ALEXANDER SURNAME DNA PROJECT

The purpose of the ALEXANDER Surname Y-DNA Project is to assist and enable Alexanders to understand Y-DNA results. We collect, organize into "DNA families", and display on our website the Alexander lineages of our members.

Membership requires Y-DNA testing of a male Alexander.

To order a Y-DNA test, you must be a direct-male descendant of an Alexander male (you have an Alexander surname and are male), or you are sponsoring a direct-male Alexander click on the JOIN button on the extreme right hand side of the screen and follow instructions. Write the administrators if you have questions. We are always happy to help.

To view the y-results for current participants, click on the DNA RESULTS link on the left. Select "Classic" link for a display of project members results. Select the "Colorized" link for a display of differences within matching sets.

To view the Lineage Summaries of any participant, return to the "About" tab on the left and select LINKS and then #1. The names of the participants and their fathers are NOT displayed. Use their kit number to identify their Lineage Summary.

A few of the Alexander project members tested with other laboratories. To view their results and the comparison of each with another member, return to the "About" tab on the left and select "Goals."

If you are NOT a direct-male Alexander descendant, you are welcome to learn more about the ancestry of our current participants by visiting our Lineage Summaries or Y-DNA results listed above, or you may write directly to the coordinators and they will do whatever they can to assist you. 

If you are NOT a direct-male Alexander and have tested your Y-DNA at FTDNA and you have some Alexander matches at the 37-marker level or above, you are welcome to write them at their email addresses on your “Y-DNA Matches” Personal Page.

Contact the administrator if you have any questions: Floyd Owsley floydowsley@comcast.net

EXPLAINING THE BIG Y-700 Y-DNA TESTING

The Big Y-700 DNA test is now extremely popular! With the Big Y-700 DNA test, a male is tested for 111 Y-DNA (STR) markers, plus over 700 more STR markers. He is also tested for thousands of SNP’s. SNP testing determines a male’s confirmed Y-DNA Haplogroup and his place in the Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) Y-DNA Haplotree (sometimes referred to as the giant Y tree for all mankind).

SNP: single-nucleotide polymorphism SNP’s (pronounced snips) are first known as (private) variants found on the Y-DNA Chromosome. A variant is a mutation and is identified by a group of numbers - based on their place on the Y-DNA Chromosome where the variant occurred. A variant remains private until two males tests positive for the same variant.

Once a variant is shared by two males, the variant becomes a SNP and receives a SNP name. A new branch will then be added to the FTDNA Y-DNA Haplotree The SNP name always starts with a letter and is based on which DNA company finds and identifies the SNP. For example, SNP’s starting with BY or FT were named by Family Tree DNA based on Big Y test results. SNP’s starting with A, were named by the YSEQ DNA company, which is ran by Astrid Krahn and her husband, Thomas Krahn.

SNP’s (variants) have been occurring in a male’s lineage since the beginning of time (the birth of DNA-Adam). Some DNA experts say that SNP’s occur on average about every 4 generations or every 83 years. Some of us refer to SNP’s as our ancestors because they occurred with the births of our ancestors. A male inherits all the SNP’s which have occurred in his lineage since the beginning (the birth of DNA-Adam).

With genealogical research, you always start with yourself and go back (or upstream). With SNP testing and the Y-DNA Haplotree, it starts with the DNA-Adam and then comes all the way downstream to the person tested.

To view the Family Tree DNA Y-DNA Haplotree, go to the main page of the Family Tree DNA website at: https://www.familytreedna.com/ Then scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page and click on Y-DNA Haplotree under Community. Then enter the Y-DNA Haplogroup where it notes: Go to branch name. For example, type in R-A848 and hit enter. You will then be able to view the Y-DNA Haplotree.

SNP blocks: Quite often, a SNP in the Family Tree DNA Haplotree is actually a block of different SNP’s. For example, the SNP R-A848 is a block of eleven different SNP’s including R-A848. The other ten SNP’s in the R-A848 block are called equivalent SNP’s. It is impossible to define the chronological order (time of occurrence) of the SNPs in one block. R-A848 will continue to be a block of SNP’s until someone tests positive for part of the SNP’s in the block and tests negative for the others. When this occurs, the block will then be split into two different SNP blocks and a new branch is added to the Haplotree.

Please see the Alexander Big Y and SNP results (SNP lineages) in the About - NEWS tab.

ALEXANDER LINEAGES

To view the project member's lineages, Go to #1 on the Links page. 

Just click on Links located on the left hand side of this page.