Unfortunately, in this information age, it does not take long for a myth to become widely accepted as fact!
Some Ancestry Trees now claim that William Dyer b 1580 and Dorothy Shirley b 1571 are supposed to be the parents of William Dare of Lyme Regis, born in 1605, for whom we have a will still in existence at the Somerset Historical Society.

**** So that you are aware of the evidence, all Dyer DNA test results (several family lines) have proven to be very far from the Dare family DNA reference samples.

Our Dare Family DNA samples from several sources, some proven back to Captain William Dare of Lyme Regis and Southern NJ, and others from the DNA for Dares who came to Calvert County, Maryland, have matched each other.
(together they total about 90% of all Dares in America)
So, first, I am seriously questioning the authenticity of a Dyer origin in our family on DNA grounds.

Second, our researchers have traced written evidence of prominent Dares in Lyme Regis proper, back to 1265.
Therefore our Lyme Regis Dares were officially named Dare for many generations before William Dare b 1605.
One thing we can be sure of, the Dare name did not evolve from Dyer to Dare in Lyme Regis, where several generations of our ancestors lived.
Check out the Dare Family Timeline on www.darefamily.com (tab is on the left side)
There have been a couple Dare families that changed their name to Dyer. This may have been where people got the idea.

Sincerely seeking the facts,
Dave Bates
Dare Family Association Historian
Dare DNA Coordinator for FamilyTreeDNA
email: Dave@DareFamily.com