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I recall discussions in genetic genealogy forums a couple of years ago about alternate names or synonyms for NPE. On the ISOGG Wiki page, among other suggested scenarios for NPE shown are:- Non-parental Event
- Non-paternal event
- Non-paternity event (NPE)
- Not the Parent Expected
A note for the term "Not the Parent Expected" shows it was coined by Emily Aulicino (a genealogist, speaker, and author who also is a genetic genealogist). No date is shown for when she came up with the alternate meaning.The term non-paternity event was first used in the context of genetic genealogy by Bryan Sykes and Catherine Irven in their 2000 paper "Surnames and the Y-chromosome
The ISOGG Wiki page also has this statement, under the list of Synonyms for NPE:
The ISOGG page gives a list of "NPE scenarios in the context of genetic genealogy," which include many other reasons why a surname may have changed, not only because of a Non Paternity Event (meaning false paternity). These other reasons are why the preference to use "Not the Parent Expected" has become popular, for lack of another term.The term non-paternity event has a more specific meaning to clinical geneticists, as does the term paternity fraud to lawyers. It would have been better if genetic genealogists had adopted some less pejorative term such as Surname Discontinuity Event to meet their need for a “catch-all” interpretation, but pending some standardization NPE will continue to have different meanings to different people.
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