2024 Statistics for Rowland Genealogy

It is time to review our year-end 2024 statistics and status. Please remember that Rowland Genealogy consists of many moving parts, including but not limited to:

• Rowland Project at FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA): performs Y-DNA testing, grouping, and analysis
• Rowland Name Study at WikiTree: contains the Rowland descendant trees as part of the global single-family tree (with free access for all)
• Rowland Surname Study at the Guild of One-Name Studies: the worldwide center of excellence in one-name studies
• Rowland Genealogy Website: Where we tie everything together with the Xref Project and so much more
• Rowland Genealogists: That’s you! Your insights, contributions, and ideas are vital.

Rowland Project at FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA)

The Rowland Project at FamilyTreeDNA is the starting point for many of us. It’s where we get our Y-DNA testing and genetic grouping. The site also has great tools for further analysis. Key statistics and accomplishments for 2024 include:

• The Rowland Project had 11 new kits and now has 178 Y-DNA test-taker kits.
• Visibility was restored for the 30 kits that mysteriously vanished near the end of 2023.
• There are 14 DNA groups (labeled “A” through “O”).
• DNA Group Z created – groups of “1” in need of a match
• The project has 274 members, an increase of 10 during the year.

FamilyTreeDNA made significant strides in updating and changing its Y-DNA analysis tools including:

• FamilyTreeDNA announced a new partnership with MyHeritage. As a result, the TreeBuilder facility is no longer active on the FamilyTreeDNA site and is now contained within the tree-building tools at MyHeritage. I have not investigated this change or looked into how it impacts users. Years ago, I uploaded identical trees to both FamilyTreeDNA and MyHeritage. As such, this change has not personally affected me.
• The DNA results tables now include a column indicating which test was taken.
• If you haven’t visited lately you may be surprised to see that your haplogroup has been revised. FTDNA has refined many of the fairly generic haplogroups (R-M269, G-M201, etc) for the kits in the Rowland Project that have taken the FamilyFinder test.
• Our Group Time Tree (a new feature added back in 2023) now includes the 36 Big Y test-takers in the Rowland Project who have opted into sharing.
• The Big Y Block Tree continues to grow

Rowland Name Study at WikiTree 2024 Statistics

WikiTree is our default destination for documenting the various Rowland lines and branches. Its policy of one profile per ancestor helps to avoid the proliferation of duplicate and error-prone trees that are common on other websites. The Rowland surname database continues to grow and now contains 22,703 unique profiles of our ancestors with the surnames of Rowland, Roland, Rowlands, Ruland, Rolland, and other variant spellings.

The Rowland database grew by 1,887 ancestor profiles over the past year. The graph below shows that ‘Rowland’ is the most popular spelling, while ‘Roland’ comes in a distant second place.

Xref Project Trees 2024 Statistics

Each Rowland Y-DNA group has one or more descendant trees. Each identified Earliest Known Ancestor is currently a genealogical brick wall — a profile where the parents have not been identified. Many groups contain multiple descendant trees. The DNA evidence tells us they are related, although the paper trail or other logical connection has not been made. Each Rowland DNA Group has a page on the website, which can be accessed by clicking on the Group Name in the table below:

Notes

1. Conflict: The WikiTree profile for Robert Rowland (1716-1782) has descendants from both DNA Group F and DNA Group J. DNA Group J is assumed to be correct, and the error resides in the branch containing Richardson Rowland (1791-1872).
2. Conflict: The WikiTree profile for Gasper Roland (1721-1809) has descendants from both DNA Group D and DNA Group I. It is assumed the DNA is correct and WikiTree is in error. At this time, DNA Group I is believed to be correct.

Descendant Trees of Group Z – Groups of 1

These are the trees for a defined “group of 1” which are Rowland DNA test-takers without any matches.

Descendant Trees without Test Takers — DNA Untested

There are currently more than 50 documented Rowland descendant trees where none of the descendants have taken a Y-DNA test and joined the Rowland Projects. These trees contain more than 20,000 descendants. The lack of Y-DNA test data from these populations is one of the largest holes in our genetic genealogy research.

These trees are far too numerous to describe here, although they can be seen on the Untested Rowland Lines page on our website.

Rowland Genealogy

Key Accomplishments for 2024

• 9 Articles published in 2024 including 2 guest articles
• DNA Group Z (groups of ‘1″) split out of the Ungrouped collection
• Untested Rowland Lines reorganized and greatly expanded
• Xref Project: The Group DNA pages have been updated with year-end 2024 data
• The website had 7, 091 visitors, 8,639 sessions, and 14,029 page views

Rowland Genealogy Website Status

• 31 Rowland genealogy documents are now available as free downloads
• 44 people are identified on the Famous Rowlands page
• 78 listings in Untimely and Unnatural Deaths, including:
  • 19 Murders
  • 2 Speared/Killed by Natives
  • 19 Planes, Trains, Automobiles, and Boats
  • 5 Tornadoes and Storms
  • 9 Drownings
  • 24 by other means
• 71 families with 12 or more children on the Be Fruitful and Multiply page
• 40 Rowland men who participated in the American Revolution
• 28 Places Named Rowland
• 18 Rowland Homes and Buildings
• 130 Rowland Cemeteries

2025 Has Now Begun — Happy New Year!

What would you like to see from Rowland Genealogy in 2025? Please don’t be shy, let us know.

If you haven’t already joined us, here are the steps you can take to participate in the Rowland Xref Project.

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