Results of Y-DNA testing by the Project's members are presented here. Currently, members are grouped into more than eighty different genetic family groups, where all participants within a group are genetic cousins and descend from a common male ancestor within a surname or genealogical timeframe. The results are presented so we can assign researchers and summarize the results of their subgroup analyses.  Researchers who have traced their earliest ancestors through traditional genealogy are invited to submit their work to our DNA administrators for inclusion in our results.  

Testing

This study is a surname project. In Western culture, surnames are passed down the patrilineal line (father to son, to son, etc.). This study exclusively uses Y-DNA test results, which test only the Y chromosome carried by men.   

We encourage anyone who believes they have patrilineal ancestry (along the father's line) back to a man with the surname Young to test. For men, start with a Y-DNA 37 test. If you are female, find a male with the surname Young to test; use an autosomal DNA test to locate a willing male Young cousin willing to test.  Add the test results to the project database and upload a GedCom of your family tree.  Our administrators can help you with that analysis and will help assign you to the appropriate Genetic Family Group.

Current Y-DNA testing focuses on two types of mutations in the human male Y chromosome - STRs (Short Tandem Repeats) and SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms).  If you have taken a 12, 25, 37, 67, or 111"markers" test, you have tested STRs.  If you have taken a SNP panel or a Y-DNA test with Full Genomes Corporation (or several other companies), you have likely only tested SNPs.  If you have taken the "Big Y" tests from Family Tree DNA, you have tested both STRs and SNPs.  

Each type of mutation has strengths and weaknesses, which, along with traditional genealogy research, help us piece together the likely branching patterns between groups of men known through their shared Y-DNA to be related to each other within the time of surnames.  Although estimating time to common ancestors (TMRCA) is currently an inexact science with Y-DNA, it is sufficient for us to distinguish major branches and evaluate their relationships.  It is often insufficient for us to gauge precisely what order certain branches diverged from each other or in which specific generations.   

It is helpful to look at both Y-DNA and autosomal DNA results to see which other surnames you match with.  These matches and their associated surnames can help you pinpoint the location of a "genetic homeland" of your surname progenitor (a surname "Adam," as in "Adam & Eve"). Then, you might seek out new testers within the geographical region of interest to try and locate a match.  For testers in the UK diaspora, the challenge today is to find a willing male tester near where your surname-Adam lived some 700-1000 years ago.  Research shows that our ancestors left a genetic imprint in the UK, which remains in today's local population.  The challenge is to find those new test candidates. 

Over time, this study is building a map of the surname-Adams of the Young surname family groups.  DNA test results are compared to traditional genealogy family trees to create a genetic genealogy narrative for the family group.

Family Groupings

For surname projects, we create groups of related people with the same surname who are likely to be related to each other within the last 1000 years (surname timeframe). Such groups are likely to descend from a single individual who was the progenitor of the surname for that group (the surname Adam).  Sometimes, we create smaller groups of people with the same surname related to each other within the last 200-300 years (the genealogical timeframe) until new testers join.  In our project, we need more UK-based testers to join the project to focus our family groupings. 

The initial Y-DNA Family Grouping is derived using the Y-DNA Family Grouping App. Tools often have limits and further refinement is sometimes required with additional subgroup analysis. A kit can be assigned to multiple groups or misassigned to a group. Outliers can be missed, and convergence can be an issue (where STR figures are similar by chance or due to inadequate testing).

The criteria for grouping is based on the Markers of Potential Relatedness (MPAs).  Allocation of a particular member to a specific genetic family is based on the presence of some or all of the following criteria. These can be considered Markers of Potential Relatedness, and the more Markers present, the more likely there is a real relationship between those members in that genetic group "within the last 700 years or so." These criteria consist of both traditional genealogical indicators as well as genetic indicators:2

1. The members have the same surname. (traditional marker)
   
2. The Genetic Distance (GD) between two members indicates a close or very close relationship (genetic marker)
   
3. The TiP24 score is >80% compared to the group modal haplotype (genetic marker)
   
4. There is a clear Genetic Distance Demarcation between project members within a genetic cluster & project members outside it. (genetic marker)
   
5. Presence of "rare" marker values or a relatively Unique STR Pattern among genetic group members.  (genetic marker)
   
6. SNP testing is consistent among the members of the particular group.  (genetic marker)
   
7. SNP predictions are consistent (Matches' Terminal SNP Analysis). (genetic marker)
   
8. The same surname variant is predominant in a genetic group. (traditional marker)
   
9. The same MDKA (Most Distant Known Ancestor) location is in the particular genetic group. (traditional marker)
   
10. The same MDKA is present in the particular genetic group. (traditional marker)
    

1. Vance Surname Project, FamilyTreeDNA (https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/vance/about : accessed 26 Nov 2023).
   
2. Maurice Gleeson, "How to group Surname Project members"  (https://dnaandfamilytreeresearch.blogspot.com/2021/01/how-to-group-surname-project-members.html : accessed 11 Mar 2024).
3. Maurice Gleeson, "How to Group project members - FTDNA Conference 2017," presentation, YouTube (https://youtu.be/A9JcvbFcgUI?si=WeL5EHmt9TkAzYYi : accessed 26 Nov 2023).
4. Maurce Gleeson, "Criteria for allocating members to specific Genetic Families," Farrell DNA Project (20 Jan 2015), blogpost (https://farrelldna.blogspot.com/2015/01/criteria-for-allocating-members-to.html : accessed 26 Nov 2023).    
5. Chase Ashley, "Y-DNA Family Grouping App" (http://www.ydnagroupingapp.com/ : accessed 11 Mar 2024).   
6. Rob Spencer, "FTDNA Admin Utilities" (http://scaledinnovation.com/gg/adminUtils.html : accessed 11 Mar 2024).    
7. FTDNA, "Time to a common paternal ancestor for two project members," (https://help.familytreedna.com/hc/en-us/articles/4503132943759-Using-the-Admin-Y-DNA-TiP-Report  : accessed 13 Mar 2024).  
8. FTDNA, "Understanding Y-DNA Genetic Distance,"  : (https://help.familytreedna.com/hc/en-us/articles/6019925167631-Understanding-Y-DNA-Genetic-Distance#multi-copy-markers-0-3 : accessed 13 Mar 2024).