The Rothwell and Rathwell surnames are historically associated with the islands of Great Britain and Ireland.  

There are many clans previously thought to be separate and distinct Rothwells that we have now shown through YDNA are in fact the SAME clan using results from this Project.  

As of early 2018 the picture that is emerging is that most modern-day Rothwell lines appeared most heavily associated with Lancashire, England.  The principal group derives from the so-called I1 or I-M253 male haplogroup.  We have now strong evidence that the common, pre-Rothwell ancestor was Scandinavian, likely either a Norwegian Viking who first landed in England in the ~800-1100 time frame, or perhaps even more likely as a Viking Norman who was part of William The Conquerors 1066 invasion of England.