Surname Project
Surname project
Stiles Surname (Y-DNA)
As of June 2022, the Stiles Surname group has 238 members. The project was set up in the early 2000s to encourage people to trace their male parental line via Y-DNA. Not all members are named Stiles, nor are all members related to Stiles.
Viewing Results at FamilyTreeDNA (Participant Members Only)
Stiles Surname group members can view current results at FamilyTreeDNA. Simply log into your FamilyTreeDNA account, click on “Stiles” under the Group Projects section, and then “DNA Results.”
Description of Groups:
Group A – Massachusetts – large family with massive published genealogical work. Robert Stiles, Sr. b. 1637
Group B – Massachusetts – has six members. This cluster’s paper trail ends with Robert 1637, with three common ancestors before Robert 1637. Each has a paper trail to Samuel Sr. 1682 son of Robert 1637. Three of the people in unrelated Group A also have him as an ancestor. There is no indication as to where the adoption or other event contributed to the genetic mismatch for Group B. It is probably it between Samuel, 1682 and Israel, Sr. 1746 or between the latter and John, Sr. 1735/6.
Group C – Virginia
Group D – Connecticut – large family with massive published genealogical work.
Group E –
Group F – two matching groups with a common ancestor, but genealogy indicates they are from separate families. There are multiple mistakes in the paper trails.
Group G – remarkably close relative to Group D with indications that the connection may be in the 14th and 15th centuries.
In addition to the 60 or so individuals in the chart, there is an additional dozen or so who match no one or have an error in the paper trail as far as Y-DNA is concerned.
Problems and Opportunities
The Stiles Surname (Y-DNA) group tracks mostly people with last name “Stiles” (in any of its varied spellings). It can conclude that two people are not blood relatives or if two people with the same surname are or are not related. With significant numbers of Stiles testing, it can then recognize families.
Currently, we have 13 people in five clusters that have paper trails back to John 1595 England and there are an additional 3 in the unmatched/ungrouped category. It is intriguing to see why there are 8 markedly different haplogroups, genetic groups, with indications that they are descended from the same person when they are not. Is it that individuals just connected with some trail that was around or that genealogists did the same or is it related to the problems in NJ and environs. We think the latter.
Cruder tools existed before that led us to find out that the Mass and Conn families are related before names. Advancements in Y-DNA tests and analysis will impact the Stiles Surname group with improved tools, like Big Y-700 allowing males to find relatives during the time when surnames were in use and even before names.
Interpreting Y DNA Results
Interpretation depends on many factors – How many men who would match you have Y tested at FTDNA (i.e., distant relatives who might share a common paternal ancestor with you say within the last few hundred years); how much testing you have done; the behavior of your STR markers in your branch of Y, in a branch of your family, etc. These factors are not necessarily easy to assess.
Webinars, videos and tutorials are good for further exploration as well as your surname project and Y haplogroup project. Some basic details about Y-chromosome DNA at FTDNA – https://learn.familytreedna.com/dna-basics/ydna/