Is your family name Remus, Rem, or Rehm?

Note: If an individual is a man, he gets a Y chromosome from his father. Similarly, his father had to get that Y chromosome from his father. So the Y chromosome in handed down from generation to generation along the male line. This allows me (William Remus, a male) to compare my Y chromosome with other males like you and thereby see if we have a common male ancestor (since we should all have that same Y chromosome). Sharing a common ancestor with me is actually quite likely if you are a male in the Remus line. Since the Remus name was adopted by part of the Rem (alternative spelling Rehm) family in Augsburg in around 1500, all Remus men should share the Y chromosome that was passed down. At the end of this web page you will find links to the family history of the Rem and Remus family.

Further down this page, you will find the DNA Marker (allele) positions for 25 locations on my Y chromosome. These DNA Marker positions can be directly compared with other males (like you) to see how closely or distantly we may have shared that common male ancestor. If the match is off by one or two markers, it may just be due to changes in those markers which occur every 30 or so generations; however, these changes happen randomly and therefore can actually happen at any time.

Specifically for genealogists, if you match me exactly you have a 99.9% likelihood of sharing a common male ancestor with me. This common ancestor is described scientifically as the Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA). Population geneticists then compute the Most Likely Estimate (MLE) to determine the number of generations ago when our common male ancestor lived. Note that is an estimate and in each individual case the actual generation could be nearer or further.

In the case of a match of 25 out of 25 (a perfect match) with me, our common male ancestor is recent. However, the Remus surname is about five hundred years old (500) and we may share a surname but only match on 24 of 25 or even 23 of 25 DNA markers. In these cases, our common ancestor lived much further back in time. Translation: we are related but probably further back in time.

In the case of a match of 25 out of 25 (a perfect match) with me, there is a 50% probability that our common ancestor lived no longer than 7 generations ago, a 90% probability that our common ancestor lived no longer than 24 generations ago and a 95% chance our common ancestor lived on longer than 32 generations ago.

If we matched on 24 of 25 Markers, then there is a 50% probability that our common ancestor lived no more than 18 generations ago. There is also a 90% probability that our common ancestor lived no longer than 41 generations ago and a 95% chance our common ancestor lived on longer than 52 generations ago.

So, should you wish to establish that you are a male member of the Remus family line of West Prussia, then you need to get your genes checked and compared to other Remus family members. Following is the address of the Remus/Rem/Rehm Surname Project.

The cost is about $169 to find out for sure using the 25 marker test (Note - we Remus family men actually have 28!!! - see the note at the end of this page). FamilyTreeDNA will automatically compare you and I. If you are a Remus woman, you cannot be directly compared to me but your brother or father can provided the need Y chromosome for the testing.

Following are my DNA markers from my Y chromosome. The first column is the DNA marker number. The second column lists the site on the Y chromosome where the marker was found and the third column lists the DNA marker score. If we are related through the Remus line, the third column should match almost exactly.

Note that above I have a total of 7 markers on 464. That is more than is usual for men (the usual number is 4 marker number 464). So you if are a Remus, you too may have a unique set of markers and will be very distinguishable from non-Remus folks. We have three more markers than most men and hence 28 unique markers overall rather than the usual 25.

William Remus Kit Number: 12545

Please send any information and queries to Bill Remus at

August 9, 2004