My Big Y-700 Results by William Mortensen Vaughan

(This post was originally posted in 2023.)

At first, none of my Big Y-700 matches were surnamed "Vaughan," nor any name remotely resembling "Vaughan," so I assume that I am descended from at least one adulterer.

I had FamilyTreeDNA conduct my Big Y-700 test in 2021. I also ordered an upgrade to my Y-DNA test, as well as their Family Finder and mitochondrial DNA tests, in 2020, and they had me resubmit a fresh sample of saliva, so the sample used for the Big Y test was only about a year old.

According to FamilyTreeDNA, as of February 1, 2023, I had twenty-one Big Y-700 DNA matches, none of whom were surnamed "Vaughan," or anything remotely resembling "Vaughan."* Their surnames were as follows:  

• Boyd,
• Freeman,
  
• Henson, 
• James, 
• Jones (five matches), 
• Mattox, 
• Mayfield, 
• McClain (three matches), 
• McKoy, 
• Phillips,
  
• Walter, 
• Watkins (two matches), 
• Wright, and 
• Yarbrough

Of these, the one that interested me the most was James. That's because the FamilyTreeDNA Vaughan Project Website Y-DNA Classic Chart showed only one match among their members who had the same confirmed Y-DNA Haplogroup as mine, which was R-Z17300, and that match is surnamed James. Presumably, it's the same person listed among my closest Big Y-700 matches. I have also discovered that men surnamed "James" were in Fauquier County, Virginia, circa 1800, when my great-great-great-grandfather, Joseph Vaughan (L6VH-346) and his wife, Eleanor O'Bannon (LKY8-NNJ), were born and/or married there.

Also of interest was my only exact Big Y-DNA match on MyTrueAncestry, which was Orm de Abernathy (ca. 1170-1260). MyTrueAncestry informed me that Haplogroup R-Z17300 is also known as the phylogenetic Haplogroup R1b1a1b1a1a2c1a.†  

WikiTree indicates that Orm and I are both descended from one couple:

  Malcolm Dunkeld and Saint Margaret, King and Queen of Scots.

Ideally, I would be able to trace a strictly paternal lineage all the way back to Orm or one of his forefathers, since Y-DNA is only passed from fathers to sons (the Y chromosome is what makes us male). However, and in spite of this, it remains apparent to me that I am more closely related to the Abernathies than any other clan, and to ancient Scottish royalty more than any other royal families.

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* Since then, my Big Y-700 matches, including at least one surnamed "Vaughan," have come and, in some cases, "gone." 

† Since then, FamilyTreeDNA has changed my Confirmed Y-DNA Haplogroup to  R-FGC20646, which MyTrueAncestry has yet to recognize, but which ChatGPT has identified as R1b1a1b1a1a2c1a1a1a1. Closer matches than Orm de Abernathy have also appeared, especially since I have upgraded to MyTrueAncestry Levels; my current Level is 13, Valhalla.

Commentary by William Mortensen Vaughan