Welcome to the Farnham Project!


Currently most participants belong to the American branches of those families.

The majority of Farnhams/Farnums in America are descended from two English families:

   1.  Ralph Farnum and his wife Alice who arrived at Boston in 1635.  This line has been
documented in Russell Clare Farnham's The New England Descendants of The Immigrant Ralph
Farnum of Rochester, Kent County, England and Ipswich, Massachusetts, published by Peter E.
Randall, Portsmouth, New Hampshire (vol. 1-2, 1999; vol. 3, 2003).

   2.  John Farnham and his wife Elizabeth (Holcrofte) who arrived at Boston in 1635.  In
1654, John married (2nd) Susanna Arnold.  Accompanying John and Elizabeth was Henry Farnham
who has variously been described as a son or brother of John.  Henry married Johanna Ruck.
This line has been documented in Antoinette Farnham Stepanek's Farnham/Farnum Families in
America, published by Heritage Books, Bowie, Maryland (vol 1, parts A and B, 1993).  Stepanek
published a supplement with additions and corrections in 1995.

Most of the participants in the Farnham project appear to be descended from the Ralph-Alice
line.  We especially need Y-DNA testing of direct lineal descendants of John or Henry to
confirm the conjecture that Ralph and John were likely cousins.

The English origins of Farnhams are explored in Antoinette Farnham Stepanek's Farnham Familes
in England, published by Heritage Books, Bowie, Maryland (1995).  This work relies heavily on
research conducted by Frank Horace Farnham of Birmingham, England.

It is hoped that Y-DNA testing may shed light on the conjectures made about Farnham origins in
England.

In the 2010 United States census, there were:

   4,757 Farnhams (rank 7,038)
   2,281 Farnums (rank 13,360)
   843 Farnams (rank 28,333)

Historically, the Farnham/Farnum surname has been found most often in New England and New York.
Recent research suggests that many lines are "daughtering out," a common occurrence among
descendants of Great Migration immigrants.

Given the relatively small number of Farnhams/Farnums in America, future genealogical research
may depend upon Y-DNA test results of present day Farnhams/Farnums.  Alas, many results are
from early Y-12 test which are useful for population studies but not as helpful for genealogy.

If you are a male Farnham/Farnham/Farnam, please consider Y-DNA testing with at least a Y-37.


These are the people who carry your Farnham family's y-chromosomes.
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