shetlandislandsYdataAtoC2

Surnames A to C - Page 2: Shetland Y-DNA Surname Project

Surname             DYS Markers and Allele Values: For 26 to 37 See
Spreadsheet
and (Kit#)             3 3 1 3 3 3 4 3 4 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
                       9 9 9 9 8 8 2 8 3 8 9 8 5 5 5 5 5 4 3 4 4 6 6 6 6
                       3 0      1 5 5 6 8 9 9 2 9 8 9 9 5 4 7 7 8 9 4 4 4 4
                                      a b             +      +     a b                         a b c d
                                                         1      2
Haplogroup; Proposed Origin: Surname - Y-DNA Signature; Meaning and Early Occurrences of Name
- Shetland (Beattie), Orkney (Lamb), Scotland (Black); Traditions; Earliest Known Paternal
Ancestor; DNA Matches; Comments

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BLANCHE            13 25 15 11 11 14 12 12 10 14 11 33 15 09 10 11 11 23 14 20 32 12 15 15 16
(15588)
R1a; Unknown - Norse: Asian; A name believed to be unique to Shetland. Recent variants inlcude
Blanche, Blanch. One version has the origin descending from French sailors hence, with this
"popular tradition" the surname means "white" in French. The name is found frequently in Delting
and Yell. The first recorded version of the name is in 1577 when one Thomas Blanx in Fetlar was on
a list of witnesses. Another version of the origin of the name is as "the genitive of BLJAN an old
Norse personal name". The name is not inlcuded in Lamb's "Orkney Family Names"; The
participant here has put forward the hypothesis that the name arrived with the Normans to
Scotland; Peter BLANCE, born about 1732, Caldback, Delting - via Peter Simpson BLANCE b. 1832,
Lerwick, brother of Henry Simpson BLANCE above; YSTR Database: 0 / 20,000 - exraordinarily rare,
the rarest yet seen; FTDNA & Project: BLANCE (16797, 18178) and WILLIAMSON (7986) 25 / 25
marker match in 20,000 sample database. With 37 markers the match drops to 33 / 37 between
16797 BLANCE and 7968 WILLIAMSON. See WILLIAMSON entry for a discussion of a 23 / 25 close
match to JAMIESON. A mini project is underway to test members of all BLANCE branches. Clearly
there is a genetic relationship with one branch of WILLIAMSONs; In considering the derivation of
the name, one possibility to consider is "Blanches Geo" on Fugla Ness in Northmavine - immediately
across the water to the west from Caldback. The earliest Blance references are to Thomas Blanx,
1577, Fetlar; Matthew and Magnus Blance, 1602-4, Fetlar; Mathow Blans in Funzie, Fetlar, 1616 and
1624; and Nichol Blans, South Yell, 1628. Also and Rasmus Blans of Melby, Sandness, in 1604. A
dictionary of "Icelandic and Heathen Names" gives the following male name: BLAENGR. The
spelling is arbitrary - this is a rendition of the pronunciation of the name. The genitive version of the
name used for forming patronymics is BLAENGS.   There are towns with this name in Scotland (near
Edinburgh), Denmark and Sweden, typically spellied BLANS (an early spelling of the surname in
Shetland). One is specifically spelled BLANCE and in the Wigtown, Scotland Charter dated 1214 -
1681 is noted the town of Blance, located in the "constabulary of Haddington and in the sheriffdom of
Edinburgh". There are land records pertaining to this town dating back to 1404. Hence there is a
high probability that Blance is a Mainland Scotland place name such as CRAIGIE or SUTHERLAND.
Other possibilities: Phonetically it very closely matches e.g., "BLANX". The meaning is , "The dark
- blue, the dark, raven". The genealogcal evidence indicates that there were four Blance families in
Shetland in the early 1700s. One was at Calback in Delting, and the other at West Yell (immediately
across a short span of water), another at Unst, and the fourth near Melby. DNA investigation has
shown that the Delting and Yell branches do not descended from the same source. This Y signature is
unique even at 12 markers to Shetland, and the surname is unique to Shetland. The Norse signature
lends credence to another recorded hypothesis - the BLJAN tradition which suggests that the
surname is properly BLJANSON. There has, however, never been a recorded instance of Bljan being
used as a forename or a surname in Shetland.

BLANCE 13 25 15 11 11 14 12 12 10 14 11 33 15 09 10 11 11 23 14 20 32 12 15 15 16
(16797)
R1a; Unknown - Norse: Asian; See below (15588); None reported; Peter BLANCE, born about 1732,
Caldback, Delting - via Henry Simpson BLANCE b. 1828, Lerwick; The 36/37 match with BLANCE
(18178) is a little unusual in that it is higher than the matches between other descendants of Peter
BLANCE - although it is likely that Lodwick and Peter were brothers. Unfortunately there are no
other BLANCE with 37 markers to compare with. The match with WILLIAMSON (7968) is 32/37 and
with WILLIAMSON (21885) it is 31/37 suggesting a link between members of the two surnames that
extends to the 1500s or before. See BLANCHE (15588) below; See below.

BLANCE 13 25 15 11 11 14 12 12 10 14 11 33 15 09 10 11 11 23 14 20 32 12 15 15 16
(18178)
R1a; Unknown - Norse: Asian; See below (15588); None reported; Charles BLANCE, born circa 1779,
Brother Isle, Yell Sound, son of Lodwick BLANCE of Delting and Helen Murray; See BLANCHE
below. 36/37 match with BLANCE (16797); 33/37 match with WILLIAMSON (7968); See below.

BLANCE 13 25 15 11 11 15 12 12 10 14 11 33 15 09 10 11 11 23 14 20 32 12 15 15 16
(23456)
R1a; Unknown - Norse: Asian; See below (15588); None reported; Bruce BLANCE, born 1762,
Caldback, Delting, son of Peter BLANCE, born 1732 Caldback, Delting and Barbara Henrysdaughter;
See various BLANCE / BLANCHE entries below; Clearly there has been one mutation seen in this
branch but not the other two descended from the same couple, DYS385b = 15 not the 14 seen in all
the BLANCES and WILLIAMSONS who clearly have an ancestor in common. See below.

BLANCE 13 25 15 11 11 14 12 12 10 14 11 33
(27970)
R1a; Unknown - Norse: Asian; See below (15588); None reported; Andrew BLANCE born 1764
Caldback, Northmavine son of Peter BLANCE and Barbara HENDERSON; See BLANCHE (15588);
Another member of the large Caldback branch of the family.

BLANCH 14 24 14 11 11 14 12 12 12 14 13 30 17 09 10 11 11 25 16 18 29 15 15 17 17
(107687)
R1b(1c10); Unknown - Unknown; See below (15588); None reported; Olla BLANCE, born 1743,
Yell, to John BLANCE; Olla is the brother of the ancestor of 17400 above and so the description
above also applies here. At the 12/12 level there are matches to three TAITs in this Project, as well
as 17400 above. At the 37 marker level there are only matches in the FTDNA database to the above
noted TAIT (34/37) and BLANCH (35/37). This participant is the only one to have the full 67
marker testing, and at that level the only matches considered significant are to a LAWSON and a
TATE; Clearly the TATE match is unlikely to be a coincidence and it will be important to detrmine
his genealogy. In addition, testing in Orkney indicates that the TAITs there match 21897 and two
other TAITs in the project. It therefore appears that the location before Shetland for both families
was Orkney. At present the two most likely places of origin for this haplotype are Norway and
France.