Explore the Family Name Kilmer

Possible origins of the surname Kilmer

Your DNA provides clues about where your recent ancestors may have lived. Having many distant relatives in the same location suggests that you may all share common ancestry there. Locations with many distant relatives can also be places where people have migrated recently, such as large cities. If a large number of individuals who share your surname have distant relatives in a specific area, it could indicate a connection between your surname and that location, stemming from either recent ancestral ties or migration.

Based on 23andMe data, people with last name Kilmer have recent ancestry locations in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Ireland.

What Kilmer haplogroups can tell you

Haplogroups are genetic population groups that share a common ancestor on either your paternal or maternal line. These paternal and maternal haplogroups shed light on your genetic ancestry and help tell the story of your family.

The top paternal haplogroup of people with the surname Kilmer is E-M123, which is predominantly found among people with European ancestry. Haplogroup E-M123 is descended from haplogroup E-M96. Other common haplogroups include R-CTS241 and IJ-M429, which are predominantly found among people with European and European ancestry. Other surnames with similar common haplogroups are: Bedard, Shirley, Burnham, Elson, Shaheen, Cataldo, Atlas, Hahn, Hann, Salvatore.

The most common maternal haplogroups of people with Kilmer surname are: H1, U2_3_4_7_8_9, H. These most commonly trace back to individuals of European ancestry.

Your paternal lineage may be linked to many Jewish populations

Although haplogroup E-M123 is common throughout the Middle East, especially among populations such as the Bedouin, Omanis and Druze, it appears particularly frequently in Jewish populations. The lineage averages 10% among both Ashkenazim from eastern Europe and Sephardic Jews from Iberia. About 15% of Ethiopian Jews also carry the haplogroup, although they may be more closely related to other Ethiopians than to other Jewish populations bearing E-M123. Jews from Yemen carry E-M123 at levels of about 10%, and about 20% of Libyan Jewish men belong to the haplogroup. Given the clearly elevated frequency in all Jewish populations, E-M123 was very likely present in the ancestral Jewish population from the Levant that dispersed throughout the Old World about 2,000 years ago.

Your maternal lineage may be linked to Marie Antoinette

Because it is so dominant in the general European population, haplogroup H also appears quite frequently in the continent's royal houses. Marie Antoinette, an Austrian Hapsburg who married into the French royal family, inherited the haplogroup from her maternal ancestors. So did Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, whose recorded genealogy traces his female line to Bavaria. Scientists also discovered that famed 16th century astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus traced his maternal lineages to haplogroup H.