Participation in this project is open to anyone anywhere in the world with Hamilton/Hambleton ties. The goals of the project include, among others: (a) help participants solve longstanding genealogical problems and find new relationships with other Hamilton lines, (b) determine which particular Hamilton lines are closely related and which are not, (c) determine which lines are derived from the aristocratic Hamilton line that began with Walter Fitzgilbert around 1300 in Scotland, (d) determine which lines are related to famous Hamiltons, such as the USA founding father, Alexander Hamilton. Since markers on the Y-chromosome are being analyzed in this study, the DNA sample donor must be a male with a direct male Hamilton lineage. Only males have the Y-chromosome and it is passed directly, virtually unchanged, from father to son, never to or from females. Thus, females interested in obtaining information about their Hamilton lineage would need to have a male relative (father, brother, uncle, a male cousin, etc., from their direct Hamilton line) actually supply the sample for analysis.