About us
Results & Status
The detailed kit-by-kit haplotype results of current testing are on the four reports that are accessible from "DNA Results" on the menu bar to the left. They are sub-grouped by lineage defined by advanced SNP testing, STR testing, and family genealogies.
The Little Surname DNA Project is made up of several haplogroups, most being either Haplogroup “I” or Haplogroup “R1b.” Of those, members who fall under R1b ancestry easily outnumber those of Haplogroup I descent. FTDNA’s testing base has many men in North America of Scots or Irish heritage that have tested heavily compared to those who have tested from mainland Europe and other areas.
The detailed knowledge of a genetic lineage is directly related to the number of people obtaining advanced SNP testing. The number of results- hence knowledge gained - also affects the ability to make age estimates. This is the reason we encourage our members to obtain a BigY, if they are able, and to join the applicable haplogroup projects.
Below are charts showing some of the major haplogroups of the Little Surname DNA Project.
Haplogroup I-M170, including I1 and I2:
Haplogroup I (I-M170) is a … subgroup of haplogroup IJ, which itself is a derivative of the haplogroup IJK. Subclades I1 and I2 can be found in most present-day European populations, with peaks in some Northern European and Southeastern European countries. It was formed much earlier than R.
“I1 first became prominent [in Norway, Southern Sweden, and Denmark]. The Nordic Bronze Age is often considered ancestral to the Germanic peoples.”* Our project members’ ancestors with surname “Little” are unique to Wiltshire, in England. (* Wikipedia.org/ “Haplogroup I-M170”, and “Haplogroup I-M253”)
I2 was older still, as ancient hunter/gatherers were found in Switzerland. I2 has had relatively few testers because of their geography. Thus, details of more-recent-in-time branches have fewer matches and the ages of the SNPs are more difficult to estimate. As more people test, these results may be refined.
R1b-M269:
R-M269 is estimated to be 6,000 years old, created long before the genealogical period. It falls under R1b (R-M343), which was derived 27,000 years old. R1b is the most-frequently occurring haplogroup in Western Europe but also appears in parts of Russia and central Africa. This diagram does not indicate “terminal haplogroups” or family branching for the indicated sub-groups. Rather, it shows the major branches. FTDNA members who have BigY results may want to compare this chart to their Block Tree display.(ref. Wikipedia.org/Haplogroup R1b)
R1b-Z17299 Family Lineages (Scottish Border Littles):
During the 14th- 16th Centuries on the Border region of Scotland and England, there would have already been at least three major branches under Z17299, and probably a significant number of FGC32661 lineages under Z17296. During the 17th and 18th centuries the more recent “family” lines continued to branch out, with the geographic separation of Ulster, North America, and Australia, etc., possibly contributing.
The kits in our Scottish Borders Little “subgroup a.” are either proven or assumed to carry Z17299 due to the unique genetic signature found in the STRs with DYS391=11; 385a-b = 11-11; 464a-b-c-d = 14-15-17-17; and 568 = 8. Without advanced SNP testing, a member with this signature is classified as M269. (see R1b chart above). As a group, the STR’s are amazingly homogenous. It is important to remember that the SNP branching determines paternal family lines, and the STRs can then determine relatedness within that lineage. Members may have similar STRs, but if they carry a different terminal SNP paternal line, STR matches should be considered coincidental. That is why we encourage advanced Y-DNA testing including the BigY.
There are a few other surnames in this group, familiar family names from the border or in Ulster. However, they all carry the genetic signatures of “Little” rather than that of their respective surname group.