THE HISTORY OF THE NAME (cont'd)

THE BLOOD GROUPS

Blood cells contain unique substances that can be used to separate individuals into groups. Two such groups are the ABO and Rhesus blood group systems. Belonging to a group depends on the presence or absence of proteins and sugars called antigens on the surface of the blood cells as well as proteins called antibodies in the liquid part of our blood..

The blood group AB represents less than 5% of the world's population. Resulting from unions of European populations of group A and of Mongol population of group B, this group is very "young", since it has been in existence for only 10 to 15 centuries. The first traces of group AB go back to just about the year 900. Research undertaken in Hungary, from a necropolis dating from the IVth and VIIth century to this date, did not placed any individuals belonging to the AB blood group.

While questioning other Berube(s), one of our members, who is group AB, was surprised by the frequency of this blood group within the Berube(s). This characteristic, combined with an equally elevated number of group B individuals, corresponds more to the typical distribution seen in an Oriental population. During the 2009 gathering at Riviere-Ouelle, about a hundred persons answered a survey concerning their blood group. Amongst those with a Berube father, 30% of those responding were AB or B, which is three times more than we find in Western Europe. Including males only, the results climbed to 37.5%.

The majority of Europeans and
Canadians belong to group A or to group O. The following list presents ethnic groups with an elevated proportion of group AB and group B. Are the Berube(s) descendants of original groups from Central Asia or from the Far East?

Blood types Source: Wikipedia	Blood types and heredity Source:mistupid.com	Proportion du groupe AB selon le groupe ethnique Source: bloodbook.com	Proportion du groupe B selon le groupe ethnique Source: bloodbook.com

An individual can only belong to the AB blood type if one of his parents is B or AB. The other must not be O. For instance, the blood group AB is not transmitted from father to son, but it results from a common heritage from both parents. How is it possible then to explain the frequency of the AB type, as well as the B, among people named Berube ? It is difficult with the scientific knowledge existing at this time. But the distribution of people among blood types should have reflected with time, including for the Berubes, the existing repartition among the population in which they live, which is in majority A or O (90 %) in the case of Quebec. Nevertheless, a clear differenciation exists, as it is the case for both lines descending from Pierre and Mathurin Bérubé, brothers from the XVIIth century. It cannot be explained without the existence in our bodies, except by a great number of coïncidences, of an element as constant as our Y-DNA. So, there is still a mystery in terms of genetics.

If it is one day possible to give a scientific explanation to this, the following question that will be raised will certainly be about how this blood caracteristic was acquired by the Berubes, considering that it more typical of people coming from eastern countries. People from Occident and Orient had many opportunities to mix in the past, for instance with the proximity of Slavs and Germans from the North. It was the case in South-Jutland from where could apparently come some of the ancestors who belong to the U-198 group. This includes people living in the former viking city of Hedeby (Haithabu, Heiðabýr, Haithabyr, Haddeby)(5)(6)(7). Slaves were also traded and moved from the Eastern countries by the Vikings, who travelled in several directions. Marriages among Christians and Jews converted to Christianism could also offer an explanation, a possibility we cannot forget as well as the presence of Anglo-Normans in the Middle East during the Crusades.

It suffices that a number of immigrants from Baltic countries in central Europe or Asia Minor – a majority with the blood group B – stayed in England, marrying people from Danelaw. Their descendants survived repressions, the Black Plague and religious warfare to eventually arrive as far away as New-France.

For more information, read the PDF document A short summary of our family history.

You can see references to people and to England places associated with our name since the Middle Ages in this PDF document.

Sources