Greenhalgh/Greenhill DNA Project - Family Project Website


	Greenhalgh/Greenhill DNA Project

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Group Administrator: Alun DNAProject@hotmail.co.uk

Project Surnames:

Grannell	Greenal	Greenall	Greenhalf
Greenhalge	Greenhalgh	Greenhall	Greenhill
Greenhouse	Greenwell	Grenhalgh	Grennell
Grinnal	Grinnall	Grinnel	Grinnell
Grunnel	Grunnell

Project Background:

Welcome to the Greenhalgh/Greenhill Surnames DNA Project!

Greenhalgh, Greenall, Greenhill, Greenwell, Greenhall, Grannell, Grunnell, and all other variants, are included in this project.

They are derived from medieval British locational or topographical names. Their meanings are thought to be:-

Greenhalgh - a green hollow/valley or a piece of flat alluvial land by the side of a river or a green hall
Greenhill - a green hill
Greenwell - a green spring or stream

Throughout the ages the names have changed in both spelling and pronunciation so that it is virtually impossible to tell whether modern spellings like Grenell, Grinell and Grunnel have evolved from Green Halgh, Green Hill, Green Hall or even Green Well. It is probable that each spelling can have several different original sources so, for example, some Grenells may come from Greenhalgh, others from Greenhill and others from Greenwell.

Some British places that are, or could be, connected with these names are:-

Greenhalgh (Greneholf), Garstang, Lancashire, England - village since at least 1086 & castle built in 1490 more info map photo
Greenhill, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England
Green Hill, Cowan Bridge, Lancashire - mountain
Greenhill, Edinburgh, Scotland
Greenhill, Harrow, Middlesex, England - this was actually named after the landowners, who had the name Greenhill and lived in Harrow from at least 1247, and probably originated elsewhere more info map
Greenhill, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, England
Greenhill, Ridgeway Cross, Herefordshire, England - map
Greenhills, Dublin, Ireland - perhaps named after someone called Greenhill?
Greenhills, East Kilbride, Scotland - ditto
Greenhills Lane, Alfreton, Derbyshire, England - ditto
Greenhaugh, Northumberland, England - map

Some early references to people with these names are:-

William de Grenehill - Bedfordshire 1200
Richard de Grenhal - Shropshire 1230
Thomas de Grenewille - Oxfordshire 1279
John de Grenhul - Bedford 1332
Matillda de Grenehalgh - Lancashire 1332

Y-DNA testing is a relatively recent invention. By comparing the markers (segments of chromosomes) of two people it can be established whether they are related in recent history. For more info there is a good explanation on John Blair's DNA 101 site. By using this technology we will be able to establish family groups and uncover more than we could just by relying on the traditional paper trail. An example of the results of a project that has been running for some time now is the Harrison Surname DNA Project which shows how different test results group into families.

Participation is open to ANYONE with one of these names ANYWHERE in the world, however females will need to find a male relative to take the test on their behalf, as Y-DNA is only passed down from male to male.

This project has only just been formed and results will be coming soon to the Results and Y Results pages. These can be reached by the respective links at the top of this page.

Project Goals and News pages can also be reached via respective links at the top of this page.

Please join in and help discover more about our roots :-)

To order your Y-DNA test kit please click on the following link:- JOIN

Test costs are $148/£74 for 25 markers (Y-DNA25), $189/£94 for 37 markers (Y-DNA37) and $269/£134 for the 67 marker (Y-DNA67) test. The higher the number of markers tested the easier it is to calculate the time to the most recent common ancestor between two people. The 37 marker test is a good detail/price compromise. The 12 marker test is not recommended as it is not detailed enough to establish relationships. The above prices include a Greenhalgh/Greenhill project discount; if you were to take these tests outside of the project they would cost more.

Family Tree DNA follows stringent policies for protecting privacy which can be viewed here. More info about FTDNA's testing can be found on this FAQs page.

If you have any further questions, corrections or suggestions for improvements please contact the Group Administrator at the email address listed at the top this page. Thanks :-)

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Project Background, Goals, Results and News are copyright of the specific Surname Project

Project Goals:

The main goals of the project are:-

a) to help participants overcome genealogical brick walls
b) to determine which families and places members originate from
c) to prove which variants of the surnames are related to one another
d) to see which haplogroup (see below) each member belongs to
e) to find out how widely families have spread in the world

Haplogroups:

Haplogroups indicate your deep ancestral origins dating back thousands of years. As humans have evolved their DNA has slowly mutated. Different mutations have occurred in different regions, which means that the migration path of our ancestors can be identified.

Human Y chromosome DNA (Y-DNA) haplogroups are lettered A through R, and are further subdivided using numbers and lower case letters.

Most ancient Britons belong to haplogroup R1b which is found across Western Europe. There are also a lot of people who have haplogroup I1a , who could be descendants of Danish vikings who settled along the east coast of the British Isles. Other haplogroups commonly found in Britons include R1a (from East Europe & Central Asia) and J1 and J2 (from the mediterranean & middle east). People with R1a and J1/2 haplogroups may have found their way to Britain first via the Romans and then, more recently, by Jewish immigrants fleeing persecution.

For more information please see Haplogroup and Main Haplogroups

Pre-Surname Relatives
Surnames were only adopted fairly recently in human history; very few families had surnames before 1200. By joining this project you will be able to compare your results with people in all FTDNA surname projects. If you find you match results with other surnames it is possible that you are related to them from before surnames were adopted, quite possibly thousands of years ago.

To order your test kit please click on the following link:- JOIN

Project News:

As more males are tested we'll see what patterns emerge. If you know of any Greenhalgh, Greenhill, etc., males that you are NOT related to we'd be happy to test them to see who in the world they are related to so PLEASE let them know about us.

Project Results:

This project has only just been formed and results will be coming soon.

To order your test kit please click on the following link:- JOIN

To get an idea of what the results will look like please look at these other projects:-

Harrison Surname DNA Project
Harris Surname DNA Project
Greenspan Surname DNA Project