Swain, Swaine, Swayn, Swayne Surname Y DNA Study 22 July 2005

Swain, Swaine, Swayn, Swayne Surnames Y Chromosome DNA Study

A Swain, Swaine, Swayn, and Swayne Y DNA study has being organized by Steven C. Perkins, mailto:[email protected] a descendant of John D Swain of Virginia and Whitley Co., Kentucky.

The Y chromosome is passed relative 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 Swain and variants, 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 Swain family traditions of descent from the Swain family of Nantucket Island.

A first goal would be to determine the DNA signature of the Nantucket Swains and other 17th century Swain families in British North America, the Caribbean, and the British Isles. If you are a male with one of the variant Swain surnames, and your line can be traced back to the 1600s, please consider joining the study by visiting the following web page and sending a join request: Swain Study.

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.

Disclaimer:

I am not an FTDNA Affliate and I make no money from this study

Current Results:

At the moment we have only three results. We need more participants before we can say how these results relate to other Swain families.

Swain 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
#10911, Richard Swain
Nantucket Island, MA
1635+
 13 24 15 10 11 14 12 10 10 13 11 31 15 9 10 11 11 25 14 19 32 12 14 14 17
#19483,
Nantucket Island, MA
13 23 14 11 14 15 12 12 12 14 13 30
#31621
14 23 15 10 15 15 11 13 13 13 12 31

Analysis

With three results there is very little analysis that can be made. Result one is a haplotype that can be classed as part of Haplogroup HG3, now called R1a. The second result is in haplogroup R1b. The third result is in haplogroup I. These results are consistant with multiple origins for an occupational name like Swain.

More volunteers for the Y DNA test are needed to allow us to make comparisons among the different Swain families.

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]