Patrilines

A patriline, patrilineage, or patrilineal line is a lineage traced through male ancestors. In genealogy and anthropology, a patriline connects individuals to a common male progenitor—father, paternal grandfather, and so on—through the male line. Patrilines are contrasted with matrilines (traced through female ancestors) and with bilateral kinship systems.

In many societies patrilineal descent structures kinship, inheritance, property transmission, and membership in clans or lineages. Such systems may determine who is eligible to inherit land or titles, who carries family names, and who has a say in lineage affairs. Patrilineality can operate alongside or apart from other systems of descent, such as kinship terms or residency rules; prevalence varies widely across cultures.

In genetics, patrilines are traced via the Y chromosome, transmitted from father to son with limited recombination. Y-DNA testing identifies patrilineal haplogroups and can illuminate paternal ancestry deep in time. However, Y-chromosome data only reflect the male line and cannot reveal the female portion of a person’s ancestry. Patrilineal conclusions must be integrated with other genealogical information for a full family history.

Patrilines therefore encompass both social and biological concepts of paternal descent, underpinning lineage-based organization in many human populations and contributing to modern genetic genealogy.