can you find a relative without knowing their last name?

Question

Can ypu find out with DNA? Can you find someone with minor details?

Answer 1

To do a DNA match you would have to have a sample from your relative's body.
Unless you've got the body laying around, in which case you might not need to ask this question... or unless you have a specific person you already know in mind...
Chances are you'd need a last name.
Plus, DNA testing is very expensive.

Answer 2

This is a disappointing answer, and I apologize.

If you are male and you are looking for your biological father, and

1) You pay $149 for a DNA test
AND
2) He (or one of his legitimate sons)
pays $149 for a DNA test with the same company

they will find that you two are a match and you will have found him. It only works for men because they match the "Y" chromosome. The company I use has 50,000 individuals on file in the USA, out of 300 million. Your chances are very very small.

Otherwise you need a sample from you and the person himself / herself and it costs more. Those tests proove maternity / maternity.

It is barely possible you can find out a last name with just first name and minor details. Some sites let you find people by their first name only, if you have an exact birth date (month, day, year). Birth place helps. Virtually all of them have only dead people. Finding their last name doesn't mean you have found them.

Answer 3

Ancestry.com immigrant search feature allows you to put in a first name without a surname. Or, you can put in an asterisk as a wild card letter; usually after first typing in the first 3 letters of the name.