalist. I still believe in BC and AD. <grin> I am also going to copy this to several other lists, so I have deleted your message to me. John R. Clarke Thomasville, GA