Strunk Surname Y DNA Study 21 July 2005

Strunk Surname Y Chromosome DNA Study

A Strunk surname Y Chromosome DNA study is being organized by Steven C. Perkins, [email protected], a descendant of Daniel Strunk of Wilkes/Ashe Co., NC and Whitley Co., KY. The Y chromosome is passed relatively unchanged from father to son and only appears in males. This makes it suited for study in surname projects. If you are a male surnamed Strunk, or the wife or sister of such a person, and you would be interested in participating or sponsoring someone in the study, please contact me at the address above or visit the page linked below.

The study is motivated by interest in providing evidence to support or disprove various Strunk family relationships between Daniel Strunk and the Strunck, Strunk, and Stronk, immigrants to New York and Pennsylvannia in the mid 1700s. Those immigrants were:

A first goal would be to determine the DNA signature of the documented descendants of Daniel Strunk. After that we need to determine the DNA signature of the descendants of the Strunk immigrants. Then we can compare the signatures to determine any relationships.

If participants from the various Strunk families in Europe can be found, an additional goal would be to determine the paternal lines of Daniel Strunk and the Strunk immigrants.

We are using Family Tree DNA as our testing facility. There are three tests available for the Y Chromosome from FTDNA. There is a 12 marker test available for $99.00 plus $2.00 p&h. There is a 25 marker test available for $169.00 plus $2.00 postage and handling and a 37 marker test for $229.00 plus $2.00 postage and handling. You can start with the 12 marker and have it upgraded to 25 markers for an additional $90.00 or to 37 markers for $149.00. A 25 marker result can be upgraded to 37 markers for $59.00.

At this time, two descendants of Daniel Strunk through his son Abraham Strunk have been tested. Their results are below. Two other persons have ordered the test kit. In order to make progress, we need more volunteers from this line and the lines of the other Strunk immigrants to take the test.

This is an exciting project which can answer several vexing questions. I urge anyone interested in the study to visit the Strunk Y DNA Study and send a request to join.

Disclaimer

I am not an FTDNA Associate and I do not make any money from these tests.

Current Results

Strunk Y DNA test results
Kit Number, Ancestor,
Location, and Date		 Loci, DYS#, and Alleles reported by Family Tree DNA
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
3
9
3
 3
9
0
 19/
3
9
4
 3
9
1
 3
8
5
a
 3
8
5
b
 4
2
6
 3
8
8
 4
3
9
 3
8
9
i
 3
9
2
 3
8
9
ii
 4
5
8
 4
5
9
a
 4
5
9
b
 4
5
5
 4
5
4
 4
4
7
 4
3
7
 4
4
8
 4
4
9
 4
6
4
a
 4
6
4
b
 4
6
4
c
 4
6
4
d
 4
6
4
e
 4
6
4
f
 4
6
4
g
 4
6
0
 G
a
t
a

H
4
 Y
C
A

II

a
 Y
C
A

II

b
 4
5
6
 6
0
7
 5
7
6
 5
7
0
 C
D
Y
a
 C
D
Y
b
 4
4
2
 4
3
8
#5871, Daniel Strunk
Ashe/Wilkes Co.s NC
Whitley Co., KY
d.1850+
 13 25 17 10 11 14 12 12 10 13 11 30 16 9 9 11 11 23 14 20 31 13 16 17 17
#23986, Daniel Strunk
Ashe/Wilkes Co.s NC
Whitley Co., KY
d.1850+
 13 25 17 10 11 14 12 12 10 13 11 30 16 9 9 11 11 23 14 20 31 13 16 17 17 16 11 11 19 23 16 16 18 19 34 39 13 11

Analysis

With only two results there is very little analysis that can be made. These results are a perfect 25/25 match. 5871 is encouraged to upgrade to 37 markers to see if the match remains. This result is a haplotype that can be classed as part of Haplogroup HG3.65+, now called R1a. This Haplogroup is most common in Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe and Asia. We need to test Strunk males who descend from the other sons of Daniel, to validate these results. More volunteers for the Y DNA test are needed from othe Strunk families to allow us to make comparisons.

Anglo-Saxon, Norman, Viking, Celt?

At this time, it is not possible to absolutely differentiate between the Anglo-Saxons and the Scandinavian and Norman Vikings through DNA analysis, although the following articles make a start in that direction using Haplogroups of selected markers.
See,:
Helgason, etc., "Estimating Scandinavian and Gaelic Ancestry in the Male Settlers of Iceland", Am. J. Hum. Genet., 67:697-717, (2000);

and, this article:

Wilson, J. F., Weiss, D. A., Richards, M., Thomas, M. G., Bradman, N., Goldstein, D. B. "Genetic evidence for different male and female roles during cultural transitions in the British Isles". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., vol 98 (9) p5078 (2001)",
contains evidence for the following preliminary table of Y DNA markers for Celtic/Basque, Anglo Saxon and Norwegian ancestry:

 
                                  DYS19/ 
         DYS388-DYS393-DYS392-DYS394-DYS390-DYS391 
Celtic/Basque:  12-----13-----13-----14-----24-----11  
Anglo Saxon:    14-----13-----11-----14-----22-----10 
Norwegian:      12-----13-----11-----16-----25-----11 
 
------------------------------------------------------ 

 
Other Y DNA marker sets: 
                                  DYS19/ 
         DYS388-DYS393-DYS392-DYS394-DYS390-DYS391 
Atlantic MH*    12     13     13     14     24     11 
Cohen    MH     16     12     11     14     23     10 
*=Celtic/Basque 
MH=Modal Haplotype


Preliminary results from a more recent study are reported in this article from the BBC:
Nicola Cook, "Viking Genetics Survey Results", reporting on a study done by Prof. David B. Goldstein at University College London. Once Dr Goldstein's results are published, a link will be made to the paper.

More Information on DNA and Genealogy:

The following page at the University of Leicester contains links to primary scientific research on the Y chromosome: The Y Chromosome as a Marker for the History and Structure of Human Populations.

The following article is one of the more important discussions of Y DNA: Semino, et.al., "The Genetic Legacy of Paleolithic Homo sapiens sapiens in Extant Europeans: A Y chromosome Perspective", Science 2000, v 290, p.1155 et. seq.

This is a glossary of genetic terms: Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms from the National Human Genome Research Institute.

Information on Y DNA testing and Genetics in family history research is available from the following web page:
Chris Pomery's DNA Portal: DNA & the Family Historian.

This page by Dennis Garvey discusses Haplogroups and gives frequency tables for the possible variations: Haplogroups.

This page by Nancy Custer gives information on the Y-STR Loci Allele Frequencies as Reported in the Y-STR European and USA Databases.

Kevin Duerinck's page gives information on the various testing laboratories:
Genetics Laboratories and Testing Sites

See also:
GENEALOGY-DNA-L Listed URLs
and,
Genetics and Genealogy

There are online Y DNA databases for YSTR Europe, YSTR America and YSTR Asia at the Y STR sites.

There is a discussion list at Rootsweb. Instructions for subscribing and searching the archives are at this URL: https://mailinglists.rootsweb.com/listindexes/legacy/other/Miscellaneous/GENEALOGY-DNA.html.

Steven C. Perkins
[email protected]