More on yDNA

As many of you know, the origin of Robert Francis Tapscott of Virginia has long been a mystery. yDNA results have now been obtained for a descendant of Robert Francis through an all-male line. For 63 markers (data for 3 markers are still missing), a rather large genetic difference of 14 has been found in the STR results between that descendant and myself. Similar differences are seen for two other U.S. Tapscotts, known to have descended from Henry the Immigrant.. Thus, Robert Frances Tapscott is not descended from Henry through an all-male line. This does not rule out descent from Henry through a line involving one or more females. Since one document shows Robert Frances as coming from Fauquier County, Virginia, it is not unreasonable to propose that he may be a descendant of Elizabeth Perciful, wife of James Tapscott and daughter-in-law of Ezekiel Tapscott, who lived in that county and is known to have had children that were not fathered by James but were nevertheless given the name “Tapscott.”

On another DNA subject: Our last blog (17 Dec 1914) reported a yDNA match between some American Tapscotts and a British Tapscott, lending credibility to a supposition that the name “Tapscott” has a single origin.

Let’s take a further look at this. The most common English surnames (“Smith,” etc.) are probably multi-origin, but, of course, “Tapscott” is not a common surname. In England and Wales in 1881 only 256 individuals had the name “Tapscott” (1881 census). In 2002 only 307 people in those regions had that name (http://www.taliesin-arlein.net/names/search.php). A few more were found in the U.S.—341 people with the name “Tapscott,” “Tabscott,” “Tapscot,” or “Tabscot” (variants extremely rare or nonexistent in the UK) in the 1880 U.S. census and 890 with those names in the 1940 U.S. census. Tapscotts are also found in Australia and Canada. Good data do not exist for Australia, but Ancestry.com databases show very small numbers of Australian Tapscotts, and the Canadian 1901 census has only 25 Tapscotts. Thus, worldwide, around 1880, well under 1000 individuals were named “Tapscott.” Computer simulations for an English family name originating in 1311 show that by 1881 the male-line dies out in 92.5% of cases and in the largest outcome, it grows purely by chance to 730 active males (John S. Plant and Richard E. Plant, “English surnames: Plural Origins and Emigration,” Surname DNA Journal, 15 Jan 2015). Applying a multiplier of four to six suggested in this paper gives a maximum total population of around three to four thousand in 1880 from a single source originating in 1311.

Thus, the small number of under 1000 for Tapscotts around 1880 is consistent with a single origin for the “Tapscott” name. Of course, the name may have originated well after 1311, decreasing the period for growth. The earliest occurrence is found in a 1542 document in Stoke Pero, Somerset. Nevertheless, it is not unlikely that the “Tapscott” name has a single origin.