My Y-DNA - A most unexpected result.

I recently had Y- DNA testing for genealogical purposes. The results were quite unexpected. I do not yet have all of the results back yet but I have enough to say without a doubt that I have no blood relationship to the Scottish clan whose name I carry. I am not even on the same branch of the evolutionary tree, (Haplogroup) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup. The DNA results put me in a recently identified clade of haplogroup I1b1 (I1b1 Isles A) that is considered to be indigenous to the British Isles. It is a small group and thought to be very old. My ancestors may have been among the first settlers in the British Isles following the last glacial maximum, 8,000 to 12,000 years ago.

These clades branched off I1b1 – Dinaric, and separated before the last glacial maximum ended. The descendants of I1b1 – Dinaric are heavily represented today in the Balkans especially Croatia and Bosnia.

Haplogroup I is a branch of haplogroup F*. According to current theories, Haplogroup I first arrived in Europe around 20,000-25,000 years ago from the Middle East. It is believed to be associated with the Gravettian culture. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravettian

Currently four subclades of I1b1-Isles have been identified.

A. Irish/ Scot
B. English / Irish
C. Irish
D. Irish

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

I plan to have my MT-DNA analyzed next year.

Go to www.smgf.com It is the Sorenson Research Group. They will send you a kit, you take the DNA test and send it back in a pre-paid kit. You have to submit 4 generations of family but most of us have that. They don't return the results to you. And it takes about a year for them get the results up. They give you info so you can check it out in the database. But if you like the results, you can then pay for the standard test, taken where you want, which may contain more markers, and you can narrow down even migration patterns.

I didn't want to wait 9 months to a year to get the results so I went with Family Tree DNA

hanky panky...or a relative of yours was orphaned and adopted maybe? :)

May I guess the Scottish Clan? McDonald/McDowell/McDougal/McDuff (and derivatives) My G-g-g-g-g grandfather was Alexander McDonald(abbreviated/misspelled as Alex "Donald" on a very early census as that is what all the locals called him), married to Delilah Downey, father to Elizabeth McDonald, who married Alexander Dunlop (my line)

And so adds to the confusion of the many Alexanders...and Elizabeths...sigh

Maybe Mrs. McDonald got lonely when old McDonald went to war.

Another possibility, there could have been some family connection before the adoption of surnames. I will probably never know exactly. I have found my ancestors listed as McDonald, McDonnell, and McDaniel, these are all considered to different spellings of the same name. I am still working on my G-g grandfather. I can't find anything on him before 1799 (his wedding) I estimate he was born abt. 1780 based on census records.

My McDonalds relocated to Ohio via southwestern PA/VA

My family went from Virginia to Nebraska. Before VA is still unknown.

Was one of your maternal ancestors Polly/Mary McDonald who married Hathaway Alexander....by any chance. I have some info.

George Farmer in Montgomery County 14 Jun 1831. (Great Aunt).