DNA

Introduction

DNA testing offers a dimension to genealogical research that documentary records alone cannot provide — the possibility of identifying genetic connections between families that share the Gray or Grey name, regardless of whether those connections can be traced through surviving documents.

In 2018, three DNA kits were submitted to FamilyTreeDNA of Houston, Texas — covering Y-DNA, Big Y and mtDNA analysis. Results began arriving from mid-2018, with the Big Y results confirmed in August 2019. The Y-DNA haplogroup has been confirmed as R-A6137 and the mtDNA haplogroup as H3, both consistent with deep roots in the British Isles.

Ethnicity estimates from both FamilyTreeDNA and Ancestry point strongly to British Isles ancestry, with notable concentrations identified in North Yorkshire, East Riding and Lincolnshire — areas where the Gray name has historically been well established, aligning well with the documentary evidence gathered elsewhere in this study.

DNA analysis remains an early-stage strand of the Gray One-Name Study. The detailed analysis of matches — and what they might reveal about connections between different Gray and Grey family lines — is work in progress.

What’s in this section

The DNA research is presented across three pages. The kits purchased and haplogroup results are summarised below. Fuller detail is available on the following pages:

• Ethnicity Estimates — a comparison of ethnicity results from FamilyTreeDNA and Ancestry, including regional concentrations within the British Isles.
• DNA Matches — the methodology used to research cousin matches, and a record of matches researched to date with links to their profiles in the SecondSite database.

DNA Kits

Haplogroup Results

Results – mtDNA