Frequencies of Ashkenazi Y-DNA Clusters by Country

This page sets forth information compiled using FTDNA's Discover Tool concerning the frequencies of Ashkenazi Y-DNA clusters, by country, of the most distant known direct male ancestor reported by each of the Big Y-tested men in any of the Ashkenazi Y-DNA clusters described elsewhere on this website. The information was compiled on April 22, 2023 by using the Discover Tool's Country Frequency page (in Table View) for all of the Ashkenazi Y-DNA clusters identified through the refined analysis performed on this website in December 2022.  

This page posts, in alphabetical order, the percentage of men (total number of men) in the sample set with reported ancestry in the identified country.

Following that, this page posts a chart showing, for the eight countries reported by at least 3 percent of men in the sample set as their ancestral country (by order of percentage of the sampled population, Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, Germany, Russian Federation, Hungary, and Romania), the percentage of men in the sample set with a reported ancestral country from each of the 10 Y-DNA clusters that include at least 50 men in the sample set who have done Big Y testing (in alphabetical order, E-Y14891, E-Y6940, G-BY764, J1-L816, J1-S12192, J2-L556, J2-Z30390, J2-FT69390, Q-Y2198, and R1a-Y2619). (Full country counts for each of these clusters, and the subclusters within these clusters, are posted here.)

Following that, this page posts, in alphabetical order, each country identified as an ancestral country by one or more of the men in any of the Ashkenazi Y-DNA clusters, followed by the percentage of men (total number of men) in each cluster with reported ancestry in the identified country.

The sample set includes 1,890 Big Y-tested men in Ashkenazi Y-DNA clusters who reported an ancestral country. Percentages are calculated by reference to these 1,890 samples. 

The sample set also includes 869 Big Y-tested men in Ashkenazi Y-DNA clusters who did not report an ancestral country.  Those men are not included in the calculation of percentages of Y-DNA clusters by country. 

The data set forth below supports the following conclusions:

1.  With a few exceptions, the frequencies of each of the 10 largest Ashkenazi Y-DNA clusters are about the same in each of the eight most commonly identified ancestral countries. This sample set includes information reported by FTDNA users concerning ancestral countries that would typically date back to the 19th century or the late 18th century. The general lack of significant variation in Y-DNA clusters by countries demonstrates that the Ashkenazi Y-DNA clusters had spread homogeneously throughout the European Jewish population by that time. As a result, the geographic frequency of the reported Y-DNA clusters generally will not be of any use in trying to identify the geographic location at which such clusters entered the European Jewish population (generally about 1,000 to 1,200 years ago).

2.  Further investigation is necessary to determine whether more recent Y-DNA clusters (i.e., subclusters of the 45 major Ashkenazi Y-DNA clusters) show geographic distributions that may be of use in determining where those subclusters may have branched. For example, information concerning the geographic distribution of each subcluster of a major Ashkenazi Y-DNA cluster might provide insight into the place where the cluster began branching; for example, the greater the amount of diversity in clusters in a particular geographic region, the more likely it is that the cluster began branching in that region.

3.  The dataset shows that the reported ancestral countries of Ashkenazi men in FTDNA's database are heavily weighted towards Central and Eastern Europe.  Of the top 10 countries by population, six are in Eastern Europe (Ukraine (17.98%), Lithuania (10.48%), Belarus (9.68%), Russian Federation (5.74%), Romania (3.67%), and Latvia (2.29%)), and four are in Central Europe (Poland (19.52%), Germany (8.99%), Hungary (4.15%), and Czech Republic (2.34%)). Only three countries in the top 20 countries by population are in Europe (England (1.33%), Netherlands (1.01%), and France (0.64%)). The relative lack of samples from Western Europe may result, in part, from: (1) the fact that FTDNA's pool of Y-DNA testers is weighted towards North American, which received a massive influx of Eastern European and Central European Jews in the late 19th century and the early 20th century; (2) the differential effects of the Holocaust on the Jews of different countries; and (3) legal restrictions on DNA testing for genealogical purposes (for example, such testing is illegal in France). 

Reported Countries of Most Distant Known Ancestor on Direct Male Line for All Ashkenazi Y-DNA Clusters

Reported Country No. of Samples Percentage 

Algeria         3 0.16%

Argentina         1 0.05%

Australia         2 0.11%

Austria     26 1.38%

Belarus   183 9.68%

Bolivia 1 0.05%

Bulgaria 5 0.26%

Canada 6 0.32%

Czech Republic     44 2.33%

Egypt 1 0.05%

England     25 1.32%

Estonia 1 0.05%

Finland 1 0.05%

France     12 0.63%

Germany   169 8.94%

Greece 4 0.21%

Hungary     80 4.23%

Iraq 4 0.21%

Ireland 1 0.05%

Israel     41 2.17%

Italy     12 0.63%

Jamaica 1 0.05%

Latvia     43 2.28%

Lithuania   197     10.42%

Mexico     10 0.53%

Moldova     17 0.90%

Morocco 4 0.21%

Netherlands     19 1.01%

Netherlands Antilles 2 0.11%

Northern Ireland 1 0.05%

Norway 1 0.05%

Palestinian Territory 1 0.05%

Poland   367     19.42%

Portugal 3 0.16%

Romania     69 3.65%

Russia (Republic of Chechnya) 1 0.05%

Russian Federation   108 5.71%

Scotland 3 0.16%

Slovakia     26 1.38%

South Africa 1 0.05%

Spain 5 0.26%

Suriname 1 0.05%

Sweden 4 0.21%

Switzerland 1 0.05%

Syrian Arab Republic 1 0.05%

Tunisia 1 0.05%

Turkey     11 0.58%

Ukraine   338     17.88%

United Kingdom 7 0.37%

United States     23 1.22%

Venezuela 1 0.05%

Wales 1 0.05%

Total       1890   100.00%

Unknown Origin   869

Percentages of 10 Largest Ashkenazi Y-DNA Clusters in Eight Countries with the Largest Number of Tested Men

Country-by-Country Data for Each Y-DNA Cluster

Algeria

(0.16% of Men in Ashkenazi Y-DNA Clusters with Reported Countries)

Cluster                               Percentage (Number)  

J1-FGC17481    33.33% (1)

J1-S12192   33.33% (1)

R1a-Y2619   33.33% (1)

Total 100.00% (3)

Cluster                               Percentage (Number)  

G-L201 100.00% (1)

Total 100.00% (1)

Cluster                               Percentage (Number)  

E-Y14891   50.00% (1)

J2-L556    50.00% (1)

Total 100.00% (2)

Cluster                               Percentage (Number)  

E-Y14891     7.69% (2)

E-Y6940  7.69% (2)

E-Z17697 3.85% (1)

G-BY764 7.69% (2)

I-BY424 3.85% (1)

J1-BY101 3.85% (1)

J1-L816      11.54% (3)

J1-S12192     11.54% (3)

J2-FGC21083  3.85% (1)

J2-L556  3.85% (1)

Q-Y2198  3.85% (1)

R1a-Y2619     19.23% (5)

R1b-FGC14600 3.85% (1)

R1b-L4 3.85% (1)

R1b-L408 3.85% (1)

Total   100.00% (26)