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Y-DNA Results:
Various Scottish clans are finding that they are descended from more than one progenitor. Such is the case with Clan MacRae. We have identified several lines that show relationship between two or more testers plus many others who do not yet have a match within the clan.
Only males can test Y-DNA because it is the gene that makes a male a male. It is passed directly from father to son. Haplogroups are DNA signatures that are used to look at migrations of man. A resource on this topic is Spencer Wells, Deep Ancestry.
To learn more about the haplogroups and to see research and graphics of the Y-DNA tree, go to Additional information can be found by searching the internet for the haplogroup you are interested in. Be sure to specify Y-DNA Haplogroup.
The test kits have been sorted into their respective haplogroups. Those haplogroups listed in red are estimated by FTDNA. Those listed in green have been SNP tested to confirm the haplotype. More people are doing SNP tests because it can further refine what part of the haplogroup they come from. This is particularly true in Haplogroups E, G, I, J, and R. A few people do not have assigned haplogroups because their haplotype numbers are somewhat unusual. Only a SNP test can confirm the haplogroup when a haplotype (set of scores shown in DYS Values) is rare. When this happens, FTDNA performs a free “backbone” test to confirm the haplogroup.
• Y-DNA Haplogroup A is the most diverse of all Y-DNAlineages and began about 60,000 years ago in Africa. Found mainly in the southern regions of Africa,many still speak ancient click languages.
• Y-DNA Haplogroup E would appear to have arisen in Northeast Africa based on the concentration and variety of E subclades in that area today. But the fact that Haplogroup E is closely linked with Haplogroup D, which is not found in Africa, leaves open the possibility that E first arose in the Near or Middle East and was subsequently carried into Africa by a back migration. E1b1b1 probably evolved either in Northeast Africa or the Near East and then expanded to the west--both north and south of the Mediterranean Sea.
• Y-DNA Haplogroup G when found in the British Isles is generally attributed to the influence of Roman soldiers. It has has an overall low frequency in most populations but is widely distributed within many ethnic groups in Europe, Caucasus, southern, western and central Asia and northern Africa.
• Y-DNA Haplogroup I overwintered in the Balkans during the last Ice Age and some members of this group also overwintered in Iberia. The subgroup I1 today is found mainly in northwestern Europe; some I1’s are Anglo-Saxons, and others are Norse Vikings. One of the oldest inhabitants of great Britain is the I2b1a group called Isles . Another I2a grouping comes from Eastern Europe.
•Y-DNA Haplogroup J began 15,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, an area that today includes Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. J1emerged during the Neolithic Revolution in the Middle East, and some movednorthward into western Europe while others moved back into North Africa. J2came out of the Near East, moved west along the Mediterranean to Italy andsouthern Spain. No J2’s got to Ireland, but they did get to Wales, England andScotland in small numbers.
•Y-DNA Haplogroup R1a is believed to have arisen on the Eurasian Steppe, andtoday is most frequently observed in eastern Europe and in western and centralAsia. It is also associated with Vikings.
• Y-DNA Haplogroup R1b is the most prolific haplogroup in Europe and its frequency changes in a cline from west (where it reaches a saturation point of almost 100% in areas of Western Ireland) to east (where it becomes uncommon in parts of Eastern Europe and virtually disappears beyond the Middle East.
--R1b Group A seems to be from the Applecross/Lochcarron area.
--R1b Irish is of an Irish DNA signature.
--R1b-Irish NW Niall is identified as the Ui Neill clan which produced the Irish King Niall of the 9 Hostages.
--R1b- Irish SW is also known as Irish Type III aka the Dalcassian Clans of Ireland. This group originated in the South West part of Ireland. The tradition of the McCraws is that the family came from the Isle of Skye. The immigrant William had eight sons and we already have proven a relationship through DNA testing which had a gap in the paper trail.
--R1b OGAP13 has a relationship with these McCraws, but is of a different DNA that looks to come from Northern England or the Borders of Scotland.
--R1b MacRae Kintail (Scots Moda) is the largest single group of testers. The Scots Modal DNA signature was first identified by Mark MacDonald of Clan Donald. A number of clans have a variant of this DNA signature. The MacRaes of Kintail are said to have come from Clunes (less than 5 miles SE of Beauly) to Kintail. BY2014 there were enough testers with confirmed pedigrees tracing back toChristopher MacRae, Constable of Eilean Donan Castle in 1511 to confirm this DNAsignature for the MacRaes of Kintail.
--R1b- McCray Irish is an Irish DNA signature. So far only one tester has provided genealogy and his ancestor came from Ireland. --R1b- McCrea #1 islikely from somewhere within the British Isles.
--R1b- McCrea #2 may be from the McCreas of Guernsey. We are seeking a person with a good paper trail to prove or disprove this hypothesis.
--R1b- McRea/McClure matches with McClure.
--R1b- OGAP 10 belongs to the Mesolithic migration along the Irish coast. This group may represent the MacRaes of Corriedhomhain, descended from a piper that a MacKenzie chief brought from Ireland. The OGAP 10 group and the McCrea #2 group both have snp L193 so are somehow related.
--R1b- OGAP12 may represent either a Black Isles or a Border group of MacRaes.
--R1b- OGAP 13 mayrepresent a DNA signature from Northern England.
--R1b- OGAP 30 comesfrom an unknown area of the British Isles.
--R1b- OGAP 34 comprises showsdescent from Nairnshire, Sutherlandshire or perhaps eastern Scotland.
--R1b- Ray Group 2 is fromRoseharty, Scotland.
--R1b- Ray/Raye/Rhea comprises tracesback to Virginia and Tennessee. More needs to be known on the genealogies of these men in order to determine their common ancestor.
--R1b- Scottish is from an unknown area of Scotland. Both men would need to upgrade to 67 markers to see if the match holds up since they are of different surnames.
--R1b- Unmatched - These men are still awaiting matches within the MacRae DNA project.
There are many other small groups of men whose test results show they are related. Most of these pedigrees show an Irish bent, some are Scottish and some are undetermined. There are also quite a few men who are still waiting for matches.
mtDNA Results:
mtDNAtest kits are also arranged by mtdna Haplogroups. mtDNA is passed from thefemale to all of her children, so both females and males have mtDNA, but malescannot pass it to succeeding generations. mtDNA Haplogroups with the same nameas Y-DNA Haplogroups have no relationship with each other. An example is thatmtDNA Haplogroup K has a different history from Y-DNA Haplogroup K. mtDNAHaplogroups show the deep ancestry of the tester and are described in SpencerWells, Deep Ancestry. Descriptions are also available on the tester'spersonal page under mtDNA - Results. Additional information can be found bysearching the internet for the haplogroup you are interested in. Be sure tospecify mtDNA Haplogroup.
•mtDNA Haplogroup A began moving east across Siberia about 50,000 years ago andmoved on to populate the Americas. It is the primary mitochondrial lineagecarried by Eskimos.
• mtDNA Haplogroup H (also known as Helena)- This haplogroup comprises 40 to 60 % of the mtDNA gene pool in Western Europe and as such is considered the most successful of the mtDNA haplogroups in reproducing itself. It also comprises about 20 % of southwest Asian lineages, 15 % of central Asian lineages and 5 % of northern Asian lineages.
• mtDNA Haplogroup J* (also known as Jasmine) – This haplogroup has a very wide distribution, being common in eastern and northern Europe, and is present as far east as the Indus Valley bordering Indian and Pakistan and as far south as the Arabian peninsula. mtDNA haplogroup J is largely considered one of the main genetic signatures of the Neolithic expansion and is associated with the spread of agriculture.
• mtDNA Haplogroup K (also known as Katrine) – This haplogroup has a wide distribution including areas of Europe, northern Africa, India, Arabia, the northern Caucasus Mountains and throughout the near East. Today, mtDNA haplogroup K has three of the four most common mtDNA signatures in Askenazi Jews.
•mtDNA Haplogroup L (includes mitochondrial Eve) is the root of the mtDNA treeand is prevalent in Africa. The L3 subclade was established about 80,000 yearsago and contained the first modern humans to have left Africa through headingnorth. The major African American subclades are L2a (18.8%, sub-SaharanAfrica), L1c (11%, Bantu and Semi-Bantu speakers of west-central tropicalAfrica), L1b (9.1%, West Africa), L3e2 (9.1%, Bantu speakers of West Africa),L3b (8.1%, West Africa), and L3d (6%, West Africa).
• mtDNA Haplogroup T (also known as Tara) – This haplogroup is common in eastern and northern Europe and found as far east as the Indus Valley and the Arabian Peninsula. It is considered one of the main genetic signatures of the Neolithic expansion.
• mtDNA Haplogroup U (also known as Ursula) – This haplogroup has a wide distribution. Most in mtDNA haplogroup U come from a group that moved northwest out of the Near East. Today they are found in Europe and the eastern Mediterranean at frequencies of almost 7% of the population. U5 is found in Scandinavia, particularly in Finland with the Saami (reindeer herders). It is found in lesser amounts in North African Berber populations in Morocco, Senegal, and Algeria plus some parts of North African and at 2% in the Near East.
• mtDNA Haplogroup X is widely debated. D1 is largely found in North and South Africa. X2 is spread widely throughout western Eurasia and is about 2% of European haplogroups. A surprising feature is that X is also present in North America. Examples: 25% of Ojibwa, 15% of Sioux, 10% of Nuu-Chah-Nulth, and 7% of Navajo. It is almost entirely absent from Siberia and is entirely absent in East Asian populations.
Various Scottish clans are finding that they are descended from more than one progenitor. Such is the case with Clan MacRae. We have identified several lines that show relationship between two or more testers plus many others who do not yet have a match within the clan.
Only males can test Y-DNA because it is the gene that makes a male a male. It is passed directly from father to son. Haplogroups are DNA signatures that are used to look at migrations of man. A resource on this topic is Spencer Wells, Deep Ancestry.
To learn more about the haplogroups and to see research and graphics of the Y-DNA tree, go to Additional information can be found by searching the internet for the haplogroup you are interested in. Be sure to specify Y-DNA Haplogroup.
The test kits have been sorted into their respective haplogroups. Those haplogroups listed in red are estimated by FTDNA. Those listed in green have been SNP tested to confirm the haplotype. More people are doing SNP tests because it can further refine what part of the haplogroup they come from. This is particularly true in Haplogroups E, G, I, J, and R. A few people do not have assigned haplogroups because their haplotype numbers are somewhat unusual. Only a SNP test can confirm the haplogroup when a haplotype (set of scores shown in DYS Values) is rare. When this happens, FTDNA performs a free “backbone” test to confirm the haplogroup.
• Y-DNA Haplogroup A is the most diverse of all Y-DNAlineages and began about 60,000 years ago in Africa. Found mainly in the southern regions of Africa,many still speak ancient click languages.
• Y-DNA Haplogroup E would appear to have arisen in Northeast Africa based on the concentration and variety of E subclades in that area today. But the fact that Haplogroup E is closely linked with Haplogroup D, which is not found in Africa, leaves open the possibility that E first arose in the Near or Middle East and was subsequently carried into Africa by a back migration. E1b1b1 probably evolved either in Northeast Africa or the Near East and then expanded to the west--both north and south of the Mediterranean Sea.
• Y-DNA Haplogroup G when found in the British Isles is generally attributed to the influence of Roman soldiers. It has has an overall low frequency in most populations but is widely distributed within many ethnic groups in Europe, Caucasus, southern, western and central Asia and northern Africa.
• Y-DNA Haplogroup I overwintered in the Balkans during the last Ice Age and some members of this group also overwintered in Iberia. The subgroup I1 today is found mainly in northwestern Europe; some I1’s are Anglo-Saxons, and others are Norse Vikings. One of the oldest inhabitants of great Britain is the I2b1a group called Isles . Another I2a grouping comes from Eastern Europe.
•Y-DNA Haplogroup J began 15,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, an area that today includes Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. J1emerged during the Neolithic Revolution in the Middle East, and some movednorthward into western Europe while others moved back into North Africa. J2came out of the Near East, moved west along the Mediterranean to Italy andsouthern Spain. No J2’s got to Ireland, but they did get to Wales, England andScotland in small numbers.
•Y-DNA Haplogroup R1a is believed to have arisen on the Eurasian Steppe, andtoday is most frequently observed in eastern Europe and in western and centralAsia. It is also associated with Vikings.
• Y-DNA Haplogroup R1b is the most prolific haplogroup in Europe and its frequency changes in a cline from west (where it reaches a saturation point of almost 100% in areas of Western Ireland) to east (where it becomes uncommon in parts of Eastern Europe and virtually disappears beyond the Middle East.
--R1b Group A seems to be from the Applecross/Lochcarron area.
--R1b Irish is of an Irish DNA signature.
--R1b-Irish NW Niall is identified as the Ui Neill clan which produced the Irish King Niall of the 9 Hostages.
--R1b- Irish SW is also known as Irish Type III aka the Dalcassian Clans of Ireland. This group originated in the South West part of Ireland. The tradition of the McCraws is that the family came from the Isle of Skye. The immigrant William had eight sons and we already have proven a relationship through DNA testing which had a gap in the paper trail.
--R1b OGAP13 has a relationship with these McCraws, but is of a different DNA that looks to come from Northern England or the Borders of Scotland.
--R1b MacRae Kintail (Scots Moda) is the largest single group of testers. The Scots Modal DNA signature was first identified by Mark MacDonald of Clan Donald. A number of clans have a variant of this DNA signature. The MacRaes of Kintail are said to have come from Clunes (less than 5 miles SE of Beauly) to Kintail. BY2014 there were enough testers with confirmed pedigrees tracing back toChristopher MacRae, Constable of Eilean Donan Castle in 1511 to confirm this DNAsignature for the MacRaes of Kintail.
--R1b- McCray Irish is an Irish DNA signature. So far only one tester has provided genealogy and his ancestor came from Ireland. --R1b- McCrea #1 islikely from somewhere within the British Isles.
--R1b- McCrea #2 may be from the McCreas of Guernsey. We are seeking a person with a good paper trail to prove or disprove this hypothesis.
--R1b- McRea/McClure matches with McClure.
--R1b- OGAP 10 belongs to the Mesolithic migration along the Irish coast. This group may represent the MacRaes of Corriedhomhain, descended from a piper that a MacKenzie chief brought from Ireland. The OGAP 10 group and the McCrea #2 group both have snp L193 so are somehow related.
--R1b- OGAP12 may represent either a Black Isles or a Border group of MacRaes.
--R1b- OGAP 13 mayrepresent a DNA signature from Northern England.
--R1b- OGAP 30 comesfrom an unknown area of the British Isles.
--R1b- OGAP 34 comprises showsdescent from Nairnshire, Sutherlandshire or perhaps eastern Scotland.
--R1b- Ray Group 2 is fromRoseharty, Scotland.
--R1b- Ray/Raye/Rhea comprises tracesback to Virginia and Tennessee. More needs to be known on the genealogies of these men in order to determine their common ancestor.
--R1b- Scottish is from an unknown area of Scotland. Both men would need to upgrade to 67 markers to see if the match holds up since they are of different surnames.
--R1b- Unmatched - These men are still awaiting matches within the MacRae DNA project.
There are many other small groups of men whose test results show they are related. Most of these pedigrees show an Irish bent, some are Scottish and some are undetermined. There are also quite a few men who are still waiting for matches.
mtDNA Results:
mtDNAtest kits are also arranged by mtdna Haplogroups. mtDNA is passed from thefemale to all of her children, so both females and males have mtDNA, but malescannot pass it to succeeding generations. mtDNA Haplogroups with the same nameas Y-DNA Haplogroups have no relationship with each other. An example is thatmtDNA Haplogroup K has a different history from Y-DNA Haplogroup K. mtDNAHaplogroups show the deep ancestry of the tester and are described in SpencerWells, Deep Ancestry. Descriptions are also available on the tester'spersonal page under mtDNA - Results. Additional information can be found bysearching the internet for the haplogroup you are interested in. Be sure tospecify mtDNA Haplogroup.
•mtDNA Haplogroup A began moving east across Siberia about 50,000 years ago andmoved on to populate the Americas. It is the primary mitochondrial lineagecarried by Eskimos.
• mtDNA Haplogroup H (also known as Helena)- This haplogroup comprises 40 to 60 % of the mtDNA gene pool in Western Europe and as such is considered the most successful of the mtDNA haplogroups in reproducing itself. It also comprises about 20 % of southwest Asian lineages, 15 % of central Asian lineages and 5 % of northern Asian lineages.
• mtDNA Haplogroup J* (also known as Jasmine) – This haplogroup has a very wide distribution, being common in eastern and northern Europe, and is present as far east as the Indus Valley bordering Indian and Pakistan and as far south as the Arabian peninsula. mtDNA haplogroup J is largely considered one of the main genetic signatures of the Neolithic expansion and is associated with the spread of agriculture.
• mtDNA Haplogroup K (also known as Katrine) – This haplogroup has a wide distribution including areas of Europe, northern Africa, India, Arabia, the northern Caucasus Mountains and throughout the near East. Today, mtDNA haplogroup K has three of the four most common mtDNA signatures in Askenazi Jews.
•mtDNA Haplogroup L (includes mitochondrial Eve) is the root of the mtDNA treeand is prevalent in Africa. The L3 subclade was established about 80,000 yearsago and contained the first modern humans to have left Africa through headingnorth. The major African American subclades are L2a (18.8%, sub-SaharanAfrica), L1c (11%, Bantu and Semi-Bantu speakers of west-central tropicalAfrica), L1b (9.1%, West Africa), L3e2 (9.1%, Bantu speakers of West Africa),L3b (8.1%, West Africa), and L3d (6%, West Africa).
• mtDNA Haplogroup T (also known as Tara) – This haplogroup is common in eastern and northern Europe and found as far east as the Indus Valley and the Arabian Peninsula. It is considered one of the main genetic signatures of the Neolithic expansion.
• mtDNA Haplogroup U (also known as Ursula) – This haplogroup has a wide distribution. Most in mtDNA haplogroup U come from a group that moved northwest out of the Near East. Today they are found in Europe and the eastern Mediterranean at frequencies of almost 7% of the population. U5 is found in Scandinavia, particularly in Finland with the Saami (reindeer herders). It is found in lesser amounts in North African Berber populations in Morocco, Senegal, and Algeria plus some parts of North African and at 2% in the Near East.
• mtDNA Haplogroup X is widely debated. D1 is largely found in North and South Africa. X2 is spread widely throughout western Eurasia and is about 2% of European haplogroups. A surprising feature is that X is also present in North America. Examples: 25% of Ojibwa, 15% of Sioux, 10% of Nuu-Chah-Nulth, and 7% of Navajo. It is almost entirely absent from Siberia and is entirely absent in East Asian populations.