Haplogroups / Paternal line
N
Across the northern forests
The story of this line
N arose in East Asia and then spread west along the enormous belt of northern forest, all the way to the Baltic. It is the most common paternal line in Finland and among Uralic-speaking peoples, and its distribution is one of the clearest matches between a genetic lineage and a language family.
What it traces
N sits on the family tree of the Y chromosome, passed from father to son. Following it back means following your father, his father, and so on back, one unbroken thread. It says nothing about the thousands of other ancestors you had at the same depth, which is the single most common misunderstanding about haplogroups.
The route, roughly
- East African Rift about 150 thousand years ago
- Horn of Africa about 70 thousand years ago
- Arabian peninsula about 62 thousand years ago
- East Asia about 25 thousand years ago
- South Siberia about 30 thousand years ago
- The Urals about 8 thousand years ago
- The Baltic about 4 thousand years ago
A route drawn from where the branch arose and where it is found today. It is the path of one thread through your ancestry, not a map of where your family as a whole came from.
Is N your haplogroup?
If you have taken a test with 23andMe, AncestryDNA, MyHeritage, Family Tree DNA, TellMeGen or Living DNA, the answer is already sitting in the raw data file they gave you. You do not need another test.
Sequencings reads the file in your browser. It is never uploaded, and you can confirm that in your browser’s network tab while it happens.
Common questions
What is haplogroup N?
N is a branch of the human paternal family tree, traced through the Y chromosome, passed from father to son. N arose in East Asia and then spread west along the enormous belt of northern forest, all the way to the Baltic. It is the most common paternal line in Finland and among Uralic-speaking peoples, and its distribution is one of the clearest matches between a genetic lineage and a language family.
How old is haplogroup N?
It first appeared about 20,000 to 25,000 years ago, in Siberia, the Urals, northeastern Europe. That is a coalescence estimate with a wide margin, not a date.
How do I find out if N is my haplogroup?
If you have taken a home DNA test, the answer is already in the raw data file you were given. Sequencings reads that file in your browser and traces both lines without uploading anything.
Does haplogroup N tell me about my health?
No. Haplogroups describe one line of descent. They are not used to assess health risk, and anyone who tells you otherwise is overreaching.
Sources
ISOGG Y-DNA Haplogroup Tree, marker coordinates via ybrowse.org (hg19).