There is a bigger Y-DNA Haplogroup Q-M242 Project that welcomes all Qs, and we encourage all the members of this group to join that one as well. If you have Jewish ancestry on your direct paternal line, please also join the Avotaynu DNA project. Through these two projects, Adam Brown and Rebekah Canada are doing active research to explore and document the Jewish Q lineages including when they entered the Jewish Diaspora populations.

When we first started we were bewildered men of northern European descent most of us with a Jewish heritage who were members of Haplogroup Q. If we paid the extra money and had our SNPs tested we found that in addition to the M242 SNP that put us into Haplogroup Q we also had SNP P36.2 which put us into subgroup Q1* but this was pretty much meaningless for us.

Over time though, new branches have been discovered. Some of these clearly define Jewish branches on the Q tree. Others pose ongoing questions that must be answered with additional testing and research.

Branch Paths

This is what we know about Jewish Q branches so far. Note that when we specify a group within the Jewish Diaspora we are only reporting where the branch is most common today.

Q-Y2232

This branch is primarily found in the modern Ashkenazi Jewish population. For those with Ashkenazi Jewish oral traditions, our definitive SNP appears to Q-Y2232. Other Jewish Diaspora Q branches seem to come from elsewhere on the Q tree. They likely came into the Jewish population separately from Q-Y2232. Immediately above Q-Y2232 is Q-Y2200. It is unclear right now how and when those who are Q-Y2200 but not Q-Y2232 are related to their Ashkenazi Jewish cousins. 

Behar and others published a scientific paper January 2004 found 5.22% of Ashkenazi Jewish men to have the P36 marker (a SNP downstream from M242 and upstream from M378) whereas among the non-Jewish neighbors there was only 0.3% had this SNP. It now appears that many of us also have another SNP downstream from M378, the L245. As the results from additional testing become known we will share that information.

• M242 29,000 to 34,000 years old; Eurasia and the Americas
• L275 26,000 to 31,000 years old; Eurasia
• F1213 12,000 to 16,000 years old; Eurasia
• M378 8,000 to 12,000 years old; Eurasia
• L245 5,100 to 6,700 years old; Eurasia
• Y2998 3,200 to 4,100 years old
• Y2209 2,900 to 4,000 years old; Eurasia
• Y2211 2,900 to 4,000 years old; Eurasia
• Y2200 1,800 to 3,200 years old; Ashkenazi Jews and some Europeans
• Y2232 Ashkenazi Jews (4% - 6% of the Ashkenazi population today.)

Q-YP745

Several branches of this lineage have been found in Sephardi Jewish populations in Algeria, Iraq, Morocco, and among the hidden Sephardi population of the New World. Documenting this lineages is a top priority for the Avotaynu DNA and Q-M242 Haplogroup Projects.

• M242 29,000 to 34,000 years old;Eurasia and the Americas
• L275 26,000 to 31,000 years old; Eurasia
• F1213 12,000 to 16,000 years old; Eurasia
• M378 8,000 to 12,000 years old; Eurasia
• L245 5,100 to 6,700 years old; Eurasia
• YP745 3,200 to 4,100 years old; Western Eurasia & Middle East including Sephardi Jews (Along with Q-BZ386 and other undefined branches, it is about 3% of Sephardi Jewish populations today.)

Q-BZ386

This is a newly discovered branch that has Sephardi Jewish connections. Documenting this lineage is a top priority for the Avotaynu DNA and Q-M242 Haplogroup Projects.

• M242 29,000 to 34,000 years old; Eurasia and the Americas
• L275 26,000 to 31,000 years old; Eurasia
• F1213 12,000 to 16,000 years old; Eurasia
• M378 8,000 to 12,000 years old; Eurasia
• BZ386 Europe including Sephardi Jews (Along with Q-YP745 and other undefined branches, it is about 3% of Sephardi Jewish populations today.)

Q-BZ4510 & Q-M323

The Q-M323 was found in the Yemeni Jewish population over 10 years ago. Published findings showed it is around 5% of that population. Little more than that was known. However, the Q-M242 project was recently able to Big Y test a Q-M323 Yemeni Jewish male. This testing placed Q-M323 on the correct branch of the tree. Interestingly, its new parent branch (Q-BZ4510) is represented by someone believed to be of Jewish paternal ancestry from the mountains of Mexico.

• M242 29,000 to 34,000 years old; Eurasia and the Americas
• MEH2 26,000 to 31,000 years old; Eurasia and the Americas
• M346 24,000 to 28,000 years old; Eurasia and the Americas
• Y4800 18,000 to 21,000 years old; Eurasia
• F1161 16,000 to 21,000; Eurasia
• L932 14,000 to 19,000 years old; Eurasia
• L938 12,000 to 16,000 years old; Western and Southern Eurasia
• BZ1462 7,000 to 11,000 years old; Western and Southern Eurasia
• BZ4510 5,200 to 7,300 years old; Jewish populations
• M323 Yemeni Jews (It is about 5% of the modern Yemeni Jewish population.)