Welcome to the Lloyd y-DNA Project.  Our purpose is to assist Lloyds who are researching their family origins or seeking to assist others in doing the same.

The Lloyd surname originated in Wales in the 14^th century as a descriptive name from the Welsh word for grey.  Most Welsh families however used patronymic naming until the 17^th-18^th centuries, meaning their last name was their father’s first name.  For instance, John, son of David Owen , would be named John David (or John ap David) rather than John Owen.

Since Lloyd was a descriptive surname it was adopted by many different, unrelated individuals over the course of centuries.  This means that in most cases people named Lloyd do not share a common ancestor named Lloyd and the results page of the Lloyd DNA project reflects this.  That is, other than pre-existing family groups, most participants are quite genealogically distant from each other despite sharing the name Lloyd.

In addition, the name Lloyd has been adopted by many families who are not of Welsh descent.  Lloyd is a more common surname in Liberia than in England, for example.

In fact many participants find that their closest match is someone with another surname.  Since Welsh and other Lloyds were late to adopt surnames this is not surprising: the most recent common ancestor with your closest match is likely to have lived decades or centuries before your ancestor decided to call himself Lloyd.

So where does that leave us Lloyds who are searching for our roots?

Our first task is to encourage as many Lloyds as possible to participate, starting with our own cousins.  Having multiple descendants on a given line tested ensures that you will be looking for the right haplotype as you search for your roots.

Second, study your closest matches, even if not Lloyds, for clues to your geographic origins.  If you have a perfect or near perfect matches (ie, 36/37 or 37/37 markers) with someone with a different surname, his geographic origins could well be close to your own.  This can allow you to focus your search of traditional genealogical sources.

Third, be patient.  A few of the earliest participants have been successful in connecting with previously unknown branches of their family tree through the project.  As the number of participants continues to grow, this can reasonably be expected to happen more often.

Questions?  Please contact the project administrator.