The Inman Surname DNA Project is open to all who are interested in working together to find their common Inman heritage through sharing of information and Y-DNA testing. All variant spellings are welcome. If your Surname is missing and should be included, let us know and we'll be glad to add it.

The results page for this project is Inman Project Y-DNA Results.

For more information, please examine the Patriarchs and Overview pages.

Join us on Facebook at the Inman DNA Group.

 

About our project

Back in 2002, our founder, Marie Inman Lockhart, and genetics professional, Jim Sims, published their initial findings on a website created by Marie's son William.  Within five years they had grown the project to ten members.  Since then, the project membership has steadily grown to just over 50.

Composition

The project is composed of two surnames and three distinct family groups, spread across ten Patriarchs.  Ideally, one would have a single patriarch at the pinnacle of a unified family tree.  But that person would have been roughly contemporary with the building of the Great Pyramid of Giza, and there are no presently known genealogical techniques to establish that connection! 

Current estimates have our three family groups diverging back in the 3rd millenium BC.  The Inmans and Hinmans parted ways genetically around 2800 BC.  The two Inman Lineages did so about 400 years later.

Age estimates are taken from Dr. Iain McDonald's work published at his genetic anthropology page.

Test Activity

As a surname project, we are primarily focused on Y-chromosome DNA (Y-DNA), which traces along the paternal line.  Our members also employ Autosomal DNA and Mitochondrial DNA.  Autosomal DNA traces back about five generations along any ancestral line and is very good at discriminating close relationships.  Mitochondrial DNA traces along the maternal line.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Our project is blessed with many excellent genealogists with in-depth family knowledge.  Every family group enjoys at least one expert.

Our project's small size precludes drawing strong statistical conclusions.  Sampling bias and wide confidence intervals cloud distinctions between closely related intra-project populations.

The project suffers from demographic limitations.  Our current membership is based entirely in North American.  Almost all of our members' pedigrees terminate in colonial America.  To bridge the Atlantic, we desperately need participation from the UK.  Alas, would that we could take up the cry of Paul Revere, "The British are coming!"

Origins

The current project membership appears to be of Anglo-Saxon origin.  The Inmans are likely to be Germanic, genetically aligned with current populations in England and the Benelux countries.  The Hinmans appear to be Celtic, genetically aligned with populations in western England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.  While Celtic roots suggest that the Hinmans could be Briton, the Hinman Family Association has found a strong Anglo-Saxon association.   

The Inman Surname

Inman is thought to be of vocational origin, "Inn-man" or "inn keeper".  Hinman has a similar derivation and includes "keepers of deer" and "keepers of hens".  A 1978 paper by the Hinman Family Association suggests derivation from the Old English, Hend or hende.  Among its definitions is the concept of "pleasant in dealing with others; courteous, gracious, kind, gentle, 'nice'."  It follows that the paper would be titled The Courteous Anglo-Saxon.