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Boyd

  • 436 members

About us

Welcome to the Boyd Y-DNA project.

This project was founded by Cal Boyd, FSA Scot and Lauren Boyd, FSA Scot in 2002 and managed by Cal until 2006. Since 2006, the project has been managed by Jeri Ann Boyd.  For health reasons Jeri now has limited involvement.  Since 2012 Bob Boyd has helped with project management duties.  Bob can be reached directly at boyddna@bobboyd.ca

John Sloan has participated in the project for many years.  He specializes in, and provides valuable assistance to, our R-U198 members.

The project is completely independent and unaffiliated with any organisation. It exists primarily to support its members, assisting in the interpretation of their Y-DNA results and helping, where possible, to make connections between related individuals. The power of Y-DNA is that it remains virtually unchanged over several centuries, making it possible to detect very deep connections.
 
It may, on occasion, be used to support or refute written, presumed or suspected genealogical connections.  However, we are restricted in the amount of analysis we can perform in this area by the amount of genealogical information that members share with the project.
 
Y-DNA is passed down only through the direct patriline (from father to son).  Therefore, the person who joins the project and provides the sample must be a male Boyd. There is no restriction on who can be the contact person and manage the account. Often a woman will recruit a male Boyd (such as a brother, uncle etc.) to test her own patriline.

It is important to note that whilst a father cannot fail to pass on his Y-DNA to his son, he may sometimes fail (for a variety of reasons) to pass on his surname. Sometimes Y-DNA test results will conflict with family genealogy. In such cases it is always biology that wins! Anyone considering a Y-DNA test should be aware of this possibility and should make an informed decision to test. Y-DNA is a powerful tool which can occasionally uncover events that have remained buried for centuries.

We are delighted to welcome male Boyds with a minimum testing level of 37 Y-DNA markers but we prefer 67 markers as this is better for identifying family lines. The full 111 marker Y-DNA test is the best STR test available at present and the Big Y700 is the most comprehensive test of STR's and SNP's. We have excellent data for comparison and have identified a considerable degree of structure within the Boyd surname.
 
The project administrators are entirely voluntary, unpaid and unaffiliated with any organisation (including FTDNA). They are here purely for the good of the project and its members. It’s only by amassing and comparing Y-DNA data that we’ll all learn and benefit.
 
DNA results can be confusing.  The volunteer administrators are here to help you discover the meaning of your data.  For assistance, please contact us at any time at the email addresses shown on our main background page.

What you can do to make the most of your DNA test:


  1. Once your results have been received, upload your GEDCOM to your FTDNA home page. A GEDCOM is a standardized method of formatting your family tree data into a text file which can be easily read and converted by any genealogy software program. Many genealogy programs, such as Family Tree Maker, provide you with the ability to create a GEDCOM. Your DNA results are most useful in partnership with your genealogical data.  However, to be useful, your genealogical work must be shared.