Taylor Y-DNA Haplogroups

In follow-up to my previous post concerning mtHg U5 associations with Y-DNA haplogroups, the Taylor surname (my father's surname) project at Family Tree DNA lists several potential European Y-haplogroups already identified for males with the surname Taylor.

Celtic

The most common general Y-Hg found is R1b, a Hg associated with European Celts. This Hg is popularly known as Oisin (Sykes) and Ruisko (Oppenheimer).

Anglo-Saxon-Germanic-Fennoscandia

Next in frequency is Y-Hg I. From among the peoples known from my own autosomal DNA results, Y-Hg I is highly associated with Anglo-Saxons, Northern Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Finland, and to a lesser but still significant degree, with Hungary, Lapland (the Saami), England and the Netherlands. Y-Hg I is known overall as Wodan (Sykes), Ivan (Oppenheimer). Oppenheimer was able to divide this Hg into 3 clear clusters. The two most important are I1 (Ian) and I2 (Ingert) now known as I2b. Both I1 and I2 are found among Taylor men.

Norse-Viking

Also associated frequently with the surname Taylor is Y-Hg R1a, a Norse-Viking Hg popularly known as Sigurd (Sykes) and Rostov (Oppenheimer). R1a is a distant cousin of R1b, and most commonly found from Eastern Europe to India. In Britain (from where my clans most recently are associated) R1a is associated with probable Scandinavian immigration during periods of Viking settlement.

Non-European / Uncommon Y-Hgs

Other Y-Hg associated with the surname Taylor at Family Tree DNA, to a lesser degree than the three above, are (in order of frequency) E1b1a, E1b1b, G2a, J2, J1, two instances of Q1a3a and A, and one instance each of N1c1, and O.

E1b1a, E1b1b, G2a, J2 and J1 are each found more than a few times, but not nearly as much as R1b, I and R1a.

Egyptian Royalty

E1b1a is the Y-Hg of Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses III (reigned 1186–1155 BCE), the second pharaoh of Egypt's 20th dynasty.

North Africa - Near East

In the North Wales town of Abergele there is a very high percentage of haplogroup E1b1b1 (33%), which is thought to have dispersed around Europe mainly from the Balkans. This Y-Hg originated in North Africa, Horn of Africa, or nearby areas of the Near East and is thought to have left and migrated from Africa thousands of years ago. E1b1b is popularly known as Eshu (Sykes).

Semitic

Y-Hg J, popularly known as Re (Sykes), is associated with Semitic people from the Middle East, Near East and Northern Africa including Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews, Arabs, Turks, ancient Anatolians, southern Mediterraneans, Iranians, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Algeria and the Sinai Peninsula (to name only a few).

J1c3 and J2a are the Y-Hgs associated with the Kohanim of Jewish Tradition. There is one J2a4h2 found in the Taylor surname project from an individual in Poland. All of the other Taylor J1's and J2's are not further described beyond being simply J1 or J2.

Jewish-German

G2a originated in the Middle East and is found in Jewish men and has also been found in a 7th- century CE high-status tomb in Ergolding, Bavaria, Germany.

English Taylor Y-Hgs

Y-Hgs of Taylor men from England (my most recent European country of origin) in the Family Tree DNA project are R1b, R1a, I1, I2, E (not defined further), E1b1b, G2a, J2 and Q1a3a (American Indian).

Taking all of this together, the probability is that my father's English Taylor Y-Hg will most likely be Celtic R1b, Germanic I or Norse-Viking R1a, but the other Y-Hgs remain a possibility.