O'Brien Surname Project

"There's a little bit of Irish in all of us" - But are you an O'Brien?
  • 1016 members

About us

This Project is “surname” related and is mainly concerned with tracing the Y-DNA of males that have an association with one of the names listed below or has a connection to the O’Brien related surnames.
,br> Related O’Brien Surnames (ORS): O'BRIEN, O'BRIAN, O'BRYAN, O'BRYEN, OBRIEN, OBREGON, O'BRYANT, BRIAN, BRIANT, BRIEN, BRYAN, BRYEN, BRYANT, and any other reasonable spelling variations, including aliases, such as PRINS and UBRY or UBRI, are welcome to join the project.
What are Y-DNA? This can only be found in the DNA of males. Thus products offered by FTDNA for the study and comparison of Y-chromosomes are extensive. We usually recommend that members start with Y-DNA 37 marker test. This is really the minimum test to establish a link to one of the many historical "Adams" that our surname descends.
Female project members really need to find a male relation, of the same surname, and have them tested to really get the benefit of being in this project.
How to participate?
To participate meaningfully, the person sampled will need to share their direct male line ancestry back to the earliest known O'BRIEN/etc., either in the form of a pedigree chart or, preferable, family group sheets (excluding living persons).
What to expect from the results?
A basic 37 Y-DNA test is usually enough to allow a member to be identified as belong to one of the main groupings within the project, or find out other origin possibilities for their male line of ancestors. After this stage we generally turn to SNP testing to determine closer groupings.
Trending results Check the DNA results Page
At this time ORS members seem to fall into three groups:
L226 - Dal gCiasian Those who descend from this Tribe and may have a connection to the "Royal" Irish O'Brien Clan.
M222, sometimes called Niall Noígíallach Tribe
OR Those who have DNA that appears to relate to other old Irish tribes or clans, but may have changed their names when surnames became popular.
Other Haplogroups Additionally, there are those who have a non-connected surname, however, the DNA seems to indicate a connection. This group can be challenging as it means there was a historical intervention that changed the surname. This could be religious, landholding, or other circumstances.
Finally, here are those whose DNA seems to indicate that O’Brien may not have been the original source of the male heritage.

Thank you and good hunting,
Dennis