Connect your family to one of Scotland's most ancient clans…Are you a MacTavish, Thomson, Thompson, Holmes, Cash, Todd, Stevenson or one of the many associated family names of Clan MacTavish? DNA testing can unlock your ancestral story and connect you to your Highland roots in Knapdale, Argyll — where the MacTavish chiefs held their seat at Dunardry for nearly a thousand years, documented since approximately 893 AD.
The MacTavish story is uniquely complex among Scottish clans. Following the Highland Clearances and the suppression of Gaelic culture after Culloden, MacTavish families across Argyll and Kintyre adopted the anglicised spellings Thomson and Thompson — sometimes within the same family, with siblings baptised under different surnames in the same parish register. This name transition, documented in the Old Parish Registers of the Church of Scotland, means that many Thomsons and Thompsons worldwide may carry MacTavish ancestry without knowing it. Y-DNA testing is the most powerful tool available to trace these connections back to their origin in Knapdale and Argyll.
About Our DNA Project
The Clan MacTavish and Associated Families DNA Project was established in October 2011 and is administered by John Harrison-Stevenson, 3rd Seannachie to the 27th Chief of Clan MacTavish, Steven Edward Dugald MacTavish of Dunardry.
This is a collaborative research project requiring the active participation of each member to further our genealogical and genetic study of MacTavish surnames and their place in history.
We test the Y-chromosome of males with clan surnames to reconstruct the male lineages of clan families. We encourage two types of DNA test for males:
- STR tests — for example 37 or 111 marker tests, which identify close relationships and family groupings
- Big Y-700 test — which provides results for both STRs and genetic markers called SNPs, extremely important for identifying which branch of the genetic tree a test taker belongs to and establishing the time frame when test takers share a common male ancestor
In addition the project includes testing for mitochondria DNA. While our clan name follows the paternal line, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) travels in an unbroken chain exclusively from mother to child. By testing mtDNA, we can isolate and celebrate the direct maternal lineages that shaped the families of Clan MacTavish.
All participants will be included in ongoing studies. By joining the project you are giving consent for your information to be anonymously included in ongoing genetic genealogy research. Your personal identity will not be revealed, but your results will be used to better understand the surnames of Clan MacTavish as a people and the history of our ancestors.
DNA Project Goals
- To encourage the discovery of family relationships among members of Clan MacTavish and associated families
- To assist clan members and the public who may be related, and thus potential members, with genealogy studies
- To explore the genetic evidence of the MacTavish name transition to Thomson and Thompson following the Highland Clearances and post-Culloden suppression of Gaelic culture
- To document the interrelationships among the many family surnames associated with Clan MacTavish historically and in modern times
- To connect MacTavish descendants worldwide back to their Scottish origins
Clan MacTavish Surname Resource Links
- Clan MacTavish History
- MacTavish Surnames and Associated Family Names (Septs)
- Thompson, Thomson – MacTavish Name Transitions
- Clan MacTavish Surnames and Varient Spellings Research PDF
- The Sons of Thomas (Thompson, Thomson, etc), Sons of Steven (Stephenson, Stevenson, etc), and the Foxes or Todds Research PDF