Northern Isles of Scotland Stout Family History Project
last updated 30 May, 2017
The ScotStout family history project is using genetic analysis to go beyond
the written record in order to discover the origin of the surname Stout in the
Northern Isles of Scotland. The project is being conducted using the services
of Family Tree DNA to carry out genetic testing of participants.
All five lines of Stouts originating in Shetland which have been tested so far have been shown to share a
recent common ancestor, say within the past four or five hundred years.
Stout lineages with an origin in Walls, Orkney appear to form a separate group.
It is hoped to contact Stouts in Yorkshire to carry out testing since there is a local tradition in Fair Isle that
the Stouts originally came from Yorkshire.
Several lineages which have become extinct in Scotland may be extant elsewhere as a result of emigration; it
is hoped that any male descendants will make themselves known.