I've been less communicative in this blog lately, but Taylor work is proceeding. The project as a whole is now over 380 members. We've established goals and metrics to make sure we are progressing. And we have been having busy "conversations" behind the scenes with the five active and two "retired" administrators.
In addition to the metrics, we've been struggling with making the project useful for all Taylors. A major roadblock is that 85% of our members are of Western European haplotypes, yet we have a dearth of UK Taylors for comparison. Taylor is one of the most common surnames among English speakers, which is exactly why so many Taylors become keenly interested in genetic genealogy. There is no other way, sometimes, to distinguish us!
Consider these map suggestions from Alasdair MacDonald : "I had a wee look at several sites to get a handle of the distribution of the Taylor surname in the UK and in particular Scotland. You may already be familiar with them; they are helpful for initial general analysis:
"By clinking on the maps it shows the most prolific counties for the Taylor surname – the north east of Scotland is a stronghold: http://www.publicprofiler.org/worldnames/Default.aspx?country_code=GB
"Similar information here: http://www.nationaltrustnames.org.uk/Surnames.aspx"
We thank Mr. MacDonald, a Scottish advocate of genetic genealogy, for this information. If you look at the maps you will notice a strong convergence of Taylors in one region of Scotland. Is any project member planning a trip there? Take along information about Family Tree DNA, and plan to proselytize along the way!
Lalia for the Taylor Surname Project
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