Changes in the haplogroup column of our study are onging. A group email will be sent out shortly discussing the revised haplotree for y and its impact on our surname study. Thankyou for your patience.

Y-DNA is passed father to son essentially unchanged. Therefore a father, son, uncle, great great-uncle, etc. would all have identical (or at least very similar) allele values along that segment of the DNA used by genealogists. (Of course, the DNA is not identical along the entire chain, just that segment used by genealogical DNA labs).

This makes Y-DNA a very good method to trace a family name. DNA may mutate slightly over the generations and it is through this means that professional DNA genealogists can make an estimate to the "time to the most recent common ancestor". Using traditional genealogy, one goes from the known to the unknown using church or civil records. Often times people come to the traditional "brick wall" as they are unable to find additional records. This is where DNA genealogy is helpful.

For example, if I can find another living person with my same family name (or even with a slight variation in the spelling) who has also been tested and this individual has identical or very similar DNA allele values, then there is a very good chance that we have an ancestor in common. At that point I would search along that family line hoping to find where my family line broke off from his. Testing that individual could confirm or eliminate that person as a relative. Either way it is valuable information and helps focus one's research. Just as everyone has a certain blood type each individual also has a certain Haplotype.

This is a designation based on DNA. As scientists continue to study DNA they have developed theories of how these different haplotypes have evolved and how they have traveled around the world as groups of people have moved from place to place over the millennia. Knowing ones haplotype then allows a reasonable estimation of where in the world one's family came from. The greater the pool of people with the same family name who have been DNA tested then the greater chance of finding someone with whom there is a common ancestor. The world wide Blake family encourages as many Blakes as possible to be tested through a responsible lab and to carefully share that information.

Importantly! This Blake Surname DNA Project is affiliated with: -

• the Blake one-name study at THE GUILD OF ONE-NAME STUDIES; and this site is dedicated to genealogical research in connection with the Blake family;

and an extensive range of work is being carried out by a group of dedicated Blake researchers; and you are invited to click on the above link to learn: -

• what the Blake Surname DNA Project is all about;

• about the depth of our research;

• about our goals; and

• about our achievements to date.

NOTE: In an era when an increasing number of people throughout the world blatantly refuse to do anything without any type of reward, it's important to mention that the administrator/co-administrators of this group receive no pay or commission whatsoever and their dedicated attempt to help other Blake researchers is completely voluntary.