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Our FamilyTreeDNA surname project initially focused on tracing connections within the Cryan clan. Over time, I realized surnames evolve, especially as families migrate from their ancestral homeland. The project now includes surnames like Crean, Crane, Crehan, and Kneen, with more expected as additional men take the Y-chromosome test through FamilyTreeDNA. Surnames were often anglicized—for instance, Crean became Crane in some cases. One notable example is a Cryan family from Roscommon whose name was changed to Crean at Ellis Island in the early 1900s, a shift confirmed by Y-DNA testing. While 20th-century researchers suggested Cryans were a Roscommon variant of Crean (from Sligo) and Crehans a Galway variant, Y-DNA results from 60 men across these surnames show no shared paternal ancestor within the last 1,000 years, challenging the idea of a common origin. The project now includes 60 men across 14 lineages, all sharing a common ancestor in ancient times, as all men are distantly relat...