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With rare exceptions, every human being has exactly 46 chromosomes, which are made of DNA. These chromosomes determine a person’s inherited traits. Eye color, height, the shape of your hairline – it’s all there somewhere.

In all but two of these chromosomes, the DNA from both parents is blended together thoroughly to form something completely new. But one pair of chromosomes works differently. That pair’s sole function is to determine the sex of the individual. The chromosome the mother contributes to that pair always has the value of X. The father, though, can contribute either another X chromosome or a Y chromosome. If it’s an X, the child will be female; If it’s a Y, the child will be male. Therefore, the Y chromosome’s route is very easy to follow: it goes from father to son to son to son and so on.

This “yDNA” is passed from father to son over hundreds of years (and even thousands of years) with little or no change. Because surnames in Western cultures are historically inherited from father to son and follow the direct male line, yDNA “traces” the surname in a fashion that is ideal for genealogy. Tracing the slight changes allow researchers to determine the “genetic distance” between two individuals.

To examine and explore these changes and similarities, yDNA tests generally look at pairings on a number of sites on the DNA. If the men in question have yDNA sequences that are identical or very close, one can estimate the probabilities that their common ancestor lived within a given number of generations. For example, if two identically surnamed men should match perfectly on 23 or more markers from a 25-marker DNA test, then one could have a high degree of confidence that their common male ancestor lived within the last few hundred years. FTDNA offers 12, 25, 37 or 67 marker tests. The greater the number of markers tested, the greater the accuracy of estimating genetic distance.

The Claiborne / Clyburn / Claybourn / Clayborn Surname Y-chromosome DNA Study is a volunteer genealogical activity, whose main aim is to encourage and support DNA analysis for tracing the applicable families and for discovering relationships among these families, including families whose names are variants of them. The project was organized and coordinated by Alex Wadlrop Johnathan Clayborn of The National Society of the Claiborne Family Descendants using Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) of Houston, Texas.

The DNA study looked at different families using the surname to determine which, if any, of these families share a direct male line ancestor. The families were categorized this way:

  1. The descendants of William Claiborne of Virginia, son of Thomas Cleyborne of King’s Lynn, County Norfolk, England.
  2. The descendants of the Westmorland family of Cliburn Hall in England (our family).
  3. Descendants of Edward Cleiborne.
  4. Clibborn of Moate.
  5. A control family without a Claiborne-like surname.
  6. The descendants of Nathaniel Britton Claborn / Cliborn (1803-1902) born in South Carolina and later moved to Alabama.

Our family is in Haplogroup R-M269 (also haplogroup R1b1b2 and R1b1a2), matching the Westmorland Haplotype close enough to establish direct male descent from the second grouping above. Thus, we know with certainty that our shared common male ancestor originated from the Cliburn Hall area at Westmorland County in northern England (Westmorland is now part of Cumbria). Click here to read the January 2022 DNA report.

In addition to confirming Joshua’s ancestral origins in Westmorland, the tests indicated that John Cliborn of Dale Parish, Chesterfield County, Virginia (known as John of Dale Parish), who lived from about 1712 to 1766, also originated from the same family in Westmorland and likely shared a common ancestor with Joshua Clyburn. Based on the genetic yDNA differences, Alex Waldrop estimated that Joshua and John’s shared ancestor likely lived in the 1500s or 1600s, and thus the two families branched out around that time. The study also revealed that William Claiborne, the famous Secretary of Virginia who lived from about 1600 to about 1677, is not related to Joshua Clyburn and thus did not originate out of Westmorland, as was once assumed.

The actual allele values for 37 locations on the Y chromosome of one Joshua Clyburn descendant donor are listed below. These results are compared to other individuals to see how closely or distantly they may have shared a common ancestor. The rate of mutational change varies for each one of the markers. Click here for an explanation of the 37 markers below (pdf).

PANEL 1 (1-12)
Locus
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
DYS#
393
390
19*
391
385a
385b
426
388
439
389-1
392
389-2

Alleles
13
23
14
11
10
14
12
12
12
13
13
29
PANEL 2 (13-25)
Locus
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
DYS#
458
459a
459b
455
454
447
437
448
449
464a
464b
464c
464d
Alleles
17
9
9
11
11
24
15
19
30
15
16
18
19
PANEL 3 (26-37)
Locus
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
DYS#
460
GATA H4
YCA II a
YCA II b
456
607
576
570
CDYa
CDYb
442
438
Alleles
12
10
20
21
17
15
17
17
34
38
13
12

* Also known as DYS 394

If you are interested in participating in the DNA Study, please contact us and we will forward your name and contact information on to Dr. Waldrop.