Every Hawley family has a story. Y-DNA testing can help us discover where those stories connect and where they follow separate paternal paths.
The Society of the Hawley Family proudly sponsors the Hawley Surname Project at FamilyTreeDNA. By bringing together Y-DNA results from Hawley families and related surname variations, the project is helping to build a clearer picture of our paternal history.
2026 Hawley Society Reunion — Y-DNA Presentation
At the October 2026 Hawley Society Reunion in New Haven, Connecticut, Pam Hawley Marlin, an administrator of the Hawley Surname DNA Project, presented an overview of how Y-DNA testing is helping us explore Hawley paternal ancestry.
The presentation covers the differences between STR and SNP testing, recent discoveries through Big Y-700 testing, and how additional testers can help identify connections between Hawley family branches.
Presentation Resources:
As more Hawley men participate in Y-DNA testing, we hope to uncover additional connections and refine our understanding of the family’s paternal history for future presentations.
What Is a FamilyTreeDNA Y-DNA Test?
Y-DNA is found on the Y chromosome and is passed from father to son along the direct paternal line, usually the same line along which a surname is passed. A FamilyTreeDNA Y-DNA test examines this particular line of ancestry.
The test is easy to take at home: the participant swabs the inside of the mouth and returns the samples to FamilyTreeDNA for analysis. No blood draw is required. Unlike autosomal DNA tests from companies such as AncestryDNA, which explore many branches of a family, Y-DNA focuses specifically on the direct paternal line.
Who Can Participate?
A Y-DNA test must be taken by a man descended from a Hawley through an unbroken father-to-son line.The participant may carry the Hawley surname or a variation of it, but what matters most is the direct paternal connection.
If you cannot test yourself, you can still help by identifying an eligible man in your family, such as a grandfather, father, brother, uncle, or male cousin descended through the same father-to-son line.
What Can Standard Y-DNA Help Us Learn?
Standard Y-DNA tests, such as Y-37 and Y-111, compare a selected number of STRs (short tandem repeats). STRs generally change more frequently than SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms), making them especially useful for studying relationships within the genealogical timeframe, the generations that can often be traced through historical records.
Standard Y-DNA can help us:
- Discover possible paternal relatives.
- Compare how closely two men match by examining their genetic distance.
- Estimate the likelihood that two men shared a paternal ancestor within a certain number of generations.
Standard tests are a valuable starting point. They can suggest that two men share a paternal ancestor, but they generally cannot identify the precise family branch or show exactly how related lines are separated.
Why Do We Recommend the Big Y-700?
The Big Y-700 test from FamilyTreeDNA includes the STR testing used for standard Y-DNA comparisons, but it also examines SNPs. SNPs occur less frequently and remain stable across many generations, allowing them to define paternal branches ranging from ancient origins to more recent family lines.
The Big Y-700 can help us:
- Trace a direct paternal line from ancient origins to increasingly specific branches on the Y-DNA Haplotree.
- Identify SNPs that may define distinct Hawley paternal branches and clarify how those branches are related.
- Estimate when related lines separated and when their most recent common paternal ancestor lived.
- Refine the Hawley Y-DNA tree as additional men test and new branches are discovered.
In simple terms, standard Y-DNA can help identify likely paternal matches. Big Y can help show where those matches belong on the paternal tree and how their family lines are connected.
Help Us Build a Clearer Picture of the Hawley Family
The more Hawley lines represented in the project, the more we can learn about our shared and separate paternal histories. If your particular Hawley branch is not yet represented, your results could add an important new piece to the project.
If you have already taken a Y-DNA test at FamilyTreeDNA, you can join the project using your existing results. Depending on your current test, you may also be able to upgrade to the Big Y-700.
Our Hawley story is still being written, and your family may hold an important piece of it.