Syed (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) Surname: Y-DNA Haplogroup
Published genetics research or a documented case study links the surname Syed (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) to a specific Y-DNA paternal-line haplogroup.
R1a1a-M17 (most prevalent haplogroup in this regional sample)
Clade R1a
Also spelled: Sayyid (KP, Pakistan)
This regional Pashtun-belt Syed sample instead shows the locally typical Pashtun R1a signature, illustrating real geographic heterogeneity within the Syed qaum rather than a single unifying Middle Eastern paternal lineage.
Source: Tariq M, Ahmad H, Hemphill BE, Farooq U, Schurr TG (2022). "Contrasting maternal and paternal genetic histories among five ethnic groups from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan." Scientific Reports, 12:1027.
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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