Group Administrator:
Martha Bowes - Email:
mhbowes11@gmail.com
Project Surnames
Boag, Boase, Boaz, Boe, Boes, Boetius, Boey, Bogue, Bohig, Bohill, Bow, Bowe, Bowes, Bowie, Bows, Bowz, Boyce, Boye, Boyes, Buie, Buo, Buoy, Bwee, Cronin*, de Bowes, O Bey/Aubé, O Boey, O Bowe, O Bowige, O Boyce, O Boye, O Bwoy, O Sullivan, Sullivan
Project Background
Note: The Bowes Y-DNA Project is not a commercial enterprise and its administrator is a volunteer.
The Bowes (and variants) DNA Project includes many variants and serves two related missions:
1. It helps individual participants grow knowledge about their own family. Individual participants can join to find genetic matches to other participants so they can share knowledge about their unique family history. They also learn what haplogroup their paternal ancestors belong to, whether Nordic, Western European, Northern Irish, Mideast, Native American, Jewish, Niall of the Nine Hostages or some other.
2. It furthers knowledge in the Bowes (and variants) One-Name Study through the Guild of One-Name Studies. This study encompasses all families with the Bowes surname or one of its many variants, regardless of country of origin. It focuses on the origins of the surname(s), the distribution and concentrations of the surname(s), the various lineages, the haplogroups and developing a database of all records relating to these names.
While traditional genealogy zooms in on a particular pedigree, one-name studies zoom out on a surname generally. By joining the project you can further your own family research while contributing essential data to the study of these surnames worldwide. By contributing data to the One-Name Study you help provide greater context for understanding your unique family story in the context of the larger story of your surname.
The One-Name Study and DNA Project share a Yahoo! group. Think of it as a library of annotated Links, Files, Databases, and a 'Conference Room' (mailing list) relevant to these projects. It also provides individual Bowes (and variant) family researchers with quality tools and resources to begin or further their personal journey into this name.
These three sites are being developed as the 'go to' place for Bowes genealogy!
While the variants listed in the project often appear unrelated phonetically, they have been chosen using Irish and English surname origin research, along with some of our participants' names. We cast a wide net in this project to try to gather any possible evidence that could substantiate historical theories about the origins of our surnames, even if there may be some reason to doubt those theories.
Who Can Participate?
Only males bearing the surnames above (or another variant) can provide relevant Y-DNA information for this project, since only males carry the Y chromosome that follows the surname and reveals its past.
A male or female can also test mtDNA through this project if you are interested in a maternal line, but the results will not relate to the surname study.
Which Test Should I Order?
The more markers you order, the better the sample, but the higher the cost. Generally speaking, if you order a 12-marker test and the results don't match anyone, you won't need to order any more markers until a 12-marker match comes along, unless you want more information about your haplogroup or haplotype for which there are special refinement tests (your main haplogroup is discernible from the 12 marker Y-DNA test). Be aware that while it's cheaper in the short run to order the 12 marker Y-DNA ($99 with the project discount), your total expense if you later add more markers will be a little higher than if you order more markers from the start. Most choose to start with the 12 marker Y-DNA test, then upgrade with additional markers if there's a match to better interpret relatedness with the match.
How Does the Testing Process Work?
Click Join This Project to order a kit for yourself or another. Simple cheek swab supplies will be sent to the address you designate. When the company receives your sample back, they will assign your kit an ID number and then forward it to an independent lab at the University of Arizona without any personally identifying information. No personal information, such as medical information, is contained on the Y-chromosome from which the tested markers come. The lab will keep your kit so the sample is available if you later decide to test additional markers.
How Can I Make the Most of My Participation?
1) Please sign the Release that comes with your kit (though this is not required), allowing FTDNA to share your name and email only with anyone else in their database whose markers match yours. You will likewise receive the name and email address for these matching individuals. This is important so that when a new person tests who matches you, you will learn of the match.
2) FTDNA's email notification to you that your results are in will contain a link to your personal page at FamilyTreeDNA.com. This page will contain interpretive tools and preference settings that allow you to customize your experience. I recommend the following:
- Click "Join Projects" in the left menu to belong to others that relate to your surname. (Among the other projects our members have joined are: British Isles, I1, Ireland Heritage, Irish Families, Viking Project, and R1b and Subclades.)
- Click "User Preferences" in the left menu. Be sure you have the one set to compare your results with the entire FTDNA database, not just other project members. We are sometimes finding matches with other surnames. You can miss matches if this is not set appropriately.
Then, below this, select to show matches at all marker levels. That way, if you should add markers later and forget to update this, it'll already be set to show you all your matches and you will be notified of new matches by email.
Further down that page, check to see that you've entered your earliest known ancestor, with name, date(s) and place if you know them. This information will then show on the Y-DNA results page by your markers. It's most useful when comparing matches on that page. Adding the coordinates for the earliest known location will add a "pin" to the group map showing our "origins" on the Y-DNA results page, as well as optimize our use of the "My Maps" function on our personal pages. You can get coordinates here.
- Click "Haplotree" in your left menu. This is where you get information about your haplogroup. If there are additional markers you can order that will further refine your haplotype, you can find that out by clicking here.
- Click "GEDCOM - Family Tree" in your left menu to upload your gedcom if you have one. This will enable your matches to quickly review your lineage for comparison from their personal page, and vice versa (under "Y-DNA Matches). During the upload you will have the option of hiding details for living people for privacy.
- Click "YSearch" in the left menu. Here you can automatically add and update your results to the YSearch database. This external FTDNA database (separate from their internal database - the largest) pools results from testers at all the genealogy DNA testing companies, so you can look for matches there. Note that not all participants at all companies upload their data here.
3) You should also enter your results into the database at
YBase. Be sure to apply any numerical conversions needed as outlined at the YBase website. (I think only one marker requires this.)
4) Finally, don't forget to keep your Contact Information current, and be sure to send me any new email address as well. That way you'll continue to get administrative updates from me.
If You Have Tested With Another Company
Unfortunately, due to quality assurance concerns, I cannot add you to the Bowes Surname DNA Project based on DNA test results from another company. You do have two options though:
1) You can purchase a conversion kit from FTDNA. You can then be tightly integrated into our project, enjoy all the tools FTDNA offers at your own personal page, receive notification of any matches to your markers that come along in the future, and join additional projects that may pertain to your family history, such as those studying specific geographic, haplogroup, and other special interests. Email me (above) for a form to receive a discounted conversion through the project.
2) You can also upload your results to the
YSearch database. This FTDNA database pools results from other genealogy DNA testing companies, so you can look for matches from a wider pool.This will enable you to compare your markers to people who've tested with FTDNA and uploaded their markers. Note: not all FTDNA testers have uploaded to YSearch. You also will not be able to join our project directly and see your DNA results side-by-side with all others sharing your surname in the project. If the cost of the conversion kit makes it unworkable for you, please do send me updates of any matches you find at YSearch.
* Why is the Cronin surname included?
Please see note about Cronins in "Project Goals."