The most significant family group within the Graham DNA Project represents descendants of the Earls, Marquises and Dukes of Montrose.  This is the group labelled I1 Group Type 2: I-M253>DF29>A5616>A5721>A5723>Y48464>FT233821. Descended from the Grahams and Graemes of Montrose, Inchbrakie, Duchray, Gartmore and Glenny.

Another notable Graham family group is that within J1-L1253 and its subclades, whish represents the Grahams that come from the Scottish Borders. It is the largest single European family group within the J1-M267 haplogroup.

Y-DNA results in the Graham Project have been grouped at two different levels.

1. Closely related (family) groups.

To share an MRCA within recorded history, FTDNA calculates that you need a match within the following degrees of genetic distance (GD), i.e. the number of marker mismatches:

12 markers tested: 0,1

25 markers tested: 0, 1, 2

37 markers tested: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4

67 markers tested: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

The closer the match, the closer the relationship is likely to be – more or less! This is only a rough guide, and other information should be factored into the match wherever possible.

“Within recorded history” is a very loose term. For Scotland, the ancestral home for many of the Grahams, this would be since about 1100AD.

2. Haplogroup and Subclade.

Residual grouping is by Haplogroup, and Subclade within haplogroup. People in different haplogroups or subclades cannot be closely related. Men in different major groups are unlikely to have a most recent common ancestor (MRCA) within the last 10,000 years (for major haplogroups) or within 5,000 years or so for subclades within a haplogroup.

If you share a haplogroup or subclade with a person of interest, it is likely that your Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) lived within the last 5,000 years or so.

Results for testers for whom we have not yet found a match, or have too few markers tested to allow reliable matching, will be placed in one of the Unassigned groups.

Haplogroups are determined by a small number of mutations on the Y chromosome, known as Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), or Unique Event Polymorphisms (UEPs). Haplogroups in green have been confirmed by SNP testing. Haplogroups in red have been predicted by Family Tree DNA based on the individual's STR results and can be confirmed by a Deep Clade SNP test.

Summary.

As at March 2021 the Graham DNA Project had a total of 325 mtDNA tests, 644 Y-DNA tests, and 407 Family Finder tests from a total of 1035 project members. 123 testers had ordered a BigY test. 

Test results in Major Haplogroups in the mtDNA series were grouped as follows:

Haplogroup     Test results

A                                 3

B                                 1

C                                 1

H                             133

HV                              5

I                                 22

J                                34

K                               37

L                                 5

M                                2

N                                 3

R                                 1

T                               28

U                               40

V                               11

W                                4

X                                 5

Total                       325

Test results in Major Haplogroups in the Y-DNA series were grouped as follows:

Haplogroup    Family Groups    Group sizes         Unassigned Test results

E-M2                           3          7, 2, 2                                5                   16

E-M35                         0                                                    6                     6

G                                 1          2                                        7                     9

I-M170                        1          7                                       4                    11

I-M253                        5          18, 5, 2, 2, 2                   18                    47

I-P109                         0                                                   2                      2

I-M223                        2          2, 3                                   4                     9

J1-M267                     1          200                                   4                  204

J2-m172                      1          6                                      4                    10

N                                 0                                                  1                      1

Q                                 1          3                                      0                      3

R1a                             0                                                15                    15

R1b                           37          13, 11, 11, 11,…         133                  302

Total                         53                                              188                  644

Autosomal tests in the Family Finder series do not appear in the Public website. These are shown on the tester’s Home page at FTDNA.