FTDNA_Matches2 Table

The FTDNA_Matches2 table is the primary table for FTDNA Family Finder match data. Each row represents one match for one test kit — the pairing of your kit and one matched kit. It is populated when you gather your Family Finder match list, with a few columns filled in later by per-match passes (chromosome, ICW, and tree gathering).

Column Reference

Identifiers & Names

Column	Type	Description
Id	int (PK)	Auto-incrementing primary key
eKit1	string	Your kit number (the kit being gathered). Indexed.
eKit2	string	The matched person’s kit number. Indexed.
contactId	string	FTDNA contact identifier for the match. Stored empty during match gathering; populated later by tree gathering where available.
Name	string	Match’s full display name
MatchPersonName	string	Match person name as reported by FTDNA (alternate name field)
Prefix	string	Name prefix (e.g., “Mr”, “Dr”)
FirstName	string	Match’s first name
MiddleName	string	Match’s middle name
LastName	string	Match’s last name
Suffix	string	Name suffix (e.g., “Jr”)

DNA Data

Column	Type	Description
totalCM	string	Total shared centimorgans, the raw string exactly as FTDNA reports it (sharedDna). Kept as text to preserve FTDNA’s original formatting.
totalCMf	decimal	The parsed numeric version of totalCM. Produced with a numeric parse of the raw string so the value can be sorted and filtered (e.g., min/max cM thresholds). Stored alongside the string for this reason.
longestCentimorgans	string	Longest shared block in centimorgans, the raw string from FTDNA (longestBlock).
longestCentimorgansf	decimal	The parsed numeric version of longestCentimorgans, stored for numeric sorting and filtering.
isxMatch	string	“true”/“false” — whether this is an X-chromosome match
bucketType	string	FTDNA match bucket classification for the match

Y-DNA & mtDNA

Column	Type	Description
ydnaMarkers	string	Y-DNA marker count / test info for the match
mtDNAMarkers	string	mtDNA marker / test info for the match
yHaplo	string	Match’s Y-DNA haplogroup
mtHaplo	string	Match’s mtDNA haplogroup

Relationship

Column	Type	Description
Relationship	string	Known/assigned relationship. Empty by default at gather time.
strRelationshipRange	string	FTDNA’s predicted relationship range for the match (relationshipRange)
strSuggestedRelationship	string	Suggested relationship. Empty by default at gather time.
strRelationshipName	string	Relationship name. Empty by default at gather time.

Trees & Links

Column	Type	Description
HasFamilyTree	string	“true”/“false” — whether the match has a family tree
familyTreeUrl	string	URL to the match’s FTDNA shared family tree (falls back to the MyHeritage tree URL when no FTDNA shared tree is present)
wikiTreeUrl	string	URL to the match’s linked WikiTree profile, when present
mhTreeUrl	string	URL to the match’s MyHeritage tree, when present
familySearchUrl	string	FamilySearch tree URL. Placeholder for future use; not currently provided by FTDNA, stored empty.

Metadata & Other

Column	Type	Description
Note	string	Note on the match
AboutMe	string	Match’s “About Me” text from their FTDNA profile
userSurnames	string	Match’s ancestral surnames, joined into a single “ / ”-separated string
PaternalAncestorName	string	Match’s most-distant paternal ancestor name
MaternalAncestorName	string	Match’s most-distant maternal ancestor name
Female	string	“true”/“false” — whether the match is female
ThirdParty	string	“true”/“false” — third-party flag
ffBack	string	“true”/“false” — Family Finder “back” flag. Defaults to “false”.
nRownum	string	Row number / ordinal of the match within FTDNA’s result list
strRbdate	string	Match date as reported by FTDNA (matchDate)
Email	string	Match’s email address, when available

Gather Tracking

Column	Type	Description
created_date	string	Date the match row was created (set to the gather date, yyyy-MM-dd). Preserved from the existing row when a match is re-gathered.
icw_date	DateTime	Timestamp set when shared-match (ICW) gathering completes for this match. Used to decide which matches still need ICW gathering. Preserved across re-gathers.
icw_tree	DateTime	Tree-gather tracking timestamp. Reserved; not currently written by the gather code.
GF_Sync	string	Sync tracking flag, set to a date when the row is synced.

How It’s Populated

When you run an FTDNA Family Finder gather, the client requests your match list page by page. For each match returned, it builds an FTDNA_Matches2 row:

1. Identifiers — eKit1 is set to your kit (the kit being gathered) and eKit2 to the match’s kit.
2. cM parsing — the raw totalCM and longestCentimorgans strings from FTDNA are kept as-is, and a numeric parse fills totalCMf and longestCentimorgansf. Matches above the configured maximum cM are skipped, and once the list drops below the configured minimum cM the gather stops (the list is returned largest-first).
3. Boolean fields — flags such as HasFamilyTree, ThirdParty, Female, isxMatch, and ffBack are stored as the strings “true” or “false”.
4. created_date — set to the current date (yyyy-MM-dd).

Per-match data added by later passes — chromosome segments (FTDNA_Chromo2), shared matches (FTDNA_ICW2), and tree data (FTDNA_Tree) — is stored in separate tables, joined back to this table on (eKit1, eKit2). The ICW pass also stamps icw_date on the match row.

Data Preservation Rules

Matches are written through an upsert keyed on (eKit1, eKit2). If a row for that kit pair already exists, the client deletes it and re-inserts the fresh row — but first copies forward selected fields from the old row so prior progress is not lost:

• created_date — carried over from the existing row, so the original creation date is retained on re-gather.
• icw_date — carried over from the existing row, so a match already processed for shared matches is not re-queued unnecessarily.

Related Tables

• FTDNA_ICW2 — In Common With (shared matches) between two of your matches.
• FTDNA_Chromo2 — per-match shared chromosome segments, joined on (eKit1, eKit2).
• FTDNA_Tree — family tree individuals linked to matches.
• FTDNA_Kit — the test kits you have added and gather for.