Question of the Week: What are your DNA ethnicity estimates? [closed]

+37 votes
4.7k views

If you have taken a DNA test, what does the testing company report for your ethnicity? Please tell us about it with an answer below or use the question image to share your answer with friends and family on social media.

in The Tree House by Eowyn Walker G2G Astronaut (2.4m points)
closed by Chris Whitten
MyLivingDNA:

Great Britain and Ireland: 71.8%

Europe (North and West): 28.2%

Bottom line is I am Anglo-Saxon - no surprises there! I'm related to Ron Rowland (see his entry above? - his article is very enlightening). Wish I had the information before I paid for DNA tests for me and my brother. I was hoping the test would identify my Scottish or Irish path but it didn't provide the detail I was led to believe it would. Several of my closest relatives have red-hair, blue-eyes, some have black/very dark brown - so I feel I have reason to believe there's rather a bit o'Irish-Scottish genes. Thank you Ron, for trying all the different DNA-testing suppliers so I know not to bother.
Oh goodness! We all strive for truth but perhaps some of the validation isn't necessary. I do hope it will be manageable and without burden, but at any rate all I can do is wish you well on an unexpected path.
Sherry Miller, my best friend has that and has even had surgery on her hand.  She said her Father even had it.  She has never had a DNA Test.
That’s for sure!!
Mine has been doing well. It’s weird how our genes will show up way down the way!! My mother-in-law had hemochromatosis which is Celtic, English east coast, genetic disease.

My Heritage (1st kit)

65% English, 32.2% Irish, Scottish, Welsh, 2.8% Italian (didn't see that coming!)

Compared to Ancestry (2nd kit)

37% Ireland (Ulster), 32% Scotland, 16% England, Nth Western Europe, 13% Wales, 2% Norway

My daughter has given me permission to include her ethnicity, she is a WT Family member. 

Ancestry 

55% England, Nth Western Europe (Nth West England & Isle of Man, Lancashire & Greater Manchester, Yorkshire & East Midlands, England) 

28% Scotland

17% Ireland

My Heritage (Upload)

47.9% Scandinavian

36.8% Irish, Scottish, Welsh

14% Italian

1.3% English

I've also just realised this doesn't come to 100%

Sherry Miller, my daughter and I are carriers of Hereditary Hemocrotosis.
Genetics is a interesting subject. I think it’s important that we all share the genetic illnesses in our tree. I actually had a gggrandparents that had 2 dwarf children.
48%  African

44%  European

7%  Caribbean

There are revisions to what is Anglo Saxon and Celtic. What DNA says.  

Ireland is not Celtic. it is 80-90% Basque and it is not much better on the island of Great Britain. Ireland and England adopted Celtic culture from the Alpine region as its population expanded into northern Germany, France and northern Italy. The Celts the Yamana culture was Eurasian and started in the southern Urals and nomadic pastoralists and farmers. They wandered into Europe and settled around the Alps bringing death to local populations probably caused by smallpox. They were technologically more advanced for a time in metallurgy in the Early Iron Age and lived in villages like medieval peoples later. 

Areas like the British Isles were isolated and had longer to adapt to the disease and recover their populations. The only strong evidence of Celtic populations is south of the Thames from Kent to Hampshire, areas in continued occupation by Saxons, Friesians and Jutes. This was less so for Scandinavians who settled the West of Ireland, the Scottish Isles and dominated Northern England. In the Midlands (Mercia) the Britons hung on forging an alliance with Anglo-Saxons against the Scaninavians. 

My main interest is my lost German Y-DNA and Magyar ancestry. (6 to 12%)

94 Answers

+13 votes
l have had two different tests, and the results keep radically changing.  so it’s hard to know.  

but in general it seems to be a lot of viking because l get scandinavian but have no actual scandinavian ancestors that l know of for hundreds of years.  so l think that many of the british isles and west europe ancestors that l do know of had viking blood, because some of their families that l can trace a thousand years were from Normandy, the Rhineland, and other areas with lots of Viking immigration.  

l’ve also consistently seen small amounts of African, Sephardic, Iberian and Italian.  My mom’s family has been in the South since colonial times, so l assume there are some ancestors who were enslaved.
by Anne Offerman G2G2 (2.9k points)
+12 votes

I tested multiple places with sometimes very different results. Shows the impact of underlying databases and methodologies.

AncestryDNA

  •     Scotland 51%
  •     France 20%
  •     Ireland 17%
  •     Wales 6%
  •     England & Southern Europe 5%
  •     Benin & Togo   1%

FamilyTreeDNA

  •     England Wales and Scoland 41%
  •     Ireland       20%
  •     Central Europe 19%
  •     Scandinavia 6%
  •     Iberian Peninusula 11%
  •     Malta   2%

MyHeritage

  •     Irish, Scottish and Welsh 44%
  •     English     42.2%
  •     Italian 6%
  •     Ashkenazi Jewish 1.1%
  •     North African  3.9%
  •     Nigerian 1.9%

23andMe

  •     British & Irish 79.6%
  •     French & German 4.7%
  •     Broadly Northwestern European 3.1%
  •     Spanish & Portuguese 11.8%
  •     African 0.8%

LivingDNA

  •     Ireland 22.1%
  •     East Anglia 15.1%
  •     North Yorkshire 12%
  •     South Central England 10%
  •     Cornwall   9.3%
  •     Northwest England 6%
  •     South Yorkshire 5.6%
  •     Aberdeenshire 4%
  •     Northumbria 2.2%
  •     Central England 1.6%
  •     East Iberia 11.9%
by Doug McCallum G2G6 Pilot (527k points)
edited by Doug McCallum
+13 votes
Here's mine, through Ancestry:

England and NW Europe: 54%
Germanic Europe: 34%
Scotland: 8%
France: 2%
Northern Italy: 2%

It has shifted a bit as reference panels have increased over the years, but the predominance of England, Germany, and Switzerland has not changed much. I took part in the National Geographic genographic project, which has now ceased its public component. The results through that system were similar to those I got through Ancestry.
by Andrea Zuercher G2G6 (9.4k points)
+13 votes
I always thought of myself 3/8 irish 1/8 english 1/2 german.  Heritage DNA came back with: 42% irish-scottish-welsh, 37% english, 12% italian, 8% finnish, 1% middle-eastern. No german, did my test get mixed up with someone else, no it identified some of my german cousins. However a recent update of their analysis put me in genetic group Germany (Baden-Wurtemburg) which is correct for part of my German. It also correctly targeted Ireland (County Mayo) and Eastern Ireland. Wondering what another update will bring...  The update didnt change my percentages though!
by William Kennard G2G1 (1.3k points)
+13 votes
I did my test thru LivingDNA.com and my results were not anywhere close to what I expected. Was I surprised? My ancestor on paper traces straight back into the Rheinland and the towns of Bosenbach and Essweiler. Between 1738 and when I was conceived in 1948 all the German DNA was washed out.

My recent ethnicity came back 100% English. My Maternal Ancestry came back all over the place with the largest percentage being 68% Sammi. My Paternal Ancestry being 61% Oroqen. I know that the smaller the percentage the further back in time.
by Hal Stout G2G2 (2.4k points)
+13 votes
I did mine at FTDNA ... at first it said I was 83% British Isles, 15% Western Europe, and <2% North Africa,  they redid their algorithms and now its 100% England, Scotland Wales. The circle covers the top of France, N. Ireland. the countries NW of Germany.
by Lynette Jester G2G6 Mach 8 (83.2k points)
+12 votes

I tested on Ancestry. These are the percentages I have posted on my profile. I have not changed them on my profile when the percentages changed, because that particular update I used when I wrote my profile seems to fit with my tree and research very closely. However, I have found I am more English with no Norwegian, so my English should be higher and my Norwegian should be lower.

English (61%)

Swedish/Norwegian (27%)

Irish/Scottish (9%)

Prussian/German (2%)

African- I do not remember which country in Africa (1%)

This is the newest update in January of 2021 (and is  ridiculous!):

England (28%)

Norway (22%)

Sweden (18%) 

Ireland (13%)

Scotland (12%)

Wales (4%)

Benin and Togo (2%)

Finland (1%)

Has anyone else on Ancestry seen their newest dna updates yet? If so, are yours as ridiculous as mine seem to be?

Missy smiley

by Missy Berryann G2G6 Pilot (216k points)
+11 votes
I am roughly 60% European (Spain and Portugal primarily) about 17% Native (Caribbean) and 20% African. I am PUerto Rican, so that is pretty typical.
by Maureen Randall G2G6 (6.1k points)
+10 votes
FTDNA has my autosomal DNA listed as:

Europe (overall) ~100%

- Western Europe Breakdown: ~99%

- England, Wales, and Scotland: 73%

- Ireland: 24%

- Central Europe: 2%

Eastern Europe Breakdown: <1%

- Magyar: <1%

Americas Breakdown: <1%

- Ameridan - Andes & Caribbean: <1%
by Scott Fulkerson G2G Astronaut (1.5m points)
+11 votes
auDNA:

93% British Isles; Northern France, e.g. Normandy Picardy; and the Netherlands

7% West and central African - Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Senegal, and Cameroon

mtDNA: Jewish -  Misrachi, Sephardi, Ashkenazi
by Marion Ceruti G2G6 Pilot (351k points)
+11 votes
From Ancestry: 43% England & Northwestern Europe - 36% Scotland - 8% Wales - 6% Norway - 5% Germanic Europe - 2% Ireland

This is pretty much what I expected except it doesn’t show any Native American. My 2nd great grandmother was Choctaw so I was a bit surprised.
by Karen Wells G2G6 Mach 1 (11.6k points)
+11 votes
I did my test through AncestryDNA and my results are quite varied

20% Melanesian

14% Spain

9% Ireland

9% Indigenous Andean- Chile

8% Wales

7% Indigenous Eastern South America

5% Tonga

5% England- Central Southern England

4% Southern Italy

3% Indigenous Americas- Mexico

3% Indigenous Americas- Central

3% Norway

2% Portugal

2% Indigenous Americas- Yucatan Peninsula

2% Greece and Albania

2% Samoa

1% Scotland

1% Turkey and the Caucasus

It all matches my understanding of my family quite well!
by Lusiana Bisasa G2G Crew (900 points)
+10 votes
23&Me has updated my % several times. This is the latest:

British & Irish 44.8%

Scandinavian 44.2% - my grandfather immigrated from Norway and my great grandmother from Sweden.

French & German 2.0%

Broadly Northwestern European 5.9%

Sub-Saharan African 1.6%

Western Asian & North African 1.3%

My great grandfather was supposedly “mixed race”, his death certificate.

It seems to make sense.
by Lynda Wheeler G2G4 (5.0k points)
+10 votes
I used Ancestry DNA and the results change periodically. Here are the latest numbers:

62% England & Northwestern Europe

25% Scotland

 6% Norway

 4% Germanic Europe

 2% Wales

 1% Ireland

Most of this is born out by my tree except for the Norway - but there are some lines that don’t go back many generations.
by Lamar Bliss G2G Crew (880 points)
+10 votes
I actually just received my results yesterday! I went with MyHeritage because it's the most popular here in France so I thought it would give me the most matches.

The main results are as such:

Iberian: 45.4%
Western and Northern European: 37.1%
Greek and Southern Italian: 13.2%
Balkans people: 4.3%

I'm a bit skeptical but the "Iberian" bubble covers a good chunk of Southern France on the map so I guess it comes from there. No idea where the 2 smaller groups come from.

The "genetic groups" part (which is a new feature, from my understanding) seems more accurate:

France
Northwestern France (Brittany and Loire countries)
Northwestern and Southwestern France
by Léa Haupaix G2G6 Mach 9 (93.4k points)
+10 votes
I have ethnicity estimates from three sites, but though they differ, none tell me anything I don't know.  My mother is Acadian, and I can trace both her maternal line and my grandmother's paternal line back to Port Royale.  Here is what they are:

Family Tree  72% Central Europe, 18% Ireland, 8% Scandanavian, 2% Misc traces

Ancestry  France 42% Eng 31%, Scot 19%, Wales 2%, Nigeria 2%, traces Africa and Indigenous Arctic

Myheritage  Eng 33%  Scan 31%, Iberia 16% Irish/scot 9%, Greek/south Italian 6%, Kenyan 1.6%, Ashk Jew 1.2% Sierra Leone 1%, Meso Amer and Andean 1.3%

And they keep changing.
by Paul Berry G2G4 (4.3k points)
+10 votes
27% England & NW Europe

23% Irish  

19% Scotland (these 3 I expected)

12% European Jewish (complete surprise as family has No record of any kind)

9% Germanic Europe

6% Wales. (a surprise)

4% Norway
by Robin Johnson G2G6 (6.0k points)
+10 votes

Ancestry

England & Northwestern Europe  64%

Scotland 30%  I maternal GM was a Scottish imigrant.

Norway  4%

Sweden 2%

The first round with Ancestry bothered me because it had no Scotland and I am 1/4 Scotch.

by David Dodd G2G6 Mach 3 (33.5k points)
+9 votes
My results through MyHeritage DNA are as follows:North & West European, 36.7%: Scandinavian,, 33.4%: Irish,Scotland, and Wales, 15.3%:Eastern European, 10.7%; Italian,1.3$: and West Asian,2.6%.  The Scandinavian, Italian, and West Asian I did not expect.

Your Genetic Portal gave me different ethnic percentages including a trace percentage of Native American ethnicity
by David Hughey G2G Astronaut (1.7m points)
+8 votes

23andMe Ancestry Composition:

AncestryDNA Ethnicity Estimates

AncestryDNA breakdown of additional communities:

by Azure Robinson G2G6 Pilot (540k points)

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