Results
GENETIC TEST RESULTS :
Each Project Member had a perfect 25/25 marker match.
The 37-marker DNA tests resulted in :
* A 36/37 match between the GAVANESCH and GAVENESCH Project Members. According to FTDNA, very few people achieve this close level of a match. The mismatch is within the range of most well established surname lineages in Western Europe.
* A 35/37 match between the GAVENESCH and GABENNESCH Project Members. According to FTDNA, this mismatch is likely within the range of most well established surname lineages in Western Europe.
* A 34/37 match between the GAVANESCH and GABENNESCH Project Members. According to FTDNA, this mismatch is likely within the range of most well established surname lineages in Western Europe.
All of the mismatches in the 37 marker tests were single value mismatches and occurred at DYS 576, 570 or CDYa - the newest panel of markers in the FTDNA genetic tests. These markers change or mutate at a faster rate than others and only slightly decrease the probability of Project Members sharing a recent common ancestor.
INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS :
All three Project Members are related. This includes families with surnames not tested i.e., GABENISCH and GAFANESCH since they can be traced back to the paternal line of Project Members through conventional genealogical research (see Family Background).
According to FTDNA, "There is a 95% probability that the Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) lived no longer than 10-14 generations ago."
This Most Likely Estimate (MLE) coincides with the conventional genealogical research indicating that the MRCA's were born sometime between the late 1500's and the early 1600's. Together, these two research methodologies show a clear path of the evolution of the surname and the migratory paths taken by the family :
The "original" surname was GAVANESCHE (the only surname variation no longer in use), and it evolved to GAVANESCH, GAVENESCH, GAFANESCH, GAFENESCH, GABENESCH, GABENISCH, and GABENNESCH.
The GAVANESCH(E) surname changed as the family migrated out of Austria (Montafon Valley, Voralberg [West of Tyrol] ) - into :
* Germany - GAVENESCH,
* Bollviller, Alsace, France - GAFANESCH, GAFENESCH
* Kalhausen / Bining / Wiesviller, Lorraine, France - GABENESCH,
* Amance / Nancy, Lorraine, France - GABENISCH, and
* Cincinnati, Ohio USA - GABENNESCH.