Updated 14 September 2024. The Big Y 700 is our test of choice for males. To help find family connections for the WILSONs of all spellings and variations. By joining the group you agree to provide the project with 3 things. 1) The surname of the person being tested. 2) The name, date and place of birth of the oldest researched male ancestor of your male patrilineal line and the oldest researched female ancestor of your matrilineal line. 3) Permission to publish the DNA results and the names, dates and places of birth of the oldest known patrilineal or matrilineal ancestor. Any Wilson may join, including those with variant spellings of the surname. The goal of the project is to sort out the different lineages found among those with this surname. Initial results have revealed a complex set of lineages. The surname Wilson is about 700 years old and appears to have been independently adopted numerous times by individuals or family groups who otherwise have no close patrilineal relationship. It cannot be the case that there was a single Wilson centuries ago from whom all modern Wilsons descend. There are probably dozens of different lines represented among those who carry the surname, and many more tests will be needed before we can reliably pick out most of the different clusters of related lines. It is already possible to distinguish some English Wilsons from those whose roots lie in Scotland or Ireland. Haplogroup distinctions may point to pre-surname ancestry for different Wilson lines among Vikings, Angles, Saxons, Celts -- even individuals with Middle Eastern roots who may have come to the British Isles during the Roman period.