Genealogical Chart of Somali Clans

[Cali Maxamed]

Clans and Their Maternal Origins:

Quranyo
Their mother comes from the Garre clan.

Galjecel
Their mother comes from the Baadicadde clan.

Saleebaan Madarkicis
Their mother comes from the Wadalan clan.

Ajuuraan
Their mother comes from the Jambeele clan.

Ceyr and Suruur
Their mother comes from the Karanle clan.

Daarood
Their mother comes from the Dir clan.

Caleemo, Jambaluul, Bagadi and Mirifle
Their mother comes from the Garre clan.

 

[Chaseyourdreamzz]

Hasn’t a lot of this oral history been debunked by DNA ?

 

[Cali Maxamed]

I think only a small number of people have been tested so far, and most of them are from the diaspora. It would be great to have more DNA studies, especially involving different clans and their traditional leaders, before drawing any final conclusions

Hasn’t a lot of this oral history been debunked by DNA ?

.

 

[𐒁𐒚𐒒𐒂𐒘𐒂𐒗 𐒎𐒚𐒗𐒗𐒒]

I believe that all Somalis except for T carriers are Samaale. But the abtiris is clearly lost, as not everyone can be Aji Samaale at the same time.

 

[Guure⁸]

Why is that? Aji is the grandson of samaale

I believe that all Somalis except for T carriers are Samaale. But the abtiris is clearly lost, as not everyone can be Aji Samaale at the same time.

 

[Cali Maxamed]

I believe that all Somalis except for T carriers are Samaale. But the abtiris is clearly lost, as not everyone can be Aji Samaale at the same time.

You're right. Some groups became Somali over time through being integrated into clans and identifying with them. Through intermarriage and shared culture and language, they’ve become indistinguishable from other Samaale Somalis.
However, it's important to note that within some clans, especially large ones like Aji Samaale, there are minority members of non-Somali origin who were historically absorbed. So if someone from that minority group takes a DNA test and their results are used to represent the entire clan, it can lead to misleading conclusions—making it seem as if the whole clan is of different ancestry.
This kind of integration isn’t unique to Somalis. Arabs, for example, also absorbed many groups into their tribes over time. The "original" Arabs might carry the J haplogroup, but many others were absorbed into Arab tribes over time and took on their identity and lineage.
There’s really no such thing as a 100% pure ethnic group anywhere in the world. Every group has people who joined through various means, and that doesn’t make them any less part of the community—they share the history, identity, and lineage by association.

Note: this doesn’t apply to the modern so-called "Sheegads" who knowingly fabricate their lineage in an attempt to falsely claim Somali identity. Their deception is often obvious, even without DNA tests—they don’t resemble Somalis in any meaningful way.

 

[Midas]

You're absolutely right. These groups became Somali by convention—through being absorbed into clans and identifying with them. Over time, through intermarriage and shared culture and language, they became indistinguishable from other Samaale Somalis in appearance, speech, and tradition.
The same phenomenon exists among Arabs. The "original" Arabs might carry the J haplogroup, but many others were absorbed into Arab tribes over time and took on their identity and lineage.
There’s really no such thing as a 100% pure ethnic group anywhere in the world. Every group has people who joined through various means, and that doesn’t make them any less part of the community—they share the history, identity, and lineage by association.

Note: this doesn’t apply to the modern so-called "Sheegads" who knowingly fabricate their lineage in an attempt to falsely claim

I don't think we can really talk about ethnic groups in terms of haplogroups. There was probably never a time when Somalis were a single haplogroup.

 

[Midas]

Hasn’t a lot of this oral history been debunked by DNA ?

I wouldn't necessarily say its debunked since the oral traditions are useful and hint at very interesting things.

I meant the jabarti in darod Ismail jabarti. Is already attested in the 800s ( who knows how much further back it actually goes) and isn't even considered a particularly anicent clan identity. Stuff like samaale and the other names on that first layer seem to have way more archaic roots and even lingustically sound older.

Heck it wouldn't surprise me if some of those names had there origins way before the 1st century a.d

 

[Shimbiris]

Hasn’t a lot of this oral history been debunked by DNA ?

I wouldn't view these genealogical stories from a genetic perspective. They're more informative about Somali culture, history and tribal political dynamics. When observed in that way, it doesn't matter if the founding mother of the Darood was a Dir woman or not or if Daroods are even a genealogically valid group; it's just interesting that they would weave such a narrative in the first place in a number of ways I'd have to write a short thesis about to fully explain. But super tl;dr: it's just interesting from an anthropological/scholarly perspective.

 

[Midas]

I wouldn't necessarily say its debunked since the oral traditions are useful and hint at very interesting things.

I meant the jabarti in darod Ismail jabarti. Is already attested in the 800s ( who knows how much further back it actually goes) and isn't even considered a particularly anicent clan identity. Stuff like samaale and the other names on that first layer seem to have way more archaic roots and even lingustically sound older.

Heck it wouldn't surprise me if some of those names had there origins way before the 1st century a.d

One example of this that just occurred to me is that the father of hiil is abroone. Which if you break that down is ab - (the shared proto Afro-asiatic word for father) and roone which means good in somali.

Abroone= the good father

 

[Step a side]

Ajuuraan are Jambeele paternally.

 

[Cali Maxamed]

I don't think we can really talk about ethnic groups in terms of haplogroups. There was probably never a time when Somalis were a single haplogroup.

No, Somalis have a clear and well-defined lineage and are not like the Habesha, who are a mix of various ethnic groups that came together under a broader tribal alliance known as "Habesha." The majority of Somalis belong to the E-V32 haplogroup, with a small minority carrying haplogroup T. However, those with T do not represent any specific clan—especially since proper DNA testing has not been widely conducted on traditional clan leaders or a large enough sample from within Somalia.

There’s also confusion similar to what's happening among Arabs today. Some individuals have claimed descent from certain tribes or even from the Prophet’s lineage (the Ashraf), but their DNA results turned out to be J, E, or G. In contrast, most of the verified Ashraf lineages are J, which is consistent with the historically documented ancestry of most Arab clans.