The Stevenson-Stephenson surname project dates back to around 2004, just four years after FTDNA became the first company to offer DNA tests to the public. We owe a considerable debt of gratitude to those early testers and our early project administrators, who were often working with incomplete information, frequently at great personal expense. Many of their earliest estimates of family relationships, using only a fraction of the information we have access to today, have withstood the test of time and form the basis for several of our family groups/subclades in today's 220-member project. 

For many of our project members, finding our correct family group is what it's all about. 

While a surname itself may give us incomplete or even misleading information about our more family history, DNA testing can give us concrete evidence for identifying and separating family lines. 

Y-chromosome DNA testing is especially helpful because the male Y-chromosome is handed down from father to son essentially unchanged through the generations, except for rare mutations. It is these mutations that provide the basis for our Y DNA research -  they indicate where new branches form on the larger surname/family tree. The accessibility and affordability of family DNA testing is doubtless the greatest technical advance in the history of genealogical research because -- at long, long last -- we have a tool to break down those brick walls!

If you are a Stevenson, Stephenson, or Stinson, joining our project can help you with your research. To join, you need an FTDNA account and a kit number for a completed or in-process Y DNA test. Males can test themselves or a relative, females need to find a Stevenson/Stephenson male relative to test.

New project members need to grant either Limited or Advanced Access to Project Administrators under the Project Preferences tab. Your genetic privacy is always our top priority - but we need Limited Access at a minimum to be able to maximize our collaborative research. 

Please contact Lisa Stevenson or Curry Walker if you have any questions about setting your access levels, or about our project in general.