The Udny, Widney, and Woodney surnames are rather uncommon and are believed (along with some additional variant spellings) to share a patrilineal genetic origin. Any male who is, or has reason to believe he is, a genetic Udny, Widney, or Woodney is welcome to join this project. However, this being a surname project, a Y-DNA test for Y-STR values is required. ** While the Udny family first appears in 1518 in Scotland and is still found there today, one male Udny arrived in Ireland in or before 1621, where the spellings Widney and Woodney became more common. Widney is in fact the Scots pronunciation of Udny. Today, men named Udny, Widney, and/or Woodney are living in Scotland, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United States of America. It is possible, of course, that some are living in other countries.