MacLeod Surname: Y-DNA Haplogroup
Published genetics research or a documented case study links the surname MacLeod to a specific Y-DNA paternal-line haplogroup.
R-BY3210
Clade R1b (R-M343)
Also spelled: McLeod, M'Leod, Macleod
Twenty years of testing by the Associated Clan MacLeod Societies project found five genetically distinct MacLeod clusters; the BY3210 subgroup is by far the largest and is proposed as the direct paternal line of clan founder Leod (b. c.1215 CE). Two descendant SNPs (FTT137/FTT138) align with the traditional split into the Harris & Dunvegan and Lewis & Raasay chiefly branches; autosomal DNA and SNP-tracker migration modeling trace the founder branch through Orkney to southern Norway.
Source: MacLeod MK, Macleod C, MacLeod RAF. "The DNA of Clan MacLeod." Journal of Genetic Genealogy 13(1), 2025.
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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