About us
Progress
Over the last 20+ years since the Mackenzie Project began, the number of members of all names and types has grown to about 870, including about 600 tested Y-DNA. The Project is primarily focused on Y-dna (father’s father’s father’s line), but many of its members have also completed analysis of any or all of their: at-dna (autosomal dna; “Family Finder” at FTDNA), and / or their mt-dna (mitochondrial DNA; i.e. mother’s mother’s mother’s dna). While females do not carry Y-DNA and therefore cannot trace their paternal ancestry through their own DNA, they can recruit male members of their family (i.e. fathers, brothers, male cousins, etc.) to participate in Y-DNA testing to determine the paternal lineage of the family.
Within the same timeframe, Project members focussed on Y-dna have had their STRs analyzed. STRs are Short Tandem Repeats in the Y-dna. This analysis has been done at varying levels from 12-STR, 25-STR (neither now supported by FTDNA), 37-STR, 67-STR (also no longer supported by FTDNA), or 111-STR. Commencing in 2013, FTDNA began offering next-generation sequencing to obtain and report on a tester’s SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) or “Haplogroups”.
Over the last 5 to 10 years in particular, well over 250 Project members have confirmed their “terminal” Haplogroups through SNP testing. A “terminal” Haplogroup is the latest (or last) SNP in a very long sequence of SNPs stretching back almost infinitely in time, exclusively father-to-son. This records the paternal DNA lineage of each man, and his position on FTDNA’s extensive Y-DNA Haplotree, as informed by the scientific process at the time and as/when updated in the future.
Surnames
The (approx.) 600 Y-DNA members in the Project are known today by the following surnames:
27% Mackenzie
30% McKenzie
2% MK variations (incl: McKinney, McKenney, McKinzie, McKinzey)
41% Surnames other than Mc/Mackenzie and variations
100% All surnames in Project
Mackenzie Core SNP (or Haplogroup)
The number and variety of the membership has enabled the Project to identify the DNA and lineage of the most recent common ancestor of the Old Chiefly lineage of Mackenzie. This is the person we believe is the progenitor of the original Clan Mackenzie. Anyone testing positive for the SNP Z21262 (known as R1b-Z21262 in full, or R-Z21262) is, with certainty, descended from this line, and is described in this Project as “Core” Mackenzie. This connection has been determined through Big-Y testing and solid paper trails of numerous individuals.
The first man with this SNP is thought to have been born about the year 1300 CE based on FTDNA’s estimated date for SNP Z21262 (1310, give or take 25 years). All together, there are about 30 confirmed SNPs (of the 250+ total) that inform the descendant lineages of the progenitor, Z21262. See the “Results” tab for more information on descendants of Z21262.
Broad base of Project Membership
Of the approx. 600 current Y-DNA members of the Project, about 90 are, through their Y-DNA, known descendants of the progenitor of Clan Mackenzie. Of the 90, about 64 are known today by one or other variation of the name Mackenzie, while another 17 are of other surnames, and the remainder have not disclosed their names (although their SNPs are known). There are likely more of such descent in the Project, not yet proven via a Big-Y to ascertain their SNPs.
Clearly, the Project also includes many members who are descended from ancestors other than the progenitor of the Core group, and Clan Mackenzie comprises multiple progenitors. The Project has identified many groups that each include several such members of the Project. Some are named Mackenzie or variant, and some are of other surnames. The Project maintains an inclusive policy and welcomes: i) Mackenzies by name and DNA, ii) Mackenzies by name but of other DNA, and iii) Mackenzies by DNA but of another surname, as well as individuals connected up-stream.
The ancestry of Clan Mackenzie
Using Z21262 as the defining marker, the Project has traced the ancestry of the Mackenzies back in time from about the year 1300 CE (FTDNA has +/- 1310). For some time, perhaps both before and after the time of the common ancestor (progenitor), his family members were known by the name MacCoinneach, today meaning son of Kenneth.
Applying the science of DNA, we have traced backwards the ancestry of MacConneach, who was alive in the early 14th century, all the way back to the Haplogroup M269, which dates to about 4,500 BCE, early in the Neolithic Age. M269 is a subclade of R1b, the most common Y Haplogroup in Western Europe, carried by most Scottish men of Celtic and Gaelic origin.
The following is the ancestry of the SNP Z21262, expressed as a series of SNPs going from newer to older, using FTDNA’s current estimate of date of formation of each SNP (i.e. when born) [note: “CE” = Current Era, formerly AD, and “BCE” = Before Current Era, formerly BC].
Z21262 [1310] > S7828 [1050 CE] > S7834 [800 CE] > BY3023 [350 CE] > A7 [1700 BCE] > L513 [1950 BCE] > DF13 [2550 BCE] > L21 [2700 BCE] > P312 [2850 BCE] > L151 [3050 BCE] > L51 [4100 BCE] > M269 [4450 BCE]
Conclusions from the ancestry:
1) Clan MacIver of Northern Scotland (incl. names McIver, McIver-Campbell and Campbell after a change from MacIver) and Clan Mackenzie share a common ancestor at the juncture of about 1050 CE (S7828), Clan Mackenzie does not share any male-to-male ancestral relationship or common descent with any other known clan of Scotland for at least the last 2,000 years, i.e. since the year zero.
2) Several family name clusters, not clans, descend from a juncture at about 800 CE (S7834) – including Rowan, Robertson, Conner, and Gallagher.
3) Clan MacLean and Mackenzie descend from a common ancestor at a juncture as far back as the year 1700 BCE (A7) – within the Bronze Age.
4) Clan Rose of Kilravock (distinct from the chiefly Ross Clan, which is R1a, not R1b) and Mackenzie descend from a common ancestor at a juncture of about 1950 BCE (L513).
5) A significant juncture occurs around the year 2500 BCE (DF13), Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age, from where Mackenzie and the Clans known as “Scots Modal” descend. Scots Modal Clans include: MacGregor, MacLaren, MacPherson, MacRae, Campbell (part). Large-scale regional DNA research led by geneticists such as Dr. Jim Wilson has confirmed that about 1 in 10 Scottish males carry this signature. One other descendant of DF13 is the part of Clan Matheson known as “Shiness” Matheson (distinct from another part of Matheson known as “Lochalsh”, which is R1a, not R1b). From here, at DF13, also descend a significant number of families and groups named Mackenzie.