Genetic Chandler Families

Chandler, an occupational surname, was originally used to denote men working as candle makers in various townships across England. As a result, people named Chandler in the different locations probably were not related to each other.

Today, the Chandler One-Name Study estimates there are about 150 genetically distinct Chandler lines distributed around the world. The Chandler DNA Project has identified more than 50 distinct DNA "fingerprints" (haplotypes). As more and more Chandlers from around the world participate in the project, identification of the remaining lines will continue in an ongoing, gradual process.

Each of the genetic lines identified to date (shown below) has a common ancestor who lived sometime in the last 650 or so years. Click on the underlined family number to see more detailed information. (Please note: This group of pages is a work in progress. The number of clickable links below will grow as more genetic family stories are collected.) If the common ancestor between two or more members of the same genetic family has not yet been found, the earliest known ancestor of each member is shown. Read more about the reasoning and the process that led us to tackle this ambitious project in a message from CFA President Dick Chandler.

Participation in the Chandler DNA Project may help your research. This is especially true if your family tree contains one of the Earliest Known Ancestors or a Chandler ancestor who lived in a similar place and time. To participate in the project, sign up here. We recommend the Y-37 test, which provides greater accuracy and is less expensive than starting with 12 or 25 markers and upgrading later. If you have questions, or want more information about DNA genetic testing, contact the project administrators via .

If you do not have an email program installed on your computer (perhaps you use one of the online email services like Yahoo or Gmail), you will need to type the address into your message. In that case, please include "Contact genetic Chandler family representative" as the subject. Be sure to include the family's number as shown below in your message.