CHESTNUT, CHESNUT, CHESNUTT, CHESTNUTT, and any other reasonable spelling variations are welcome to join the project. Only males have Y-chromosomes, so only male CHESTNUT (or variant) can participate in the focal Y-DNA aspect of the project. If you are female, you can have a male CHESTNUT (or variant) relative submit a sample for your line. To participate meaningfully, those testing will need to share their direct male line ancestry back to the earliest known CHESTNUT (or variant), as a pedigree (living persons should be marked as living so they are privatized). We suggest prospective male Chestnuts (however you spell your surname) start at the Y-DNA37 to reliably group you into the appropriate lineage. Upgrades to Big-Y 700 are the ultimate goal for any males who are close matches to other members with confirmed haplogroups. NOTE: The surnames Chesney and McChesney may be related to one of the Chestnut haplogroups with a name change, also known as a Non-Paternal Event or NPE, which occurred many hundreds of years ago. More individuals with these surnames are needed to test at Y-111 or Big-Y 700 to confirm this relationship.