Armenian DNA Project

Project Background

Open to all Armenians. The Armenian DNA Project is an important resource for Armenians researching their family history and their deep ancestry through genetic testing.

DNA testing can be a valuable tool for people with different surnames in determining whether they are genetic cousins, particularly considering the destruction of many Armenian genealogical records and the fact Armenian surnames were often based on the father’s first name, his city of birth, his occupation, or a distinctive human characteristic.

By reaching thousands of years into the past, this project also aims to find genetic traces of both the ancient peoples whose descendants make up the current Armenian population (Armens, Colchians, Hattians, Hayasa, Hayk, Hittites, Hurrians, Kaskians, Luwians, Mitanni, Mushkis, Pala, Phrygians, Urartians, etc.) and the ancient invaders who conquered or passed through the Armenian lands (Assyrians, Gamrik-Gimirri-Cimmerians, Greeks, Parthians, Romans, Scythians, Macedonians, Medes, Persians, etc.)

This project is open to individuals with direct paternal ancestors (Y-DNA) or direct maternal ancestors (mtDNA) of Armenian ancestry.

You should only join the Armenian DNA Project if your father’s direct paternal line (father, grandfather, great-grandfather ...) and/or your mother’s direct maternal line (mother, grandmother, great-grandmother ...) is Armenian. Please do not join this group if you do not have direct Armenian ancestry in your family tree. Merely having a close match, especially at 12 markers, to a project member does not meet the requirements for joining the Armenian DNA project. If you do wish to enquire about a close match in the project, contact the administrators.

Men can test both their paternal DNA (Y-DNA) and maternal DNA (mtDNA or mitochondrial DNA). Since women do not inherit the Y-chromosome from their father, they need to recruit a male relative on their father’s side to analyse their paternal DNA line.

The ancestral towns and villages of project members can be viewed with Google maps on our Y-DNA Results page for paternal ancestors and our mtDNA Results page for maternal ancestors. Select "all group members" in the drop down menu, display on full screen... and then zoom in. By clicking on the colored pins you get access to additional information about project members.

For those who know nothing about ancestry through DNA, the following simple and easy-to-understand animated tutorials are very useful (copyright © 2009 SMGF):