About us
The Huguenot DNA Project is a GEOGRAPHIC Y-DNA Project that welcomes people who descend from ancestors with Huguenot surnames which are registered with a Huguenot Lineage Society, such as the National Huguenot Society or the various state Huguenot Societies. Participants will need Y-DNA tests to fully participate. Mitochondrial DNA tests are accepted and are optional. Knowledge of one’s ancestry back to a Huguenot immigrant ancestor is required.
MALE PARTICIPANTS who carry an accepted Huguenot surname will do a Y-DNA test at as high a level of markers as budget allows. A Y-DNA test at 111 markers is the preferred test. Male participants who have tested at lower marker levels may upgrade to the 111 marker level. Male testers are also encouraged to do a BIG Y DNA test at 700 markers if budget allows. There are other types of Y-DNA tests for men, called "backbone SNP tests" that can help refine the Y haplogroup. Please contact your project administrator BEFORE ordering SNP tests! FEMALE descendants of an accepted Huguenot lineage may have a male relative who carries the Huguenot surname test for them.
ALL PARTICIPANTS (male and female) will do a FAMILY FINDER (autosomal DNA) test as well. Test results from other companies, such as Ancestry DNA, MyHeritage and 23andMe, may be transferred to the Family Tree DNA platform, provided that they pay the $19 “unlock” fee which makes the ethnicity profile and the chromosome browser tool available.
This project was initiated in 2005 by Cyndi Rutledge as a “geographic” DNA project. It deals with all Huguenot lineages whose origins were in France, because after-all, the word “Huguenot” refers to the French Calvinist Protestants who were persecuted mercilessly in France after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 by Louis XIV, king of France. They lost their property and assets, their titles, their rights to religious freedom, and many times, their very lives. Many fled France and sought refuge in sympathetic countries such as Switzerland and Germany. Many immigrated to the colonies in America in the late 1600s and early 1700s. Many Huguenot values are deeply embedded in the founding institutions of the United States, and some of our earliest leaders had Huguenot ancestry.
This project will try to identify the geographical origins within France of specific Huguenot lineages based on Y haplogroups. Studies have identified four main Y haplogroups in France. R1b as the predominant Y haplogroup in France as well as in Europe in general. Other Y Haplogroups present in France with less frequency are I, E1b1b, and J. It will be interesting to see which Y haplogroups participants in this DNA project fall into.
Participants will post Family Trees on their FTDNA page and a Surnames List. These are required! Each participant’s knowledge of their own lineage provides a framework within which to better understand our DNA findings. We hope to be able to track the migration of the various Huguenot lineages across the United States, and in other countries where Huguenots settled, using traditional genealogy – information about when and where someone was born, where they lived, and when and where they died.
Autosomal DNA test results (Family Finder test) will let us see others we are related to within the project. It will also help us to perform a type of analysis called “triangulation” between at least 3 people from related lineages where a common set of ancestors can be pinpointed based on a shared segment of DNA of at least 10 centiMorgans in size, and found at a specific location on a single chromosome. Autosomal DNA test results will help identify people who share a Huguenot surname with you. These are the people we would like to see join the project!
Please help us to make this project as collaborative and meaningful as possible by fully participating in it! Do the DNA tests that are requested. Post a family tree and a surnames list. If you transfer DNA test results, be sure to pay the $19 “unlock” fee. Read the Activity Feed on the project website often, and share your insight and experiences with other members of the project. Your participation is critical to the success of the project!
Thank you for your interest and participation!