Whittington DNA Project

For a quick explanation of how DNA is used for genealogy research, see the Introduction to Genetic Genealogy.

The Whittington family is large and diverse, as Y-chromosome DNA testing of Project members indicates men from five very distantly related lines.  Currently, the Whittington men in our Project belong to one of five ancient haplogroups – the majority being in haplogroup R followed by haplogroup G.  A smaller number descend from haplogroup E, haplogroup I and haplogroup J.

Traditional genealogy research has limitations in that it can be inaccurate and it becomes less useful or non-existent the farther back in time the research goes.  DNA provides a valuable aid to traditional methods in that it is accurate and can reveal ralationships hundreds or thousands of generations in the past.  But DNA can't give the names of people and it can only be used to estimate dates and geographical origins.

If you are a Whittington descendant, please consider joining the Whittington Surname DNA Project at Family Tree DNA.  Your contribution can help us unravel the story of our family, find missing ancestors and identify family branches.

We have four types of DNA and each of their unique characteristics can help with our genealogy research. Below, in alphabetical order, are the four types of DNA:

• Autosomal DNA – (atDNA); this is the first 22 of your 23 chromosome pairs.  You receive half your DNA from each parent and one-fourth from your grandparents.  This type of DNA can match you to all of your recent relatives, back to six or seven generations.  This is the type of test offered by 23andme, ancestry dna, Family Tree DNA and the other DNA companies.
• Mitochondrial DNA – (mtDNA); a person gets it from their mother.  That means it can be used to trace the mother's direct maternal (matrilineal) line back hundreds of generations.  You got your mtDNA from your mother, she got hers from her mother, and so on.  An mtDNA signature (haplogroup) identifies only one ancestor in each generation (a person's mother, her mother, her mother, etc.).
• X-chromosome DNA – (X-DNA); this is one of the sex chromosomes and is found in the 23rd chromosome pair.  Females have two X-chromosomes but men have only one, making Its transmission pattern difficult to follow, so it is typically left to computers to analyze.
• Y-chromosome DNA – (Y-DNA); this is another of the sex chromosomes and determines whether a person is male.  A male receives his Y-chromosome from his father, who got his from his father, and so on back for thousands of generations.  A Y-DNA signature (haplogroup) identifies only one ancestor in each generation (a man's father, his father, his father, etc.).

DNA is used by matching your sample to that of other people who have tested and more extensive tests yield more refined results.  For example, a perfect match from a 12-marker test can indicate a "possible" relationship within perhaps hundreds of generations, while a mismatch indicates a strong probability there is no relation.  On the other hand, a close match at 111-markers provides a high probability of a close relationship, but even this level can imply a closer relationship than actually exists.  The BigY is the most powerful test available and provides the best evidence of relationships by using both SNPs and STRs.

We can use each type of DNA to help with our research, but Y-chromosome DNA is specific to the patrilineal line and is ideal as a surname research tool.  It is the most powerful tool in our DNA research arsenal as we work to unravel the Whittington ancestry.

Family Tree DNA provides specific tests for mtDNA and Y-DNA and it is the company our Project uses.

The Y-DNA portion of the Whittington DNA Project reveals five distinct DNA branches (haplogroups) (as of July 2024):

The labels on the chart above are the names assigned to mutations which were experienced by a man who lived long ago.  They are called "SNPs" (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) and are passed down to that man's descendants, uniquely identifying every man who descends from that person.  We don't know the names of the men who experienced those SNP mutations, or exactly when they lived, but they represent a distant nth-great-grandfather for that line.  As can be seen from the chart, men descended from different haplogroups are not related within thousands of years.

Click below to see the time tree for each haplogroup:

• Haplogroup E Time-Tree.
• Haplogroup G Time-Tree.
• Haplogroup I Time-Tree.
• Haplogroup J Time-Tree.
• Haplogroup R Time-Tree.

Project Reports:

• Project Statistics.
• Y-Test Summary.
• Ancestors.

See the Introduction to Genetic Genealogy.

For more information, please send an Email.