Doucet DNA

When Keith Doucet initially elected to have his Y DNA tested with Family Tree DNA as a member of the Amerindian Ancestry out of Acadia Project in the summer of 2008, he was interested in comparing his results with others that had been published for the Doucet surname. A Y-DNA surname study is a great way to locate family members and Keith was looking to do the same, along with discovering new information about his own paternal-line ancestry.

After completing his test, Keith Doucet returned his kit to Family Tree DNA and awaited a result that he was certain would compare closely to the others that had been published, which were, without exception, showing expected Western European origins. He had researched his family lines carefully, following a paper trail that traced his genealogy from the heart of Cajun Country, Louisiana, to an early Acadian settlement in 17th-century Port Royal, Nova Scotia. Keith's Doucet surname features strongly not only in the Cajun family lines of Louisiana, but in the history of Nova Scotia – and the Doucet name can be found on the street names, mailboxes, business names, and names of towns throughout present-day Nova Scotia.

However, the results Keith received in early February of 2009 did not match his expectations – nor did they match the Doucet/Doucette Y DNA test results published in other surname studies. Instead, his results were shown to be of the “C3” Y DNA haplogroup, following a refinement by Family Tree DNA of his initial haplogroup “C” finding. Keith was now in a quandary. His genealogy had been verified several times over in the records; his immediate family included generations of living Doucets, who testified to his parentage. Grave markers, marriage and baptismal records, and meticulously maintained family genealogies added up to a Doucet lineage that neither he, nor his family, questioned. During the year that followed, Keith researched his DNA test results, noting the C3b haplogroup matches that appeared in his Family Tree DNA project profile described a Native American ancestry. He read the published research regarding the wide-ranging C3 haplogroup and the various subtypes that would distinguish his paternal origins. He joined the C/C3 Family Tree DNA haplogroup study and compared his results with others that had been compiled – going as far as to posit that his haplogroup may have been of a Mongolian origin, an idea that he put aside when he was not able to match his results with Genghis Khan's. Questions poured in from project members, genealogists, and family relations alike. Was he sure that he was a Doucet? Was his C haplogroup a valid type? Did he really suspect that his ancestor's surname, Doucet, could have been held by a Native American?

To all questions, Keith answered, “yes,” standing behind his results, his documented lineage and his historic family name – a name that his father had passed to him along with his deep-rooted Cajun ancestry.

As stated earlier, Keith had observed that the C3b result, which pointed to a confirmed Native American heritage, appeared in his list of matches. In January of 2010, the Amerindian Ancestry out of Acadia Family Tree DNA project sponsored the additional Family Tree DNA deep subclade tests for Keith and two other project members, whose C3 Y DNA test results, and matches, indicated a Native American heritage. At the same time that Keith Doucet pursued his quest, other project members were seeking the same information about their own surprising C3 results, and when Keith's subclade tests results arrived in February of 2010, his were the second in the project to resolve to this same, published C3b (P39) subclade. And so, his heritage tested, Keith is now assured of his Native American ancestry through his father's paternal family line and has engaged other direct family members in testing as well.*

Keith Doucet publishes the following paternal line information and invites Doucets whose paternal line ancestries compare to his to have their Y DNA tested:

Germain Doucet + Marie Landry
Laurent Doucet + Jeanne Babin
Laurent Doucet + Marie Pellerin
Michel Doucet + Marguerite Martin
Joseph Doucet dit Hilaire + Anne Landry
Joseph Doucet + Celeste Bellard
Joseph Doucet + Carmelite Richard
Charles Doucet + Caroline LeBleu
Gregoire Doucet + Amelie Lejeune
Laurent Doucet + Lesimaine Lejeune
Leonce Doucet + Ada Opry
Floyd Doucet + Ann Arledge
Keith Doucet

To order your kit, please visit the Acadian Amerindian Ancestry Family Tree DNA project.

Confirmed C3b Y DNA Test Results Test the Heritage of Cajun Cousin Keith Doucet

...by Marie Rundquist with Keith Doucet

Update 7/25/2022: Announcing the Family Tree DNA Discovery tool, now in beta-test, and findings for the C-Z30754 branch, and downstream subclades, unique to male, father-line descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641.

Combining inputs from the Family Tree DNA Y-DNA database, ancient DNA, the Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor (TMRCA) algorithm, Dr. Carlos Quiles' research, the work of phylogeneticist Michael Saeger, population genetic studies worldwide, Family Tree DNA group projects, the Genographic Project, and the community, the Discover tool, trademarked by Family Tree DNA, references a target haplogroup label; e.g., C-P39 or other, which the user may search using a query form (see https://discover.familytreedna.com/).

The Family Tree DNA Discover tool (amazingly) projects the timeframes for the date of birth of an earliest known patrilineal ancestor, traced from father-to-father, who belonged to that same haplogroup and the tens of thousands of years that may have elapsed between upstream and downstream branches of his line.

For example, the Discovery tool estimates that the first ancestor who belonged to Haplogroup C-Z30754 would have been born approximately 400 years ago (check!) Then, it provides estimated timeframes between intervening Big Y 700 branches, defined by leading SNPs (or markers) that separate C-Z30754 from the root, C-P39 Y DNA haplogroup that is estimated to have branched off from its parent subclade, some 11,000 years ago, plus or minus 2,100 years.

Explore the features, referencing haplogroup C-Z30754, the signature, Big Y 700 DNA haplogroup attained for the descendants of Germain Doucet b.1641. Click: https://discover.familytreedna.com/y-dna/C-Z30754/story

Update 12/14/2021: A new subclade of the C-Z30754 branch has been identified through Big Y DNA testing: C-BY92312. The C-BY92312 branch is one-step down from the C-BY101109 branch (identified in update 07/12/2021) which in turn is one step down from the Z30754 branch (a subclade of the C-P39 haplogroup). At this time, the new subclade, C-BY92312, is unique to descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641 through his son, Laurent. Members of the C-BY92312 subclade will appear as Y chromosome DNA matches to other men descending from Germain Doucet b. 1641 and will test positive for the C-P39+ SNP and the C-Z30754+ SNP.

A new subclade, C-BY56288, has also been identified for men belonging to C-P39 Y DNA haplogroup subclades, whose origins trace to the American Southwest.

Update 07/12/2021: A new subclade of the C-Z30754 branch has been identified through Big Y DNA testing: C-BY101109. This branch is one-step down from the C-Z30754 branch (a subclade of the C-P39 haplogroup)

and is unique to descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641. Members of the C-BY101109 subclade will appear

as Y chromosome DNA matches to other men descending from Germain Doucet b. 1641 and will test positive for the C-P39+ SNP and the C-Z30754+ SNP.

Update 05/06/2019: The C-Z30754 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), or genetic marker, has been identified as unique to male, patrilineal (father to father) descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641 through advanced Y DNA testing. Y chromosome DNA is inherited through patrilineal line of descent and is passed, from one generation to the next, virtually unchanged, from father to father. Y chromosome DNA tests are separate test from autosomal DNA tests and are for males only. The C-Z30754 marker also identifies a new subclade of the C-P39 Y DNA haplogroup to which male descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641 belong. Male descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641 who have had advanced Y DNA test will show this marker in their results.

Update 08/04/2018: Visit the Family Tree DNA C-P39 Y DNA Project site for up to date results: https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/ydna-c-p39/about/background

Update 9/7/2017: Through exhaustive Y Chromosome DNA testing of numerous male, paternal line Doucet / Doucette descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641, who was from Port Royal, Nova Scotia, Canada, our Acadian-Amerindian and C-P39 Y DNA projects have uncovered, validated, and then verified a Native American Y Chromosome DNA haplogroup signature (originally referred to as haplogroup C3b and now referred to as haplogroup C-P39) for his descendants– through sons Charles, Claude and Laurent.

The discovery of a Native signature for descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641 by our projects (the first descendant of this line having tested with the Acadian-Amerindian DNA project in the Summer of 2008) had great significance for the descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641 because the Native Y DNA signature attained for this line (1) disproved a European ancestry for Germain Doucet b. 1641, (2) disproved a father-son relationship between Germain Doucet b. 1641 and Germain Doucet Sr. of France and (3) disproved that Pierre Doucet (b. ca 1621) and Germain Doucet (b. 1641) were blood brothers having descended from the same father.

Having the Native Y DNA haplogroup signature for this line also helped correct errors that have since been discovered in genealogies for Doucet men who were thought (at one time) to have descended from Germain Doucet b. 1641, but, through Y DNA testing, were discovered to have descended from Pierre. As a result of this finding, Doucet descendants question the relationships of individuals once thought to be the offspring of Germain Doucet Sr. of France as well.

References for Native, Y chromosome DNA findings for descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641 are here:

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Click to download "C3b Y Chromosome DNA Test Results Point to Native American Deep Ancestry, Relatedness, among United States and Canadian Study Participants by Marie Rundquist," August, 2012.

Update 8/9/2022: Brian Doucet of Nova Scotia, descendant of Germain Doucet b. 1641 through son Claude, adds his line to the "Doucet DNA" story.

Brian Doucet of Nova Scotia Canada has participated in the C-P39 Haplogroup and the Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA Projects since 2011. Following Keith Doucet's earliest, confirmed Y DNA test results, in 2008, which first revealed a Native American haplogroup for descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641 through son Laurent, (see Confirmed C3b Y DNA Test Results Test the Heritage of Cajun Cousin Keith Doucet), Brian, who traces his lineage to Germain Doucet b. 1641 through son Claude, was among the first of the Doucet men from Nova Scotia to participate in the Germain Doucet b. 1641 Y DNA study.

The early days of Y DNA testing to prove the Native American lineage of Germain Doucet b. 1641 were interesting times, to say the least. In 2011, when Brian had his Y DNA test

along with other Doucet men, genealogists were only just beginning to discover the benefits of Y DNA testing to research a surname line and few in the field knew much about it. In 2011, even fewer comprehended how it was possible that a hidden Native American lineage for Germain Doucet b. 1641 had been uncovered through Y DNA testing! After all, it was (at the time) "settled genealogy" that he descended from Germain Doucet, Sieur de La Verdure of France, right?

Certain genealogists did, however, understand the implications of the then-controversial Y DNA findings for male descendants of the Germain Doucet b. 1641 line. One genealogist in particular, Paul Tufts, of Nova Scotia, who has an extensive background in the biological sciences, was instrumental in getting the word out about the Germain Doucet b. 1641 Y chromosome DNA study. During those early days of Y chromosome DNA testing to prove the Native American origins of this line, Paul would meet face-to-face with male descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641 (who were, after all, friends and neighbors!) and he told them about the project, answered their questions, and convinced them to have the tests.

Brian was among the first of the Doucet men in Nova Scotia to volunteer to have his Y DNA tested, and to share his results. Brian wondered if his Y DNA test results would show that he too belonged to what was then called the C3b haplogroup (now called C-P39), as did other Doucet men who traced their patrilines, from father-to-father, to Germain Doucet b. 1641. Brian's Y DNA test results, and his close, Y chromosome DNA matches with other Doucet men, who traced their lines to the same common ancestor, Germain Doucet b. 1641, proved that he did. Brian has since had additional testing that qualified his membership in the C-P39 Y DNA haplogroup, as have other men who trace their patrilines, from father-to-father, to Germain Doucet b. 1641.

Fast-forward to the summer of 2022 when Brian, after having read about the latest advances within the "Doucet DNA" project, emailed DNA project manger, Marie Rundquist, and gave her permission to share his story and his genealogy (through Germain Doucet b. 1641's son Claude). In the same email, Brian also reflected upon his pivotal role in a 2012 White Paper that detailed project findings:

Quoting from a White Paper Marie had written in 2012, "C3b Y Chromosome DNA Test Results Point to Native American Deep Ancestry, Relatedness, among United States and Canadian Study Participants," Brian shared in his correspondence, "I have to admit it was an odd (in a good way) feeling when I had read through the report and came upon my results being utilized: "Results of representative test kit 219075 (Doucet) were analyzed against thirteen others in the study. As illustrated in the MRCA % Probability Chart for kit 219075, when one Doucet descendant’s results are compared against thirteen other study participants, the highest probability for sharing a common ancestor at twelve generations -- a genealogically relevant timeframe - is greatest among Doucet surname descendants ..."

Brian's remark highlights how one set of Y DNA test results (his), identified only by a kit number and the Doucet surname, were instrumental in (1.) establishing, by comparison with other Y DNA test results in the project, a First Nations / Native American lineage of male descendants of ancestor, Germain Doucet b. 1641, and (2.) helping to refute any possibility of a genetic, father-son relationship between Germain Doucet Sr., founder of Acadia, and Germain Doucet b. 1641 of Port Royal, Nova Scotia.

By 2017, only after dozens of male, patriline descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641 had added their matching Y chromosome DNA test results to the project, were the following outcomes firmly established for the Germain Doucet b. 1641 Y chromosome DNA study:

Brian Doucet graciously shares his own Nova Scotia lineage to Germain Doucet b. 1641 through son Claude, tracing his line from father-to-father, beginning with himself. Brian provides the following names of each of his patriline ancestors (all Doucet men) and their spouses for each generation:

Germain Doucet (b. 1641) + Marie Marguerite Landry
Claude “dit Maitre Jean” Doucet + Marie Comeau
Joseph Doucet + Anne Agnes Surette
Michel Doucet + Marie Suzanne Mius
David “le Grand” Doucet + Isabelle Mius
Jean Robert Doucet + Marie Henriette Saulnier
Alexandre “Killick” Doucet + Marie Jane Newman
Alexandre “Sandé” Doucet + Catherine “Katie” Comeau
Alfred “Fred” Doucet + Cecile Comeau
Brian Louis Doucet

Update 10/25/2023: D'Aulnay framed a portrait of the family of dear friend Germain Doucet of France b. 1595 in his 1649 Will. Who was in? Who was out? Administrators of the Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA Project Deadra Doucet Bourke and Marie Rundquist explore the possibilities...

Rundquist, M. Bourke, D. D. (2023, October 25).

"A Portrait of the Family of Germain Doucet Sieur de Laverdure of France and the 1649 Will of Sieur Charles de Menou d’Aulnay." DNA Genealogy History. https://dna-genealogy-history.com/travel-by-ancestry/a-portrait-of-the-family-of-germain-doucet-sieur-de-laverdure-of-france-and-the-1649-will-of-sieur-charles-de-menou-daulnay

Update 2/23/2023: Big Y 700 DNA test results yield new haplogroup branches and “Time Trees” for C-P39 Y DNA haplogroup and Germain Doucet b. 1641 descendants ... by Marie Rundquist with Deadra Doucet Bourke, Contributor. February 22, 2023 Visit here to find out what we learned! Visit our new Updates for Doucet DNA page! Click here to read about more exciting news and updates in the Doucet DNA world: https://www.familyheritageresearchcommunity.org/updates-for-doucet-dna