Found distant relatives on facebook?

[wendy c]

sigh
IF your name is rare enough, then yeah, you can be related. Normally, the advice is to NOT assume this, but if a surname became something different, then the so called origin might be as little as 100 yrs ago.
I have a couple of those type names in my research.. for them, all I had to do was pull up phone listings and contacted them. Eventually, we did a reunion. Only one was an ex-wife, who was not happy with my call, but she understood.
If you start your research the usual way... you identify your own immediate birth family (parents/ siblings). From there, identify the grandparents and their children. You may be able to locate many of the names/ dates in the social security death index. Next, the gr grandparents. By this time you have some facts and places to work with, and if you chose to contact them, you can offer "I have worked my ancestry back to 1880 and I would be happy to share". People are often more receptive if you are offering to share info, instead of expecting it from them.
You can do the regular route first when it is likely there is a connection. DNA would be overkill for that.