In particular, males belonging to peoples such as the Buryats,[15][31] Evens,[15] Evenks,[15] Itelmens,[14] Tom Tatars,[41] Kalmyks,[31][42][43] Kazakhs, Koryaks,[14] Mongolians,[15][18] Negidals,[14] Nivkhs,[14] Udege,[14] and Ulchi[11] have high levels of M217.

[45] The haplogroup C-M217 is found in Ancient samples of Xiongnu,[46][47][48] Göktürks,[47] Uyghurs,[47] Khazars[49] and Kipchaks.

[50] One particular haplotype within Haplogroup C2-M217 has received a great deal of attention, because of the possibility that it may represent direct patrilineal descent from Genghis Khan,[51] though that hypothesis is controversial.

The specific subclade Haplogroup C3b2b1*-M401(xF5483) of the broader C3b1a3-F3273/M504, M546 subclade, which has been identified as a possible marker of the Manchu Aisin Gioro and has been found in ten different ethnic minorities in northern China, is totally absent from all Han Chinese populations (Heilongjiang, Gansu, Guangdong, Sichuan and Xinjiang).

The extremely broad distribution of Haplogroup C-M217 Y-chromosomes, coupled with the fact that the ancestral paragroup C is not found among any of the modern Siberian or North American populations among whom Haplogroup C-M217 predominates, makes the determination of the geographical origin of the defining M217 mutation exceedingly difficult.

C2a1-F3447 (estimated TMRCA 16,000 [95% CI 14,700 <-> 17,400] ybp[4]) includes the Y-DNA of an approximately 14,000-year-old specimen from the Ust'-Kyakhta 3 site (located on the right bank of the Selenga River in Buryatia, near the present-day international border with Mongolia) and C2a1b-BY101096/ACT1942 (found in individuals from present-day Liaoning Province of China, South Korea, Japan, and a Nivkh from Russia) in addition to the expansive C2a1a-F1699 clade.

C2a1a1-F3918 subsumes C2a1a1a-P39, which has been found at high frequency in samples of some indigenous North American populations, and C2a1a1b-FGC28881, which is now found with varying (but generally quite low) frequency all over the Eurasian steppe, from Heilongjiang and Jiangsu in the east to Jihočeský kraj, Podlaskie Voivodeship, and Giresun in the west.

Extant members of C2a1a3-M504 all share a relatively recent common ancestor (estimated TMRCA 3,900 [95% CI 3,000 <-> 4,800] ybp[4]), and they are found often among Mongols, Manchus (e.g. Aisin Gioro), Kazakhs (most tribes of the Senior Zhuz as well as the Kerei tribe of the Middle Zhuz), Kyrgyz, and Hazaras.

C-Y11990 is likewise quite ancient (estimated TMRCA 9,300 [95% CI 7,900 <-> 10,700] ybp according to YFull[4] or 8,946 [99% CI 11,792 - 6,625] ybp according to FTDNA[62]) but rare, with one branch (C-Z22425) having been found sporadically in Jammu and Kashmir, Germany, and the United States and another branch (C-ZQ354/C-F8513) having been found sporadically in Slovakia (Prešov Region), China, Turkey, and Kipchak of the central steppe (Lisakovsk 23 Kipchak in Kazakhstan, medieval nomad from 920 ± 25 BP uncal or 1036 - 1206 CE).

The major clade C-F2613 has known representatives from China (Oroqen,[65] Hezhe,[65] Manchu,[66] Uyghur,[66] Han, Tibetan,[66] Tujia,[65] Dai), Korea, Japan, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Mongolia,[18][66] Kyrgyzstan (Dungan, Kyrgyz),[18] Tajikistan (Tajik[66]), Afghanistan (Hazara, Tajik),[18] Pakistan (Burusho, Hazara),[18] Nakhchivan, Chechnya, and Syria and includes the populous subclades C-F845, C-CTS2657, and C-Z8440.

The specific subclade haplogroup C3b2b1*-M401(xF5483)[56][72][73] has been identified as a possible marker of the Aisin Gioro and is found in ten different ethnic minorities in northern China, but completely absent from Han Chinese.

[76] A genetic test was conducted on seven men who claimed Aisin Gioro descent with three of them showing documented genealogical information of all their ancestors up to Nurhaci.

The subclade C-P39 is common among males of the indigenous North American peoples whose languages belong to the Na-Dené phylum.

The frequency of Haplogroup C-M217 tends to be negatively correlated with distance from Mongolia and the Russian Far East, but it still comprises more than ten percent of the total Y-chromosome diversity among the Manchus, Koreans, Ainu, and some Turkic peoples of Central Asia.

Beyond this range of high-to-moderate frequency, which contains mainly the northeast quadrant of Eurasia and the northwest quadrant of North America, Haplogroup C-M217 continues to be found at low frequencies, and it has even been found as far afield as Northwest Europe, Turkey, Pakistan, Bhutan,[79] Bangladesh,[4] Nepal[80] and adjacent regions of India,[81][82][83] Vietnam, Maritime Southeast Asia, and the Wayuu people of South America.