The Athey/Athens/Athy and related surnames y-chromosome project is under way. As you know, the y-chromosome is passed down from father to son, just as surnames usually are. Every one of your male Athey/Atha/Athy ancestors would have the same identical y-chromosome, except for relatively rare mutations. Therefore, testing of the Y-chromosome can confirm that distant cousins of the same surname have the same common patrilineal ancestor. This project seeks to test the hypothesis that all males of the Athey/Athens surname are descendants of the historical figure, Gerard de Athee, a protege of King John in the early 13th century. Please join the project and participate. The sample is taken with a cheek swab with a cotton swab. More information can be obtained from the project web site, where you can also follow the progress of the project.

Here is a link to the web site for the Athey Surname Y-Chromosome Project

http://home.comcast.net/~whitathey/index.htm

To participate, go to the following link, scroll to the bottom and fill out the form:

http://www.familytreedna.com/surname_join.asp?code=L17820&am...