I am Steve Hayden and I am the volunteer administrator of the Hayden DNA Project. The DNA that is tested in the Project is a very small piece of the Y-chromosome. Since only males have a Y-chromosome, it is passed from father to son and is, hence, useful in tracing male lines. So, test candidates for the Hayden Family DNA Project need to be males with the surname of Hayden or one of the alternate spellings such Heydon, Hyden or Haden. The Project has a web site at http://rhhandson.com/hayden_dna.html.

It is great to see the burst of activity on this list. Tony Burgess correctly identifies several reasons why it can be difficult to connect to Hayden lines even with DNA results. There are just a lot of Hayden lines out there! One of the main objectives of the DNA Project is to connect to our English cousins. A fund has been established thanks to a Hayden researcher to help finance testing of English Haydens. Now we just need some volunteers! Those Haydens who are of the line of John of MA are fortunate to have a rare, distinctive Y-chromosome pattern. So, it is relatively easy to see if you are connected to that line using DNA data. The patterns in the other lines are not so distinctive and, by and large, most lines appear to be of Norman origin. George, who in an earlier post expressed his frustration at any lack of connection, appears to be of Viking origin. As the Project grows, the chance of George and others, to date, unconnected lines will connect also increases.