Chisholms are said to be originally Normans who took the lands of Cheseholm in Roxburghshire, Scotland in the 13th century or earlier. Through marriages with northern heiresses, they established themselves as a Highland clan. Sir Robert de Cheseholme became in 1359 Constable of the royal castle of Urquhart, now a ruin beside Loch Ness. Erchless Castle, Strathglass, is the ancestral seat.

This project is to see if people of the name Chisholm are of multiple genetic heritages (haplogroups) like many of the western Highland clans. It hopes to define lines of related Chisholms.

Males, please order either the Y-DNA37 or the Y-DNA67 kit as the 12 and 25 marker kits do not give enough significant information.