Surnames  J - Page 1:  Shetland Y-DNA Surname Project
Surname            DYS Markers and Allele Values:  For 26 to 37 See
Spreadsheet                         
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Haplogroup; Probable Origin: Surname - Y-DNA Signature; Meaning and Early Occurrences of
Name - Shetland (Beattie), Orkney (Lamb), Scotland (Black); Traditions; Earliest Kown Paternal
Ancestor; DNA Matches; Comments
JAMIESON          13 25 15 11 11 14 12 12 10 13 11 30 15 09 10 11 11 23 14 20 32 12 15 15 16
(9828)
R1a; Shetland Aboriginal - Norse:  Asian; Patronymic; Tradition states that this line descends from
"George of Goster" (next to Watness), and that he was descended from a line of George
Johnsons / John Georgesons who were in turn descended from a 200 - year line of Sigurd
Jonsons / Jon Sigurdsons.  An ancestor in this line was supposedly an aid to the King of
Denmark / Norway and possessed substantial land holdings along the west side of Shetland;
John JOHNSON, born about 1680, probably Watsness, Sandness to Adam JAMIESON, born 1806, Dale
of Walls; YSTR Database: 134 / 20,000 matches - only across Eastern Europe, Scandanavia, and Asia;
In the FTDNA customer database there are 17 exact 12/12 matches, including one to SUTHERLAND
(21887) and JAMIESON (21824).  In the haplogroup database of FTDNA there are 12/12 matches to
Hungary, Kazakhstan, and Shetland. One 23 of 25 marker match to a fellow from Czechoslovakia.  
This is not uncommon in R1a Y signatures since more close matches would be expected from Eastern
Europe, India and Asia than from Western Europe with the exception being wherever the Norse
Vikings settled in the British Isles (e.g., Shetland and Orkney).  At the higest resolution level this
participant matches ROBERTSON (22714) and MATTHEWSON (27809) at 33/ 37 markers suggesting
that in the not too distant past these three had  an ancestor in common; This situation is a prime
example why there is a need to upgrade to 37 markers, and not just for those who are R1b since initial
"promising matches" disappeared at the higher resolution level; and it might have been easy to
dismiss the 11/12 match with said ROBERTSON.
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JAMESON             13 24 14 10 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 29 17 09 10 11 11 25 15 19 30 15 15 17 17
(15623)
R1b1c9; Shetland Aboriginal - German / Scandinavian; Patronymic; None reported; James
OLLASON, b. 1743, West Sandwick, Yell; son of Olla THOMASON, b. about 1715, Houll, Yell; YSTR
Database: 412 / 20,000 - Widely scattered across Europe.  This participant matches 12/12 with 83
persons in the FTDNA Match Database; there are also an astounding 57, 23 / 25 or highter matches
here, and one (surname HUNT) who is 25 / 25; and at the highest resolution level 34/37 with a
DEVENPORT whose background is unknown.  An explorarion of the matches in the Haplogroup
Database is not very helpful since the profile is identical or similar to that of individuals from Russia
to Portugal; This is another example where an individual has a name derived from Norse naming
practices, but a Y-DNA signature that could be from anywhere in Northern Europe (most likely
Scotland).  An analysis of the scores at each marker at this point does not provide any hint as to the
origin of the JAMESON signature.  Although the haplotype is suggestive of a Celtic / Pictish
connection, the S21+ DNA test points strongly to Norway where S21+ is seen in about 3/4 of the R1b
population.   
JAMIESON           13 23 14 10 14 15 11 12 10 14 13 32 18 09 09 11 13 27 14 19 32 11 13 16 16
(19410)
K;  Shetland Aboriginal - Norse:  Asian; Patronymic; None reported;  Robert JAMIESON, born
1801, Toft, Delting, son of James HERCULSON and Isabel HAWICK;  There are no matches in the
FTDNA customer database, and there is nothing until the 3 mutation level in the Haplogroup
Database with a single match from Calabria, Italy, and a single 4 step match to an Arab from Syria.  
Turning to the YHRD Forensic database, there is only one match for 9 markers in 22,000 haplotypes
from across the world.  This individual is from Azerbaijan in the Caucasus area of Central Asia.  One
step matches are found in Turkey, Latium in Italy, and Lombardy in Italy.  The interpretation of this
signatre is addressed in the Haplogroup pages on the present website;  It appears the the participant
is the descendant of a small group from Central Asia who migrated to Norway with the ancestors of
some of the R1a participants and the Q participant.  In a database of 72 Norwegian men, a single K
haplotype was found indicating that it is likely that the participant's ancestors came to Shetland
among the Norse Vikings.  As further evidence of this hypothesis, Jorgensen found 2 K individuals in
his sample from the Faroe Islands, settled by the Norse Vikings about the same time as Shetland.
JAMIESON             13 25 15 11 11 14 12 12 10 14 11 31
(21824)
R1a;  Shetland Aboriginal - Norse: Asian;  Patronymic;  None recorded;  James JAMIESON, born
1899, Grindabister, Yell, son of Basil Pole JAMIESON and Margaret Elizabeth WILLIAMSON; 17
exact matches, including ROBERTSON (22714);  Basil Pole JAMIESON obtained his surname from his
mother Catherine who was born 1832 Windhouse, Mid Yell.  Considering geographical proximity, it is
likely that this participant is also a descendant of the ancestor of said ROBERTSON.  The signature is
supposedly that of Somerled, a famous figure in Scottish history from the 12th Century.    
JAMIESON           15 22 15 10 13 14 11 14 11 12 11 28 16 08 09 08 11 23 16 21 28 12 14 15 15
(22737)
I1a;  Shetland Aboriginal - Norse: European;  Patronymic;  Apparently the JAMESONs "lived at
Still, udal land with a croft on Unst that was inhabited until 1910.  It happens to be just a half -
a - mile inland from Viking long houses that have been excavated in recent years";  John
JAMESON, born 1728, Unst, married Ann BRUCE in 1755;  In the entire FTDNA customer database
of over 30,000, there are only two matches - 11/12 with THOMPSON (21830), and 23/25 with
LAURENSON (19652), and 12/12 with HENDERSON (29024) at 25/25, but oddly the match completely
disappears at the 37 marker level;  The participant notes that "incomplete records indicate the male
line then goes back to John JAMESON who married Christian KELMAN in 1642" - with "patronymics
oscillating between JOHNSON and JAMESON continued until the 18th Century".  Apparently the
family, as was typical in Unst, gave up patronymics with people born at the end of the 1700s, in this
case John JAMESON born about 1783; It is likely that the above matches are non - random, and are
worth exploring with genealogical record sources.
JAMIESON              13 25 15 11 11 14 12 12 10 14 11 31 15 09 10 11 11 23 14 20 32 12 15 15
16
(115429)
R1a1; Shetland Aboriginal - Norway; Patronymic; None recorded; James JAMIESON, born 1758,
Mid Dale, Walls, son of James JAMIESON; This participant matches 25/25 with ROBERTSON, AND
24/25 with MATHEWSON and JAMIESON, and 23/25 with ROBERTSON, three BLANCE /
BLANCHE, and WILLIAMSON.  At the higher resolution the participant matches 34/37 with the
above MATTEWSON, ROBERTSON and JAMIESON; Clearly this group constitutes, with another
JAMIESON and a SUTHERLAND, who only have 12 markers, those descended from an ancestor who
probably  arrived in Shetland in Viking times and appears to have had numerous descendants.  The
signature is also very close to the very distinctive so called "Somerled" signature, named after the
"Lord of the Isles" who sired, among others, many of the McDONALDS.