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This project is a meeting place for users who share the R-S11556 Y-DNA haplogroup, which means they are related along their paternal lines. Users in this group may want to share their family trees with each other to find overlaps and merge duplicate profiles in order to join or expand the World Family Tree and discover new relatives.
R-S11556
It is suspected that the dispersion of S11556 is tied to Viking (likely Danish Viking) DNA. This theory continues to gain momentum as more samples test positive for Z251 and because of the locations where s11556 is found and the history of the associated surnames tied to s11556.
From the Z251 forum at ftdna forum, as well as ytree.net, the distribution of S11556 currently includes the following locations: England (Lewis, Rickwood, Churchman, Herrington), Cornwall (Millet), Ireland (Hopkins, Jack), Scotland (McCall, Dew/Dubh, McDonald, Crawford, Wright), Russia (Pegalis), Poland (Bloom), Latvia (Kabo), Lithuania (Prago), and Belaruse (Yurditzky, Burde).
According to most surname databases, the origin of a number of these surnames names are historically tied to Normandy France (Gray, Lewis, Rickwood, Churchman, Millet, Brock). The Vikings who settled Normandy France are said to have been Danish Vikings. The Grays of England trace directly back to Rollo the "Dane" Duke of Normandy.
In Scotland, the Clan McDonald originated from Somerled who is said to have been from a Norse-Gaelic (a/k/a Hiberno-Norse/Irish Norse/Foreign Gaels) family. The Norse-Gaels expansion through England and Ireland trace back to the Hebrides (Innse Gall-Islands of Foreigners). A number of the samples tie directly back to Caithness Scotland (Brock, McCall) which, along with Orkney and Shetland, was an outpost for Vikings.
In Ireland, the Vikings were broken into two groups, the Finn-Gaill (the Norwegian Vikings) and Dubh-Gaill (the Danish Vikings). The word Dew in Gaelic is "Dubh" possibly indicating that the surname Dew is of Danish Viking descent. While it is very possible that the samples from Russia, Poland, and the Baltics may have been in those areas prior to the Viking Age, it is also possible that the samples in these areas are tied to Viking incursions.
The Varangians were Vikings that ruled the state of Rus and formed the Byzantine Varangian Guard. The Varangians went south from Scandinavia through the Baltic Sea into the various river systems that lead into the Baltics and Russia, to include the Volga trade routes. In 860 a Swedish Viking tribe migrated south into what is now Kiev, Ukraine and founded the Rus Khanate which then formed Kievan Rus. Interestingly, there are now two Z251 samples apparently originating from Sweden (Olofsson, Johnsson).
The tie to Cornwall possibly comes from Normandy France or may relate to the Cornish historic alliance with Danish Vikings to defend against Anglo-Saxons. This may explain the Tresise sample of Cornwall that remains ungrouped. While Haplogroup I is prominent in Scandinavia, there is also a clear presence of R1b. Given that L21 is associated with Gaelic culture, the Northern presence of z251 suggests that Z251 is likely tied to a Northern Gaelic tribe.
Among the possible candidates is the Cimbri, who occupied the Jutland Peninsula of Denmark. Helping to support the Cimbri theory is that the FGC13899 subset of z251 has a strong presence in Wales. The Cimbri are sometimes associated with the Welsh aka, the "Cymry." The Cimbri are also said to have moved into Belgic Gaul. The ungrouped samples includes at least one sample from Belgium (Temmerman).