MacLeod Surname: Y-DNA Haplogroup

2 separate documented findings link the surname MacLeod to a Y-DNA paternal-line haplogroup, from different studies or lineages of the name.

R-BY3210
Clade R1b (R-M343)
Medium confidence 📍 Isle of Skye and Outer Hebrides, Scotland; deep ancestry Orkney/Norway
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.
R-FT370061
⚠️ Unverified, not peer-reviewed 📍 Quebec, Canada (French-Canadian)
This entry is community-submitted and has not been validated by a peer-reviewed academic study. Treat it as anecdotal until independent research confirms it.
Bulk import from a FamilyTreeDNA public geographic Y-DNA project results page. Community-submitted data, not peer-reviewed.
Source: FamilyTreeDNA Quebec Y-DNA Project public results page (https://www.familytreedna.com/public/quebec), community-submitted, not peer-reviewed
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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Y-DNA37

37 Y-STR markers: enough to see whether you match a surname group and to join its project.

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Y-DNA111

111 markers: separates close branches of the same family and sharpens the timing of a shared ancestor.

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