About us
The Berkeley DNA Project welcomes all participants. We encourage you to join today!
Our project is just getting started and we expect there to be many exciting discoveries. We are currently working with the Bartlett DNA Project, so that should any incidences of surname evolution be discovered, such as the Berkeley surname evolving to Bartlett or vice versa, both projects can benefit. We hope to maximize your discoveries and new knowledge from taking a DNA test.
By participating you will have an opportunity to uncover information not provided in the written record and this could help fundamentally with your family history research. We can discover which family trees are related and, as the project progresses, the results for the various family trees will provide information about the evolution of the surname.
The surnames in this DNA Project are researched as part of the Berkeley one-name study. You can learn more about this significant research, and the associated family trees, by visiting the one-name study web site, or contacting the Group Administrator.
The Y DNA test tells you about your direct male line, which would be your father, his father, and back in time. You must be male to take this test, and you should have one of the surnames shown. If you believe there is a Berkeley or variant in your direct male line, although you have a different surname, you are also welcome to participate. If you are female, you will need to find a direct line male in your family tree to participate and represent your tree.
We encourage males to order a Y-DNA test for 37 markers, if possible. If you order less markers, you can upgrade later, though this costs a little more.
Both males and females may also be interested in learning about their direct female line, which would be their mother, their mother's mother, and back in time. Both men and women inherit mtDNA, although only women pass it on. To explore your direct female line, you would order a mtDNA test. For matches in a genealogical time frame, order the mtDNA Full Sequence test.
Both the Y DNA and the mtDNA test results contain no personal information, and you will match or be a close match to those to whom you are related. This is an opportunity to learn more about your origins and ancestry.
Order your test kit TODAY, at the bottom of this page, or visit the web site shown above for more information.
We have also established a General Fund, to accept donations in any currency via credit card. These funds will be held at the testing company, and used to help sponsor test kits for those key males who would otherwise be unable to afford the cost of participation in the project. We encourage you to make a donation. To make a donation please click on the link below "To donate to the general fund please click here". If you decide to donate, please specify "Berkeley Project General Fund" in the top box of the Donation form.