Haplogroup I1 DYS393=12

[Designer Jeans]

Hi

I have recently received Y DNA results (37 markers) for my Holling family from West Yorkshire and have 15 matches, genetic distance of 2, 3 and 4.  I have no Holling (or variants) as matches.

Most of the matches appear to be outside the UK, but the remainder are Yorkshire folk e.g. Bretton of West Bretton and Bradford of Austerfield both 15th and 16th century.

We all have DYS393=12 which seems to be unusual?

Does anyone have any suggestions please on how I should progress?  Is it a coincidence that there is a Yorkshire connection?  Where might the origin of my DNA be especially bearing in mind that DYS393=12 is uncommon?

Any I1 experts out there?

I will upgrade to 67 markers when funds permit!

Valerie

[davidft]

Have you uploaded your results to ysearch.org (free) to see if that gives any matches?

I am a bit dubious of the "uncommon DYS" tag as I have one too and the claim for mine is that it comes from Spain or Holland, but what I think they really mean is they do not have enough people who have tested and the only ones they have predominantly come from those two areas.

Either way the biggest hurdle you will face is the very small number of people who have DNA tested eg I tested two years ago and still have not had a close match (or 0,1 or 2 spaces) at 37 test level

Have you considered autosomal testing - it might fill in a few gaps or give you pointers

Good luck

[DevonCruwys]

There is a new Yorkshire Project though it seems to have a few non-Yorkshire people included for reasons which are not clear to me:

https://www.familytreedna.com/public/Yorkshire/

There is a very useful chart of STR allele frequencies that was compiled by the late Leo Little:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~geneticgenealogy/yfreq.htm

It's obviously not been updated for several years, but it provides a useful guide to the distribution of the marker values.

There is a very small project for the surname Hollingshead which, rightly or wrongly, also includes the name Hollings:

https://www.familytreedna.com/public/hollingshead

Ideally you need many more people with your surname to test before drawing any conclusions.

Some of the matches with different surnames could be false positives as a result of convergence:

http://www.isogg.org/wiki/Convergence

If you wish to eliminate matches with other surnames it's always best to upgrade to 67 markers, though it does depend on your matches also testing at this level. Upgrading does also widen the net because the matching criteria are more relaxed at the 67-marker level.

Make sure you join the haplogroup I1 Project:

https://www.familytreedna.com/public/yDNA_I1

Ken Nordvedt is the I1 expert. He's very good at clustering people into subclades based on STR results. If you're interested in deep ancestry the I1 Project might be able to advise on appropriate SNP testing to determine which branch of I1 you belong to. Often it's possible to determine the subclade just by ordering a single SNP. There is a haplogroup I1 Rootsweb mailing list:

http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/other/DNA/Y-DNA-HAPLOGROUP-I.html

The databases are all skewed with disproportionate numbers of Americans and hence its very difficult trying to determine the origin of a surname.

[Designer Jeans]

Hello David and Devon

Very many thanks for taking the time and trouble to reply.  With your suggestions and links I am beginning to understand a lot better.  There is such a lot to take in when you are a DNA novice!

When funds permit I will upgrade to Y DNA 67 markers and and also test for SNP Z63 and see where that takes me!

Valerie