The Beal Surname DNA Project is a multi-surname DNA project. A system called Soundex was invented to index names included in United States censuses, and  in that system, Beal is found at the designation B400. Some surnames indexed under B400 include BALE, BEAL, BEALE, BEALL, BEEL, BEALS, and BELL.

The Bell DNA Study has already been split off as a separate surname project. It is expected that the Beal and Beall DNA Studies will eventually be split also.

PRIVACY

A living person's privacy will be protected during the course of the project. Each participant will be assigned a privacy code, which is used to identify your results in our charts. The DNA sample collection is done painlessly, by swabbing the inside of the cheeks of your mouth, in the privacy of your own home. Kits and instructions will be furnished to each participant for that purpose.

We cannot enter into postal correspondence concerning this project, as the postal costs would be prohibitive. We are volunteers, and receive no remuneration of any type for coordinating this project.

Our web site is the focal point for the project, where we post the test results. Each participant will also receive their individual results from the testing agency. None of the participants' names will be posted without their permission.

ANCESTRY

We have several participants who have more than 12 generations of documented male surname ancestry in our study. We encourage people with documented ancestry to share that ancestry with other participants in our DNA study. Individuals with little or no recorded ancestry may participate in hopes of making a match to an existing haplotype (genetic signature) already part of the project or known data bases. This has been done in several cases in the project.

ELIGIBILITY

Any male with a Soundex B400 surname is welcome to join our surname project. Females may participate in our studies by using a living, male, close relative (with the BELL surname) as surrogate for the testing. Females may also participate in a mtDNA test.