Some goals of the project are to: * Use Y-DNA to identify lines that descend from a common straight line paternal ancestor within a genealogical time frame, despite differing surnames. Until the first half of the 19th century, permanent, heredity surnames were not common among German Jews, so related families are not always obvious. * Find straight line maternal ancestors and relatives. Surnames in female lines change from generation to generation, so female ancestors and relatives are more difficult to find. The MtDNA test helps overcome this problem. * Determine how many lines share certain surnames. DNA tests have revealed, you can't always assume that men who lived in the same town with the same surname were paternal relatives. Unrelated men who had the same professions, roots going back to the same areas or fathers with the same given names, would choose identical surnames. There were also illegitimate births, adoptions, married women had affairs, and men sometimes took their wives' surnames. * Compare individuals from the same areas to find their degree of relatedness. Family Finder allows you to discover relatives on any side of the family. It uncovers matching segments on chromosomes inherited from common ancestors. Longer segments indicate closer relationships. * Detect migration patterns by comparing members' results from different regions within Germany, as well as to known Sephardic lines, Jewish groups from the Near/Middle-East, and Ashkenazi Jews from other European countries. Note: It is important each member fill out the names, dates and locations of their earliest known Y-DNA and MtDNA ancestors in "User Preferences", so data will show up by the results to enable comparisons. Family Finder also provides space for listing relevant surnames.