Yes, in a general sense, we can say that we are. I think this is a fair question for those who descend from Jacob Wannamaker (1714/5-1768 SC) because no known record had previously been discovered that could provide evidence for a connection between Jacob (SC) and the other branches of the extended Wannamaker family in the US, Canada, and Germany. We could only presume that we were genetically related, but I wanted to know for sure.
I knew the possibility existed that we could receive unexpected Y-DNA results. In other words, we might only see matches with different surnames and not ours…at all. There are a variety of reasons why this could happen such as a male having adopted a surname hundreds of years ago. Here is an excellent blog post on the subject of “surname switches.”
In any case, after six long, nail-biting months, we finally had a Y-DNA match to another Wannamaker male. That was thrilling! Having a Y-DNA match to another Wannamaker male indicates that my father’s direct paternal line did not have a “break” in it, and the same can be said of the other Y-DNA testers. Keep in mind that these results represent our respective family groups. But, if you share a common ancestor with one of these Y-DNA testers, then it is likely that this information is true for you and your family as well. To verify the kinship, though, I highly recommend that a male relative in your own family group take a Y-DNA test.
Wannamaker Genealogy 