About us
The Barron Name Worldwide
In 2014,there were approximately 177,000 people in the world with the surname of Barron. The largest concentrations of Barrons are located in England, Scotland, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Bolivia,Australia and New Zealand (from https://forebears.io/surnames/barron).
The Barron Name in America
According to the 2010 Federal Census records, Barron was the 656th most common surname in the United States, with 52,070 individuals with the Barron surname. 46.4% of them were Caucasian, and the single largest contingent of minority Barrons were Hispanic, as 42.5% of respondents in the 2010 census indicated this ethnic background. Almost 9% of Barrons were African American. We find many Barron families living in close proximity to one another, especially in the South, and are seeking to more clearly identify the specific Barron family lineages.
We encourage any Barron descendants to join us in our scientific quest for our Barron roots.
Here’s what this Y-DNA Project may mean to you, the Barron Family Genealogist:
If you locate a common ancestor in any one of our DNA participants' family files, you can be assured that whatever "proven" documentation and research that is available through that participant (or any fellow Clan member) is absolutely pertinent to your research. Equally importantly, you can discard without fear any and all Barron research that pertains to other members of the other Clans.
Are you a descendant of the 5th Century Medieval Irish Warlord – “Niall of the Nine Hostages and Ruler over Tara?
"Ruthless" "Cunning" "Brilliant""Prolific"....All these words are used when describing one of the first great High Kings of Ireland, Niall Noigíallach. Born around 342A.D., Niall was "the son of the Irish High King Eochaid Mugmedon and his second wife, Cairenn. Some wicked-stepmothering from Eochaid's first wife, Mongfind, led to Niall having to overcome his half-brothers - who bore the evocative names of Fergus, Ailill, Fiachrae and, er, Brian - in the battle to be their father's successor."
"The epithet "Nine Hostages" derives from Niall's habit of borrowing people from other kingdoms and refusing to give them back. Different accounts have them coming from a variety of places, but in the best-known version there is one each from the five provinces of Ireland, and one each from the Scots, Saxons, Britons and French. Legend has it that another famous hostage of Niall's was Succat - you'd know him as Saint Patrick.
"Irish sources describe Niall's successful raids on Britain and France, and he was probably involved in establishing a Gaelic kingdom in north Wales. At home, Niall consolidated power in the northern region of Ireland, creating the Uí Néill dynasty that would provide the High Kings of Ireland for centuries. As well as the O'Neills, the Scottish clans MacNeil and MacLachlan can also claim descent from Niall.
"Tradition has it that he died in 405 - though some historians argue for a later date - at sea in the Channel (or in France, or in the Alps, or possibly in Scotland). And despite his rampant and academically proven promiscuity, he was actually succeeded by one of the (presumably rare) young men in Ireland whom he hadn't sired himself - his nephew, Dathi."
Guardian>
For additional information on Niall of the Nine Hostages, Tara or any aspect of this subject, consult your encyclopedia or one of the many online reference sources.
How can we Determine Ancient Relationships to Contemporary male Barrons?
Modern day genetic technology allows us to very accurately predict the Y-DNA profile of some ancient ancestors. This phenomenon is due to the fact that the genetic markers associated with Y-DNA mutate, or change, very little over long periods of time. In fact, the average time between one small increment of change in the markers is somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 years. Consequently, a sample of a known and documented male descendant of any historical figure can be used as a baseline for all other contemporary males. In the case of the Irish warlord Niall, there is ample evidence that the first 25 ancestral Y-DNA genetic markers will appear with the following values:
Markers 393 390 19 391 385a 385b 426 388 439 389-1 392 389-2 458 459a 459b 455 454 447 437 448 449 464a 464b 464c 464d
Niall -» 13 25 14 11 11 13 12 12 12 13 14 29 17 9 10 11 11 25 15 18 30 15 16 16 17
Bill Barron -»13 25 14 11 11 13 12 12 12 13 14 29 17 9 10 11 11 25 15 18 30 16 16 16 17
Clan 3 -» 13 25 14 11 11 13 12 12 12 13 14 29 17 8 10 11 11 25 15 18 31 15 16 17 17
The first row of marker values above is the genetic "fingerprint" of Niall; the second row identified as "Bill Barron" contains the genetic marker values of William Nathaniel Gale Barron (kit #133570). Note there is only one marker mutation shown and that is on marker 464a, a fast mutating marker. Unquestionably, Bill is a direct descendent of Niall.
The third row reflects the marker values typical of the members of our Barron Clan 3. While all 25 markers are important in our attempt to align family trees with one another, those markers above shown in red are regarded as pivotal in identifying Niall's descendants. The marker values in the third row which have been highlighted reflect mutations that have occurred over the millennia. So, although we cannot be absolutely assured of the Clan 3 being descended from Niall, in the words of Bennett Greenspan, President of Family Tree DNA, "They (Clan 3 members) are 22/25 yet have the very important 11/13 at 385 and the 14 at DYS 392. The missing or different marker values are all ‘palindromic’ meaning highly volatile and less reliable when looking at a time span of 1500 (years). I think that these guys (Clan 3) are R1b1c7 which is the 'cluster of Niall'…No one can say for sure if they are descendants of Niall or his father's brother, but I think they are certainly in the cluster of Niall."
As the extended results of William Nathaniel Gale Barron continued to come in, it became apparent that he and the members of Clan 3 were possibly related, but almost certainly had a common paternal ancestor many hundreds of years ago. Family Tree DNA experts calculate that there is a 72% likelihood of a common ancestor between Clan 3 and Bill Barron within the last 1,000 years, given that there is a "genetic distance" of seventeen (17) marker mutations between the two parties. If we move further back in time to around the existence of "Niall of the Nine Hostages" or some 1,700 years ago, the likelihood of a common ancestor increases significantly.