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Emptage / Emtage Surname Project

  • 10 members

About us

The Emptage surname appears to have originated in the 15th century on the Isle of Thanet in the northeast corner of Kent, England.  The Y-DNA project is part of a worldwide one-name study that can be found at emptageofthanet.co.uk.   The root word for the derivation of Emptage is likely the same as empty which is the Anglo-Saxon word aemittig and is pronounced emp-tij.  The primary variation of the spelling of Emptage is the dropping of the ‘p’ to form Emtage.  The Emptage/Emtage name is relatively rare in the world with probably a total number of one to two thousand individuals.  Currently, we know of four branches from which most Emptage/Emtage members originate.  The historical records of each of these branches go back to the mid-18th century and are missing records to tie them together earlier in history.  Two of the branches originate from the Isle of Thanet, another from the Isle of Sheppey, and the fourth from the Caribbean island of Barbados.  Our current Y-DNA studies of male representatives from each of the four lines haves demonstrated that all four branches are genetically linked and have a common ancestor in the past 500 years or so.  Each also tested in the I-M253 haplogroup, which has it origins in the Scandinavian area.  The haplogroup along with the name origin and historical location in Kent suggest the Emptages have an Anglo-Saxon origin.  Our first Emptage ancestor in England may have migrated with the Jutes from Denmark to Kent as early as the fifth century.  Mark Emptage is the current administrator for the Emptage / Emtage surname project.