Plantagenet Surname: Y-DNA Haplogroup
Published genetics research or a documented case study links the surname Plantagenet to a specific Y-DNA paternal-line haplogroup.
G2a (G-P287)
Clade G
Also spelled: (dynastic name; compare House of Somerset/Beaufort, the collateral line tested but found NOT to match)
Skeletal remains of Richard III (d. 1485), authenticated via mtDNA matches to living matrilineal relatives, carried Y-DNA haplogroup G2a-P287 -- a lineage tracing to Neolithic Near Eastern farmers and rare in the British Isles. This did NOT match haplogroup R1b-U152 (in 4 of 5 tested men) or I-M170 (1 of 5) carried by living documented male-line descendants of Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort, a patrilineal relative via Edward III/John of Gaunt, indicating at least one false-paternity event somewhere across the ~19 intervening generations of the Beaufort/Somerset line. Lead geneticist Turi King (University of Leicester, co-author of the King & Jobling British-surnames work).
Source: King TE, Fortes GG, Balaresque P, Thomas MG, Balding D, Maisano Delser P, et al. "Identification of the remains of King Richard III." Nature Communications. 2014;5:5631.
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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