Welcome to the Gratigny/Gratny FTDNA project site. Gratigny/Gratny is a very rare surname in the USA. Documented research has shown that all Gratignys, and many if not all Gratnys, in the USA, descend from one common ancestor, Lewis (aka Louis) Gratigny, who settled in Monroe and Belmont Counties, Ohio. In addition, Gratny is also a major known spelling variant. Grat-nee is how this name is phonetically pronounced, and there is a signifcant number of USA Gratnys that have been identified as originally having changed their name spelling in the 1900s to avoid the confusion and headache of always correcting people on the proper Gratginy spelling. According to a Gratny researcher currently living in Kansas, (a grandson of Samuel Davenport Gratigny), all children of Samuel Davenport Gratigny EXCEPT Rolla Samuel Gratigny changed their last name to GRATNY, since it was easier to spell when heard for the first time. These Gratnys and their descendants are in Kansas and California.

This makes Gratigny an ideal study to participate in, from a genealogical perspective.