Explore the Family Name Lew

Possible origins of the surname Lew

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 Lew have recent ancestry locations in China and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

What Lew 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 Lew is O-JST002611, which is predominantly found among people with East Asian & Indigenous American ancestry. Haplogroup O-JST002611 is descended from haplogroup O-M1359. Other common haplogroups include O-F11 and O-F2137, which are predominantly found among people with East Asian & Indigenous American and East Asian & Indigenous American ancestry. Other surnames with similar common haplogroups are: Lau, Ho, Lee, Chang, Ehrhardt, Nusbaum, Eicher, Nygaard, Eichhorn, Eichler.

The most common maternal haplogroups of people with Lew surname are: H1, H, M7b. These most commonly trace back to individuals of East Asian & Indigenous American and European ancestry.

Your paternal lineage may be linked to many of the Massim groups of Papua New Guinea

Haplogroup O2a is prevalent among Massim ethnic groups, including the populations of Airara, Nomanby, the eastern tip of the mainland, the Trobriand Islands, Gawa, Woodlark, the Laughland Islands, and western Calvados. While Papua New Guinea has been inhabited for over 50,000 years, the Massim may have arrived in the last 2,000 years. Today, these populations remain connected through a traditional island trading system called the Kula Ring. Under this exchange system, residents ensure that goods that are only available on some islands, but that are vitally needed in other islands, are shared among the island populations. Only Massim men participate in the Kula exchange system, and it is common for men to be away from home for months at a time when trading with men from other islands.

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.