Cotton DNA Introductory Information

webpage created for cottondna.family.nf by

Jack Lane, a Genealogist with Cotton Ancestry

There are perhaps millions of Cottons and Cottens that are living, or have lived, in the world. Their exact relationships have been lost through the ages.There is an excellent possibility that all Cotton's are interconnected and there is a way to find out. The method is through DNA testing of the Y Chromosomes in males!

There is a world-wide Society of genealogists whose objective is to research, gather and compile BMD records of many different surnames, throughout the world. It is called "Guild of One-Name Studies"  or GOONS for short. One member #1437, is concerned with the COTTON surname and has created a One Name Study (ONS). 

The GOONS member responsible for tracking the family name COTTON is Ross G.H. Cotton  of Burlington, ON Canada. His Genealogy Web Page is at www.skylinc.net/~rgcotton.  He can be contacted at rgcotton@skylinc.net or (905) 639-2929 or 667 George St, Burlington, ON, L7R 2V8, Canada. Ross can trace his Cotton lineage back to 1611 Shrewsbury, SAL, England and has hundreds of other Cotton/Cotten families on his computer.

A natural evolution from collecting such data is to move into DNA testing of families. So he teamed up with Hikaru Kitabayashi of Japan, who was born a Cotton in USA, to bring together interested and related family members; a group, separate from GOONS. The Coordinator for the Cotton Family DNA project is Ross G.H. Cotton. Their website is http://cottonDNA.family.nf/

It involves DNA testing of various living Cotton males throughout the world, to attempt to trace various known families. The objective is to make a connection between the tested individuals so genealogical relationships can be determined.

Ross sends out a newsletter to the participants of the Cotton Family DNA Project to update them on what is happening. It is sent to the people who are listed on the WebSite as already tested, and to other interested persons who are at various stages of having their tests done, and others that have indicated interest in being tested or of supporting the endeavor. 

Tests are performed by Relative Genetics (http://www.relativegenetics.com) and/or Family Tree DNA (http://www.familytreedna.com), costing about $200 each and consisting of a simple swab taken from the mouth with no need to use needles or to take a blood sample.

One recent test was on the Viscount Combermere of London England: Thomas Robert Wellington Stapleton-Cotton, born 1969. His test already provides a link to two other Cotton lineages (one of which is Ross Cotton’s), and, it is to be hoped, eventually to others in different parts of the world. His ancestors can be traced back through many generations to Sir Hugo deCotton of SAL ENG of 1312, to the 1100's, per Debrett’s books of Peerage. 

More than 20 people are currently involved. 17 have been tested (as of December 5, 2004). Other Cottons from the USA, AUS, CAN, ENG and IRL are considering the test. Many are interested, but for some reason or other have not made up their mind, in some cases because of the cost of testing or, in other cases, because they remained to be convinced of the test’s utility. The Cotten Family of Atlanta Georgia does not have any Cotten males still living; however they did contribute financially with regard to the Viscount’s test.

Theories of DNA testing are not common everyday items, just usually what is seen on TV CSI dramas, etc. They talk of testing to values of 27 or 37 Markers.  And it is only for men and their Y-chromosomes. The following info from “Relative Genetics” explains how DNA tests allow two men to determine if they share a common paternal ancestor, though what applies for Relative Genetics would also apply for Family Tree DNA.

The Y chromosome (Ycs) test is used to establish the genetic profile (haplotype) of deceased ancestors. The Ycs is passed largely unchanged from father to son. This Ycs inheritance pattern follows the passing of the surname common to many cultures; therefore, the Ycs is useful in discovering clues along one’s paternal line.

The male Y chromosome is an incredibly powerful tool to help genealogists trace their paternal lineage. By testing living individuals of a common male ancestor, clues can be discovered about the distance in generations that may exist between those individuals. Relative Genetics analyzes 15-37 specific locations (Markers) of the Y chromosome. This information helps identify closest relatives and establish the approximate distance or time to the MRCA.

MRCA stands for Most Recent Common Ancestor and it refers to a statistical calculation that determines the likely generation in which two individuals share a common ancestor. The MRCA is often reported with a 95% Confidence Interval. The MRCA number itself is the generation in which it is 50% likely that two individuals are related. The 95% Confidence interval then gives you a range of generation values that encompass 95% of all possibilities. For example, for two individuals sharing 23 of 24 alleles tested the MRCA is 11.9 generations with a 95% confidence interval of 1.7 to 39.5 generations. MLE is the Maximum Likelihood estimate and is actually the most likely generation in which two people are related. In the case of a 23 of 24 match the MLE is 7 generations.

How Many Markers?

15 marker tests determine if branches can be eliminated from a family tree.

24 marker tests are to determine relatedness to a specific individual(s) or family line(s), by eliminating relationships.

37 marker tests further define clusterings within a family group, to distinguish lineages within a family group.

Most of the Cotton DNA tests are being checked to 37 Markers.

NUMBERING: The test subjects are grouped according to “haplotype” sets with each set being given a letter of the alphabet to distinguish it from the others. “Haplotype” sets may be generally thought of as extended families to which one or more lineages whose reported y-chromosome markers have a more or less exact correspondence. Within each haplotype set, each lineage is assigned a number according to the order of participation in this project.

In the results table to be found on the top page of this website, the first column lists the names of the markers measured. The second and succeeding columns are the haplotypes of each individual, listed to the extent each person has been tested.