Levy Surname: Y-DNA Haplogroup
Published genetics research or a documented case study links the surname Levy to a specific Y-DNA paternal-line haplogroup.
R1a1 (R-M17), the "Ashkenazi Levite Modal Haplotype"
Clade R
Also spelled: Levi, Levine, Levinsky, Levit, Loewy/Löwy, HaLevi (Ashkenazi branch specifically)
Approximately 52% of self-identified Ashkenazi Levites sampled carry a tightly clustered R1a1 haplotype with an estimated common ancestor within roughly the last 2,000 years -- essentially absent in Sephardi/Mizrahi Levites and in Jewish non-Levites, and distinct from the Near-Eastern J-lineage Cohen Modal Haplotype. Michael Hammer is a co-author. Authors note the founder may reflect either a European convert or, speculatively, a Khazar-era origin, rather than direct patrilineal descent from the Biblical tribe of Levi.
Source: Behar DM, Thomas MG, Skorecki K, Hammer MF, Bulygina E, Rosengarten D, Jones AL, Held K, Moses V, Goldstein D, Bradman N, Weale ME. "Multiple origins of Ashkenazi Levites: Y chromosome evidence for both Near Eastern and European ancestries." Am J Hum Genet. 2003;73(4):768-779.
How to read this. A surname match means some people with that surname, in a specific study or family record, were found to share a haplogroup, most likely due to a shared patrilineal ancestor generations back. It is not proof that you personally carry that haplogroup: surnames change through adoption, remarriage, non-paternity events, and independent origin of the same name in different families. For your own confirmed haplogroup, test your DNA with our HaploAI Y-DNA/mtDNA predictor.
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