About us
If you haven't been active in the project in a while, here are some of our recent changes:
Our Y-DNA subgroups have been reorganized. In order to more easily find your results and those of others who are closely matched to you, the Y-DNA subgroups on our DNA Results page have been color-coded and ordered according to haplogroup. The legacy group numbers like {02} and {04} have been preserved in the names so that you can still find them. Even for those who have no close matches, testers with other Duke matches in the same haplogroup have been grouped together in specific "Unmatched" subgroups and separated from those who do not appear to be Duke descendants.
Our mtDNA results are now visible. While not particularly useful in a surname project, the mtDNA results for any testers in our group can be viewed on the DNA Results page. We have at least one case where several testers were using mtDNA to determine a particular female Duke ancestor when Y-DNA was no longer an option.
Our website has been updated. The content on the group pages had not been updated in several years and contained some outdated information. The links to the old pages are still available and can be viewed on the Results page. Those pages have also been archived so that the information will be preserved even if the websites disappear.
DNA testing technology is improving all of the time. Tests like the Y-12 and SNP packs have been phased out for newer tests like the Y-111 or the Big Y test. Please do your research before ordering the wrong test. If in doubt, the Y-37 can help you determine if you might fall into one of the known Duke groups; if you don't, paying for a more expensive test is not likely to benefit you. Once you are placed in a Duke family subgroup, then upgrading to the Big Y could give you much more detailed results—if some of your matches are willing to do the same. If you are still unsure, ask on our Activity Feed!
FamilyTreeDNA has a blog where you can keep track of the latest updates in testing and the features on their website:
One of the most interesting new features is the time tree, which shows estimates of the branches back to a common ancestor based on Y-DNA testing. To take full advantage of this, you would need to have taken the Big Y test to bring your haplogroup into the modern timeframe. Some examples from our own Duke group are:
I-BY62571: This includes the descendants of John Duke from Isle of Wight, VA in 1640 (group 2). This group has quite a few Big Y testers and also shows what happens when enough people test. Additional branches such as I-FTB6615 (ca. 1714) and I-FTB4356 (ca. 1803) have been found based on common mutations between some of the testers. [results from our group only]
R-FTA4515: This includes the descendants of Thomas and Col. Henry Duke of Henrico, VA (group 4). While this group has many Y-DNA testers, only a few people have done the Big Y test. An additional branch was recently discovered, and we hope to find more as others upgrade or test. [results from our group only]
As you can see, many of our current group members are excluded from these results because they have not done the Big Y test. Imagine what our results would look like with more testers! If you are serious about uncovering your paternal lineage, please consider upgrading!