Welcome to the  Loughman/Loafman DNA Project

We hope you will become an active participant in our project.  The Loughman/Loafman has a long history, though not yet well defined.  It is the hope of the administrator and contributors to this project will unlock not only the secrets of our individual family lines but uncover the true history of the family.  This website is new and was built with the assistance of an administrator in another FTDNA project.  Your suggestions to enhance or improve our website is always appreciated. 

How It Works

The project data is based on testing "alleles" from certain "loci" on the Y-Chromosome (called Y-STR values, for Short Tandem Repeats - a recurring pattern at that position). The Y-STR "count" at each position is displayed as a number. These allele numbers are rendered for anywhere from 12, to 25, to 37 different loci positions on the Y-Chromosme that have been determined to have very low mutation probabilities, meaning that these values will be passed on along a given biological line with relatively few if any mutations for thousands of years. To understand the values, we strongly encourage you to review the tutorials on the FTDNA website.  It is not easy.

The Loughman/Loafman DNA Project has chosen Family Tree DNA, a company in Houston, TX, to host our project.  FTDNA is the leader in the genealogy DNA field.  Information about joining our DNA project can be found at www.familytreedna.com. 

When you join the project, Family Tree DNA will send you a testing kit. NO BLOOD is involved. The kit consists of a couple of "cheek scrapers" which you rub around inside your mouth a few minutes to collect cells. Two vials of preservative solution are included with the kit. You pop off the ends of the cheek scrapers into the vials of solution and then mail the vials (in a self-addressed envelope included with your kit) back to Family Tree DNA's laboratories at the University of Arizona. Results from the testing generally take about 6 to 8 weeks.

Family Tree DNA offers testing of 12, 25 or 37 markers on the Y-Chromosome. Each test is priced differently, with 67 being the most expensive.  However, 12 markers offers little to go on, especially for refining matches, and we strongly recommend that you start with the 25-marker test. Once tested, upgrading to the 37-marker test provides great refinement.  We highly recommend you choose this test if you can afford it. If, in your testing, you have some good results, you might want to consider the 67-marker test, which will refine the match even further.

Privacy is always of utmost importance.  We do not show names and Kit # information. If you choose to share your information, that is between you and the other person.  All concerns about privacy of the information gathered can be found at Family Tree DNA's website.  Bottom line, if you are that concerned about privacy, contact the Project Administrator and we may be able to address your concerns. We feel the benefits of the information and the project far outweigh concerns generally expressed about privacy. But YOUR PARTICIPATION IS UP TO YOU.

Also, because only males have a Y-Chromosome, the participation in the project is limited to males of the Loughman/Loafman surnames, derivations, of the family name and people who seem to match with our participants. While the project supports Mitochondiral DNA (mtDNA) values, which are passed from mother to child (male or female), such data is not the primary focus of the project.

The goal of our project is to encourage as many people searching for family with the Loughman/Loafman surname to participate in our group.  There may be other darivations of our project name and we encourage them to participate as well.  We know that many of the Loughman and Loafman families settled in Pennsylvania and originally migrated from (work in progress).