Category archives for Announcements

Autosomal DNA for Beginners – 2024 Update

Computer-generated image of DNA double helix with Questions by Donna Rutherford using DALL-E.

World renowned genetic genealogist Donna Rutherford has updated her DNA FAQ with the latest information for beginners at this time. It’s a great distillation covering lots of companies and web sites. So if you’re new to autosomal DNA and want to learn more, we highly recommend giving it a read. DNA – What, when, how, […]

Big Y-500 – Initial Review

Line Chart of TMRCA

On April 20, 2018, Family Tree DNA (formally Gene By Gene Ltd, aka FTDNA) announced the initial release of allele count values for 389 new STR markers (labeled as Panel 6) scored from Next-Gen sequencing data recorded on Big Y DNA existing orders. Going forward FTDNA states they will only sell Next-Gen sequencing of the […]

2016 Genetic Genealogist of the Year Award

It gives us great pleasure to publish the winner of the Surname DNA Journal 2016 Genetic Genealogist of the Year award as Katherine Borges of Salida, California.  Katherine is very well known and active in the genetic genealogy community as well as well as in her local political community.  She has also been a leading […]

2015 Genetic Genealogist of the Year Award

It gives us great pleasure to publish the winner of the Surname DNA Journal 2015 Genetic Genealogist of the Year award as Dr Maurice Gleeson MB of London, England.  Dr Gleeson contributed to the advancement of the field of Genetic Genealogy in numerous ways this past year. Dr Gleeson, the founder of the Genetic Genealogy Ireland […]

Surname DNA Journal – Jan 2015 News

Speaker Brad Larkin at the podium during genetic genealogy ireland 2014 conference in Dublin.

New Article English surnames: Plural Origins and Emigration By Dr. John S. Plant and Dr. Richard E. Plant Doctors John and Richard Plant have written a number of important papers on English surnames previously and bring their formidable skills to Surname DNA Journal with a multi-faceted comparison of the distribution of English surnames in modern England […]

2014 Genetic Genealogist of the Year Award

CeCe Moore receives Surname DNA Journal Award presented br Brad Larkin

The Surname DNA Journal award for Genetic Genealogist of the Year was presented today at the 10th International Conference on Genetic Genealogy  in Houston, Texas, USA.  This award recognizes genetic genealogists who have made an extremely valuable contribution to the field in the past year.   Nominees: This year’s other nominees have all made wonderful […]

Surname DNA Journal – Sept 2014 News

New Article History, Adoption, and Regulation of Jewish Surnames in the Russian Empire, A Review By Dr. Jeffrey Mark Paull and Dr. Jeffrey Briskman Analysis of the formation of surnames by the Jewish population of the 19th century Russian Empire. Description of the cultural and legal context of Ashkenazi Jewish surnames in Russia with examples […]

Surname DNA Journal – Aug 2014 News

RECENT ARTICLES Recent articles exclusively on Surname DNA Journal: Preliminary Phylogenetic Analysis of Briese Family Relationships By David Briese This study shows how to analysis an uncommon surname combining paper genealogy, genetic genealogy, and geography to identify related lineages from the area of modern Germany and Poland. Full Article Differences in Autosomal DNA Characteristics between […]

News from SCGS 2014 DNA Day

Great presentations from Dr Maurice Gleeson, Diahan Southard, CeCe Moore, and Bennett Greenspan. FTDNA is about to rollout a matching tool for Big-Y results based on the number of shared Novel Variant mutations. It is expected to be released for Father’s Day. Kudos to Katherine Borges and Alice Fairhurst of ISOGG and SCGS for putting […]

Surname DNA News – May 2014

We have a variety of new topics on the subject of genetic genealogy this month: 1) Surname DNA Journal has published a new, peer-reviewed article by Joe Flood titled, “Using STRs for Intra-Family Y-DNA Comparisons: Segmenting Markers“.  This article is especially of interest to genealogists trying to use DNA testing to distinguish lineages from a […]

FTDNA Hosting 9th International Conference on Genetic Genealogy

Surname DNA Journal’s editor will be attending the 9th International Conference on Genetic Genealogy hosted by Family Tree DNA this weekend in Houston, Texas (Nov 9-10, 2013).   Speakers will include Dr. Maurice Gleeson of Genetic Genealogy Ireland 2013  as well as Dr. Michael Hammer, Roberta Estes and many other leaders in the field of genetic […]

Genetic Genealogy Ireland 2013 Conference

An exciting event is planned for this coming weekend in Dublin, Ireland at the Genetic Genealogy Ireland 2013 conference, October 18-20, 2013.   This event is being is the result of a collaboration between the International Society of Genetic Genealogists (ISOGG) and some great DNA project leaders like Dr. Maurice Gleeson.   To my knowledge, this […]

Call for Papers on Surname DNA Research

Surname DNA Journal is an online journal for genetic genealogists to get their findings peer-reviewed and published in a reasonable amount of time at affordable rates [free for authors and readers]. Our focus is on taking a scientific approach so as to add to the general understanding of the origin, links, and migrations of members […]