Norgesprosjektet Norway DNA is a project within Family Tree DNA.
Everyone with known Norwegian ancestors having tested through FTDNA are welcome members.
If you have tested through MyHeritage, Ancestry or 23andMe you can transfer the test and join.The project is maintained by volunteer administrators who categorize the results, and assist members when needed.
This website aims to present information about DNA-testing both for beginners and more experienced genealogists and testers, mainly in Norwegian, some of the articles being previous published material from journals and magazines.
DNA-tests for genealogy:
- are used as a valuable source in genealogy to verify direct lines in the tree, through control tests of several descendants in a direct paternal line (Y-DNA) or direct maternal line (mtDNA)
- are used to find out about origin before written sources, through anthropology and migration routes
- will usually not reveal anything about health or diseases
- tests are performed through a simple cheek swab (no blood testing)
- should be combined with traditional genealogy to give the best possible results
Norgesprosjektet: The Norway DNA Project
Our goals are:
- gather all Norwegian testers as members
- present overviews of haplogroups in Norway
- present result lists for Y-DNA and mtDNA for Norwegian lines: a genealogical source
- provide connections between genealogy and DNA-testing: DNA as genealogical method
Anyone with a Norwegian background, Norwegian ancestry or living in Norway should be members of this large geographical project. If you have not tested yet, order your new test here: Norway DNA Project Order page to join directly.
By joining you contribute to the knowledge of the haplogroup distribution among Norwegians. Our statistics only show actual members, so it is important that as many as possible of the Norwegian testers join.
It gets easier to collaborate to verify direct paternal and maternal lines. Our public lists of Y-DNA and mtDNA is an important source for genealogy in Norway. The project is thus a large dugnad for Norwegian genealogists to gather as much information as possible about direct paternal and maternal lines!
Project administrators can also be of help with interpretation of results and giving advice both for further genealogy work and what testing is most useful as next step.
Who can join?
If one of these criteria is met, please join (you do not need all three, we will hide the results that are irrelevant):
- If you have done a Y-DNA test: your father’s father’s father’s line, direct paternal line, must originate in Norway.
- If you have done an mtDNA test: your mother’s mother’s mother’s line, the direct maternal line, must originate in Norway
- If you have done a Family Finder test: at least one of your direct ancestors in any line within 10-12 generations must originate in Norway
Anyone who has Norwegian ancestry and tested through FTDNA or Genographic is encouraged to join.
How to join
– if you have already tested with FTDNA (or the Genographic project):
- log in to your FTDNA account with your kit number and password
- click “my FTDNA home”
- click “join projects”
- write “Norway” in the search field
- click the highlighted project name “Norway”
- click “join” at the bottom of the page
- Remember to fill in complete information about your direct paternal/maternal line
Family Tree DNA
FTDNA was the first and is the largest company within genealogical DNA-testing. Launched in 2000, they have the largest databases for both Y-DNA and mtDNA and are market leaders. They offer the most extensive test types: Y-DNA with 111 STR-markers, The Big Y-test with 10 million SNPs, and mtDNA Full Sequence. FTDNA has laboratories in Texas and Arizona. They focus on genealogical testing only, not revealing any health information.
The research project The Genographic Project, a collaboration between National Geographic and IBM (sponsors), has aimed at mapping haplogroup distribution for all the worlds’ peoples, and are being led by Professor Spencer Wells. This has been done through simple 12-marker Y-DNA and HVR1 mtDNA-tests. Genographic also collaborates with FTDNA, who do the actual lab analysis, so Genographic participants can through simple steps transfer their results directly to the FTDNA database ad buy upgrades to discover more. Genographic’s new Geno 2.0 test with a large number of SNPs can also be transferred to FTDNA and the Norway project, and will help decide Y-DNA haplogroup.
FTDNA also collaborates with iGenea (European testing company who re-sells FTDNA tests ) and African DNA, and these tests are also part of the FTDNA database.
One of the benefits with FTDNA and their collaborators is that everyone who tests can join various projects, to learn more about what their results mean. One of these projects is Norway DNA, focused on Norwegian genealogy.
How to join if you tested with Genographic
First you need to transfer the results to FTDNA.
- Log in to Genographic’s webpage with your ID from the test kit
- Find “What more can I do with my results” at the bottom of the page or to the right
- Select to transfer your data to FTDNA for free
- Log in to FTDNA with your kit number (begins with N) and the password you get after transfer, sent to your email
- Consider the introductory offer valid the first two weeks after transfer, where you can upgrade to a more extensive test for better matches and more detailed results
How to find Norway DNA:
- log in to your FTDNA account with your kit number and password
- write “Norway” in the search field for projects
- click the highlighted project name “Norway” – and then “join” at the bottom of the page
What if I tested through another company?
You can add your data to Ysearch and mitosearch which are open databases for anyone, free, and owned by FTDNA. This can be done with Y-DNA and mtDNA tests from other labs.
Transfer for free from Ancestry or 23andMe
Transfer Y-DNA
Y-DNA tests from companies who used the Sorenson laboratory can also for a low fee transfer their results to FTDNA and then join the project. You can choose to only transfer the tested markers, or purchase the missing markers of the FTNDA panels that are not tested by Sorenson, in order to be able to get matches in the FTDNA-data base.
This is possible for men previously tested via:
- Sorenson SMGF
- Ancestry.com (NB: Y- and mtDNA-tests here will be discontinued 2014)
- GeneTree
- DNA Heritage (aquired by FTDNA 19. April 2011 and results transferred)
If you tested with other companies and wish to do more extensive testing at FTDNA, you can get a discount on new testing via a discount form (pdf-file). This is for those people previously tested by:
- Relative Genetics
- Oxford Ancestors
- Genebase
Norwegian Paternal Lines
Norway DNA has a public mtDNA result list where names, years and places for the earliest known ancestor in the direct paternal lines (through men only) are listed with the Y-haplogroup and STR-markers. Names of the actual testers are not listed, privacy is well taken care of. The list can be found here.
Our recommendation is to look through the list and check for familiar names and places from your own genealogy research, to consider possibilities of verification tests from common lines. Project administrators will assist in contacting other testers maintaining privacy rules. We can forward emails addressed to specific kit numbers.
Norwegian Maternal Lines
Norway DNA has a public mtDNA result list where names, years and places for the earliest known ancestor in the direct maternal lines (through women only) are listed with the mt-haplogroup and HVR1 + HVR2-markers. Coding Region-values for those who have the Full Sequence FMS is not listed. Neither are the names of the actual testers, privacy is well taken care of. The list is found here.
Our recommendation is to look through the list and check for familiar names and places from your own family tree, and consider possibilities of verification tests from common lines.
Other Projects
It is strongly recommended to also join all relevant haplogroup projects, based on the results of the tests done. For links, see the haplogroup pages (Norwegian version) or our FTDNA page.
As a FTDNA-member you can join as many projects as you wish, and there are many more to choose from depending on your ancestry.
