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OBJECTIVES
14 October 2002

Although KINNEY/McKINNEY (or K/McK) is used below, the project is open to all variations (see surname variation chart).

1) Identify others who are related
2) Prove or disprove theories regarding ancestors
3) Solve brick walls in your research
4) Determine a location for further research
5) Validate existing research
6) Develop a DNA database for future researchers

Most surname projects begin with the objective to identify others who are related; throughout the project other objectives are achieved as a result of the project.

The following has been adapted (with permission) from the Blair surname project website. The site also includes helpful DNA 101 and FAQ sections http://blairgenealogy.com/dna/

Although more documentary evidence remains to be found, traditional genealogical research may never find all the connections between the various KINNEY/McKINNEY family groups. In addition, there are undoubtedly links that have been made that are not correct. The availability of Y chromosome analysis now provides a new way to determine direct male to male lineage, and this is the basis of this project. An analysis of the mutations in the Y-chromosome can also be used to estimate the "Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA)" in terms of number of generations since the separation occurred. If your K/McK research has hit a "stone wall," DNA analysis could be the breakthrough you have been looking by finding connections to other K/McK family lines.

How many different common male ancestors are associated with the KINNEY/McKINNEY surname?

How are the different KINNEY/McKINNEY family lines related?

Are your KINNEY/McKINNEY ancestors related to other K/McK lines?

Are all KINNEY/McKINNEY lines related or are there many different families with the K/McK name?

Can connections be made between KINNEY/McKINNEY lines in the United States and K/McK lines in other countries?

Which KINNEY/McKINNEY researchers should be collaborating because they share a common ancestor?

There is always a possibility that you could get disappointing test results. Samples that vary by three or more markers from the main group may do so for a number of reasons. One possibility is that they represent distinct lines either older or younger than the currently observed most frequent line. Another is that there has been a "non-paternal event" at an unknown past time. There are several possible types of non-paternal event in addition to a pregnancy gained outside of a marriage. For example, a child may be adopted and given the K/McK name; a man may take the K/McK name when he marries a K/McK daughter; a K/McK man may marry a pregnant woman whose husband has died; a couple where the wife is the K/McK may choose to give their children the K/McK name for various reasons; clerical error in recording administrative data may assign a K/McK name to the wrong person, and so on.

It should be stressed that adoptions were quite common in every age: parents died by disease or war and a relative took in the children and raised them with their name, daughters had children out of wedlock and the grandparents (or other relatives) raised the children as their own.

Some may not want to see a result indicating a "non-paternal event" but we are all legal KINNEYS/McKINNEYS and a small sample size could be misleading. A DNA sequence suggesting a "non-paternal event" but could be that of the original blood K/McK line - e.g., 20 people are tested, 19 are very similar and one is clearly different. It could be that the 19 descend from the same person 300 years ago who was an adopted KINNEY/McKINNEY while the different line links to the original blood line going back 800 years.

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