Welcome to the Payne Surname Project. Name variations include Pagnus, Pagan, Pagen, Payan, Payen, Payens, Paien, Paige, Pean, Paen, Pyn, Payn, Pain, Paine, Pane, Pyson, and Paynel.

We are proud to be among the first to take advantage of DNA testing to advance our family genealogy. Our project began in 2000 with 25 original participants who were tested by Relative Genetics, now doing business as Ancestry.com. Project administrator Patrick Payne later opted to conduct a second round of testing using FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA).

The Payne Y-DNA Project is a Y-DNA-focused project. Any male Payne (meaning any male born to a Payne father) who has completed a Y-DNA test can join the project by clicking on the JOIN button located on the top right of this webpage.

Once you’ve joined, you can find your Y-DNA results by clicking on “DNA Results” in the box to the left. Then click on either the Classic Chart or Colorized Chart. Look for your kit number in the far-left column.

Members of the project are placed in one of over 40 groups, which were created using a combination of Y-DNA STR markers, Big Y-700 SNPs, and traditional genealogical research that can identify common ancestors by name. Groups are divided by haplogroup and subdivided by SNP branch and/or lineage. A new group is typically created when the project has two or more members who probably share a common ancestor within the most recent 15 generations. If you are newly tested or newly joined, you will be placed in a group as quickly as possible.

Members for whom there are no matches are in Group 9 and will be moved to a new group if a match is identified. If you have matches who are not in the project and they share the Payne surname, please invite them to join the project. This will increase the likelihood that we can create a new group.

Members that only have matches with small kits are in Group 10. These matches need additional testing before we can place the member into a new group. Members for whom additional testing is needed to confirm a haplogroup are in Group 11.

If you are currently in Group 9, 10 or 11, and you believe that traditional genealogy places you in an existing group, please let us know. Also, if you believe you are in an incorrect group, please let us know. 

If you are on Facebook, consider joining the Payne Project: GEDmatch.

The Payne RootsWeb project has not been updated since 2010.