The SAYCE Y-chromosome DNA Testing Project has been established. The Y-chromosome is inherited through the male-line only, as is usually the surname. Therefore testing people of the same surname can identify common ancestors and branches of a family.
The SAYCE Project includes all variant spellings of the name (SAIS, SAYES, SEYS, etc.) and also the 'singular' forms such as SAY or SEY. Some names (such as Yeoman and Yeomans) can quite frequently oscillate between singular and plural forms although I've not come across it in ours.
SAYCE and SAY are thought to have different origins: SAYCE from "sais", the Welsh for a Saxon or Englishman (cf. the Scots' "sassenach") who are found along the English side of the Welsh border, and SAY, a Norman name from the place Sai.
Two SAY contributors have been tested so far - they don't match! The first belonged to an unusual haplogroup, rare here and more typical of eastern Europe, for example, in Georgia (NOT the American one). The second's haplogroup is the one that populates much of Western Europe.
Many more samples are needed, particularly for SAYCE, before we can discern any genealogical meaning.
Bob NEW (
bobnew@ntlworld.com)