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Surname DNA testing is the newest tool available to genealogists. These tests help genealogists verify their paternal ancestry (father's father) in a quick and easy way. It saves time, prevents mistakes, and provides invaluable data that can be obtained in no other way.

The goal of the Kingston DNA Project is to identify the various family lines and possibly find links between them. DNA testing of the male Y-chromosome is the means by which family lines and relationships will be verified in conjunction with any corresponding genealogical documentation.

The phrase Cyninges-tun means King’s manor. Several geographical locations in England were named after these royal settlements. The surname de Cyninges-tun (later Kingston) would subsequently have been adopted by some families from these locations, most likely after they had moved away. The Kingston surname has probably been adopted independently by unrelated families from different locations with this name. In "Blood of the Isles" Bryan Sykes writes that a strictly enforced feudal system was instigated all over England after the Norman conquest whereby estates insisted that surnames be adopted so that inheritence of land tenancies from father to son could be properly controlled, which resulted in practically everyone in England having a surname by the end of the thirteenth century.

Most, if not all, Kingston families originated in England. During the Munster and Cromwellian plantations of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the name began to appear in Ireland. This was predominantly in the West Cork area, where land was taken from the native Irish and given to English planters. The most significant Kingston settlements in Ireland historically have been in the West Cork villages of Timoleague and Drimoleague, thirty miles apart. “The Origins of Co. Cork Kingstons” by A. Richard Kingston, published in the Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, Volume LXXXVI, 1981, offers the most in-depth published study of Co. Cork Kingstons. The author documents four generations of descent from a Colonel Samuel Kingston (died 1703) and concludes that many, if not most, Irish Kingstons may descend from him. However, a definite link between the Kingstons of Timoleague and Drimoleague has not been made.

The lack of surviving records makes linking to Colonel Samuel Kingston impossible for most Kingstons of Irish descent. However, Y-chromosome analysis may offer the solution. Furthermore, comparison of results with Kingstons in England offers the best chance of discovering where in England these planters originated from. Y-chromosome analysis of Kingston families who never left England will provide an anchor for all other Kingstons, and hopefully enable us to build an understanding of the very earliest origins of the surname. Kingstons can now be found all over the world, and Y-chromosome analysis may hold many answers for these families.

This DNA Project will:

1. Help researchers work together to find their common heritage (See the Patriarch Page)

2. Identify the DNA of families and compile them into distinct genetic lineages through DNA matches

Link to the Kingston DNA Project Family Tree DNA Website

Click here to order a DNA test now

For basic information, visit World Families Network and check out the "Getting Started" block

Information and data obtained from the Kingston DNA Project must be attributed to the project, administrator, and Family Tree DNA as outlined in the Creative Commons License. Please notify administrator when using data for public or private research.

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