The Dutch are a unique people. They may speak a Germanic language, but a y-Chromosome haplogroup chart of Europe shows them having a distinct high concentration of R1b (similar to the British/Irish Isles and the Iberian peninsula.) It is my conjecture that they were also western European aboriginals, that were pushed into the marshes of Holland by the R1a German tribes of late prehistory. Like the majority of Britons today, the Dutch took on the Germanic language of their overlords. This does create some haziness to the genetic makeup of the Anglo-Saxons who are often only identified as R1a. Many of the Anglo-Saxon invaders are believed to have set off from these coastal marshlands of Holland, Flanders, and the Netherlands. No doubt many acculturated R1b's could have been part of it. That may be why researchers are astounded by the relative low density of the R1a in England. I would be interested in knowing the popularity of the name William was among ethnic Anglo-Saxons, after the invasion of England by William, the Norman Conquerer in 1066. Last names did not become popular to after the 1300's in England. According to reports the popularity of the given name in England skyrocketed after the Norman invasion. So perhaps, if your surname is Williams and you tested as a R1a, your paternal lineage may not come from the Anglo-Saxons. Instead you may be from the Normans, who were Vikings that settled in Normandy, that took French speaking wives. That is also why we don't write in Old English (an German dialect) but modern English which is a blend (Creole, so to speak) with Norman French. I know I am off on a tangent regarding Williams DNA, but it is important to know the complexities and try to understand the big picture of where our ancestors originated. Although my direct paternal line is R1b, like anyone from Britania-Hibernia isles and America, we are a blend of many origins. (And I too am a descendant of a mulatto woman, a child of a Quaker plantation owner. He raised her as his daughter and that line faded into white, just like some of the descendants of Thomas Jefferson's family. I think it was more common than is recognized. Literally thousands of white Americans are descendants of blacks and do not know it. That line of my family was from Maryland, was Anglo-Norman and not ancestral to my Welsh Williams line. However one of my Williams cousins did marry a black Williams, and they have been together for many years now, raising a fine daughter.) --Scott Williams -----Original Message----- >From: williams-dna-request@rootsweb.com >Sent: Mar 29, 2008 3:02 AM >To: williams-dna@rootsweb.com >Subject: WILLIAMS-DNA Digest, Vol 3, Issue 13 >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Diana Williams" <dianaindallas@sbcglobal.net> >To: <williams-dna@rootsweb.com> >Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2008 4:08 PM >Subject: Re: [WILLIAMS-DNA] Boe - any dates ?? > > >> This post was extremely well put. You gave true history that is rarely >mentioned. >> Diana >> >> Boe Williams <ccshoes@bellsouth.net> wrote: I didn't mean to imply that >the Germans from Germany were there. The native >> Dutch were Germanic ( Teutonic) people. The native Dutch mixed with the