Haplogroup R-U152 (R1b, Alpine)
R-U152 is R1b's Alpine and Italian wing — dense from Switzerland and eastern France through northern Italy, associated with the Italo-Celtic Bronze and Iron Ages. Explore the branch in the full Y-DNA haplotree — sub-branches, defining variants and where its testers live. Free, no account needed.
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Origin and distribution of R-U152 (R1b, Alpine)
R-U152 is the branch of R-M269 centred on the Alps: its highest frequencies run through Switzerland, eastern France, and northern Italy, fading through southern Germany, Corsica and along the old Celtic corridors into Britain. Ancient DNA finds it expanding with the Bronze Age cultures north and south of the Alps, and it is the R1b branch most often associated with the Italo-Celtic world — the populations behind the Hallstatt and La Tène horizons and the Italic peoples of the peninsula.
Within Italy, U152 is the dominant R1b lineage of the north, thinning steadily southward as the peninsula's older Mediterranean lineages take over — a cline that mirrors the country's whole genetic geography. Its major children (L2, Z56, Z36) split the Alpine world regionally, and the branch's presence in Britain at modest frequency is a reminder that 'Celtic' was a network of movements, not one migration.
One line among many: your Y haplogroup traces a single paternal line — one ancestor per generation out of thousands — so it is a thread of deep ancestry, not an ethnicity and not a percentage of who you are. Two men in the same branch share a forefather, but the rest of their genomes can differ as much as any two strangers'.
Frequently asked questions
What is haplogroup R-U152 (R1b, Alpine)?
R-U152 is R1b's Alpine and Italian wing — dense from Switzerland and eastern France through northern Italy, associated with the Italo-Celtic Bronze and Iron Ages. It is a branch of the Y-DNA tree: everyone in it inherits the same set of defining mutations from one shared forefather.
How do I find out if I belong to R-U152 (R1b, Alpine)?
If you have already tested with a consumer DNA company, the free Y-DNA Clade Finder reads a raw DNA export (23andMe, AncestryDNA, MyHeritage or a VCF) and places you on the tree at the resolution your file supports — free, and the file is discarded after analysis. A dedicated Y-DNA sequencing test resolves deeper branches than a genotyping chip can.
Does belonging to R-U152 (R1b, Alpine) make me descend from one people?
No. A haplogroup follows a single paternal line — one ancestor per generation — while the rest of your ancestry doubles every generation back. It is a deep-time thread, not an ethnicity, and two members of the same branch can otherwise be as genetically different as any two strangers.
What does this page's tree data show?
The live browser below shows the branch inside the full Y-DNA haplotree of tested lineages — its sub-branches, the variants that define them, and the countries its testers report. Counts reflect people who have taken a Y-DNA test and shared an origin, so they describe the tested world, not ancient frequencies.
Keep exploring
Don't know your haplogroup yet? The free Y-DNA Clade Finder reads it from a raw DNA export. Or browse the whole tree in the Y-DNA Haplotree. Other major branches: