First Level Paternal Y-DNA Results In

Yay! The first level results (Y-DNA1-12, the first 12 markers) on my father's Y-DNA test are in. The 25-marker and 37-marker results are still pending, which may refine my dad's Y-haplogroup more specifically. Nevertheless, my dad's first level Y-DNA haplogroup is I2. His final Y-DNA haplogroup using current nomenclature is predicted by FTDNA scientists to be I-M223 (formerly known as I2b1, I2a2a and I1c in earlier phylosystems).

I2 is  generally considered a Anglo-Saxon-Germanic-Fennoscandia genetic haplogroup.

At this point, my dad has exact Y-DNA genetic matches in England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and another one of unknown origin.

So far, he has multiple genetic matches distance-1 to males (in order of frequency) in these countries:

unknown origin
Germany
Scotland
England
United Kingdom
Norway
Switzerland
Sweden
Denmark
United States

and 1 match each from these countries:

Belgium
Croatia
France
Ireland
Northern Ireland
Portugal
Poland

In the ancestral origins results, his top three exact country matches are (in order of frequency):

England/UK
Germany
Ireland

This is exactly what oral family tradition on my dad's side has passed down - that my paternal family most recently came from England, Germany and Ireland.

According to FTDNA scientists, "The I2b1 lineage likely has its roots in Northern France. Today it is found most frequently within Viking / Scandinavian populations in Northwest Europe and extends at low frequencies into Central and Eastern Europe."

Looks like my dad is a real Viking! and descends from Vikings who eventually settled in the British Isles.