Some men in the UK and Ireland have rare patrilineal surnames. This often means that their genealogy is easier to trace through documented evidence and ultimately their origins and family connections can be simpler to determine. This can act as a disincentive to getting Y-DNA tested because there don't appear to be any questions to settle. This group serves to promote the Y-DNA testing of such rare names so that: 1) A record exists of their Y-DNA haplogroup, which itself might be relatively rare. 2) To help explain or link previously unknown or suspected name variants. 3) To help explain NPEs in other people's Y-DNA results. To help qualify what is meant by 'rare', this project will refer to "The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland" as edited by Patrick Hanks , Richard Coates , and Peter McClure. The surname has had to appear in the 1881 UK census with a frequency of 1000 or less, i.e. fewer than 1000 people carried this surname, or 100 persons in the case of the Irish 1901 census. NB - If you have been tested autosomally on Ancestry, MyHeritage or 23andMe it is theoretically possible to import your DNA data into FTDNA to yield a determination of a broad Y-DNA haplogroup. This requires paying a small unlock charge. Please check the FTDNA help guide as to current options of transferring autosomal data and what analysis is currently available. Also note that a proper Y-DNA test (Y-111 or Y-700) is going to yield the best results and may be unavoidable, depending on what you are trying to establish.