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

Question

If you have taken a DNA test, what does the testing company report for your ethnicity? Is it what you expected?

Please tell us about it with an answer below, or on Facebook or use the question image to share your answer with friends and family on any social media.

Comments

Thanks for giving that website, that info is taken from the Oxford Uni study that I'd read

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Thanks for the 'genetic map of the British Isles' and time lapse links, Lewis!

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I heard sometime ago that the government of France was not allowing genetic testing, (but that may have changed) therefore I would think that none of the testing companies have a genetic pool to be able to accurately determine French Ancestry.

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WOWO... this is fabulous

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Just to add a bit to the discussion about the genetic history of the British Isles, the link referencing the Oxford University news article was about a research paper supervised by two researchers at the university and published in Nature 18 March 2015. The paper is paywalled, but the methodology used genotyped microarrays, like our common direct-to-consumer tests, that looked at approximately 500K SNPs, so about 100K fewer than your recent autosomal test. The UK data used included 2,039 samples from rural areas who had all four grandparents born within 80 kilometers of each, so the researchers felt this gave a good picture of geographic localization; the average birth year of the grandparents was 1885. The Oxford University news article does a good job of summarizing the findings.

The fly in the Celtic ointment is that while the study included some samples from Northern Ireland, it didn't include the whole of Ireland. I wrote about a subsequent study published in January 2018 that focused primarily on Ireland, but also included samples from England, Wales, and Scotland. The 2015 study found only modest genetic trails as a result of Norwegian Viking influences--those primarily in Orkney, northwestern Scotland, and only a fringe of the western coast of Ireland--and "no clear genetic evidence of the Danish Viking occupation and control of a large part of England." The 2018 study found "a much greater Viking influence than previously estimated..."

More recent research papers like "The Genetic Landscape of Scotland and the Isles" (Gilbert, et al., 2019; open access) and "Large-scale Migration into Britain During the Middle to Late Bronze Age" (Patterson, et al., 2022; temporary free access provided by Springer Nature) continue to expand and refine our understanding of how the British Isles were peopled.

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Thanks for all that, but of course every year DNA is being defined more & more & including more areas which is why it has to be updated as the info increases..

PS I have some ancient Viking-Irish ancestry but it is so far back the DNA has diluted to nil.

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My Heritage seems to see my French (and Acadian) as Iberian as well. All the other testing companies got it right.

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And the Charest has been in Québec since the sixteenth century.

And the french here had no one coming in for almost two hundred years. We started to  have new people coming  by the beginning of the nineteenth century.

So we have been sitting in the same french bath so the say with the same  families for hundred of years.

Is is impossible that nothing come out of it

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From FTDNA:

West Slavic - 24%

Magyar - 17%

Ireland - 25%

England, Wales, & Scotland - 15%

Italian Peninsula - 15%

Greece & Balkans - 4%

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unfortunately he doesn't regard some questions as worthy to respond to....  good luck

Answer 1

My DNA

England and Northwestern Europe - 37%

Scotland - 37%

Wales - 11%

Norway - 7%

Ireland - 3%

Finland - 3%

Sweden & Denmark - 2%

Answer 2

A DNA test at Ancestry showed the following ethnicity estimate:

• Norway 54%
• Sweden and Denmark 23%
• England & Northwestern Europe 15%
• Finland 10%

At 23andMe the ethnicity estimate was as follows:

• Scandinavian 77.5%
• British & Irish 10.4%
• Finnish 7.3%
• Broadly Northwestern European 2.8%
• Spanish & Portuguese 1.9%

The only surprises were the Finnish and Spanish & Portuguese estimates as these have not been documented genealogically.

Answer 3

England & Northwestern Europe - 36%

Scotland - 32%

Sweden & Denmark - 17%

Germanic Europe - 10%

Norway - 4%

Nigeria - 1%

(Ancestry.com)

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EUROPE

North and West European

52.9%

Scandinavian

36.6%

Iberian

7.5%

East European

1.4%

AFRICA

Somali

0.9%

North African

0.7%

 (Ancestry DNA uploaded to My Heritage)

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Comments

Europe99%

Western Europe

Central Europe

55%

England, Wales, and Scotland

18%

Ireland

11%

Scandinavia

6%

Eastern Europe

Magyar

5%

West Slavic

4%

Baltic

Baltic

<2%

Asia<1%

West Central Asia

Indus Valley

<1% 

(Ancestry DNA uploaded to FTDNA)

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North_Atlantic	42.43 Pct
Baltic	23.14 Pct
West_Med	15.29 Pct
West_Asian	6.47 Pct
East_Med	7.67 Pct
Red_Sea	1.92 Pct
South_Asian	1.28 Pct
East_Asian	-
Siberian	0.34 Pct
Amerindian	1 Pct
Oceanian	-
Northeast_African	0.46 Pct
Sub-Saharan

Ancestry DNA uploaded to GEDMATCH (Eurogenes) 

Answer 4

Ancestry: 

• 62% England
• 20% Wales
• 10% Sweden & Denmark
• 6% Ireland
• 2% Scotlamd

I'm yet to find an ancestor who wasn't born in England.

Answer 5

My Ancestry DNA test was uploaded to FamilyTreeDNA and MyHeritage, the same test had different results:

Ancestry:

England & Northwestern Europe 64%

Germanic Europe 14%

Scotland 14%

Norway 6%

Ireland 2%

Wales 0%

FTDNA

England, Wales, Scotland 73%

Ireland 11%

Central Europe 2%

Sardinia 6%

Malta 2%

Greece & Balkins 1%

Magyar 6%

MyHeritage

 English 53.2%

Scandinavian 17.8%

Iberian 13%

Italian 8.9%

Irish, Scottish, and Welsh 3.8%

Balkan 1.3%

Greek and South Italian 1.1%

North and West European 0%

Finnish 0%

Middle Eastern .9%

Answer 6

Mine was mostly what I expected although I am surprised that the percentage for Ireland isn't higher.

England & Northwestern Europe 58%
Scotland 37%
Sweden & Denmark 3%
Ireland 2%

The big question that has run unanswered accurately in the family is whether we have a Native American Indian connection. Apparently we don't but the belief that we do is persistent.

Answer 7

Myheritage Test

71.1% Balcanic

18% Greek or souh Italian

4.4% Finnic

4.2% Scandinavian

2.3% scottish,Irish,Welsh

Answer 8

My genealogy is 1/4 Scottish and 1/4 English, but the DNA test tells me over half of the English side is Scottish !!  (Ancestry)

Answer 9

Not yet, surprised that Ancestry DNA found 10% Sweden as opposed to only 8% Irish. So many ancestors are from Ireland. Then found that Gard is a Swedish name, but my Gards traveled from Great Britain. So haven't gotten back to origins in Sweden.

Comments

I have Swedish ancestors in Minnesota/North Dakota, and one branch married into the Gard family. I guess that would make sense if the Gards were also Swedish (although they were all speaking English by this point, as far as I know).

Answer 10

Ancestry DNA - only had the results a few weeks, so trying to figure more out about it all!

England & Northwestern Europe 66%

(Midlands England: West Midlands, The Potteries)

Wales 22% 

Norway 12%

Not terribly surprising, except the Norway being that high!

Answer 11

Depending on which company did the sorting, I am either 34% Northern Italian, 29% Northern Europe and British isles, and 6% other. 23 and  me sez I am 51.5% Italian, 45.3% British isles, and some other, FTDNA says: 50% England, Wales and Scottish, Italian is 19%, and scandanavia is 18%, with a smattering of Malta and Ireland.

I say HA! They simply throw a dart and hope for something to work out.,

Answer 12

I have tested with 5 different companies and there is great inconsistency in the estimates. This is understandable since each is based on a different data base and methodology. I have proven Scots-Irish roots and some estimates show zero percent Scotland or Ireland. Additionally one should check estimates from time to time as they can change a lot.

Comments

Yes. My wife was originally 8% Ashkanazi Jew, which was a surprise to her. Now it doesn't show any Jewish origin.

Answer 13

EUROPE

North and West European

44.9%

East European

42.6%

Irish, Scottish, and Welsh

5.1%

Iberian

4.2%

Balkan

3.2%

Answer 14

Japanese 97%

Korean 3%

Answer 15

Ancestry dot com
England & Northwestern Europe	52%
Germanic Europe	28%
Ireland	9%
France	7%
Norway	2%
Wales	2%

My paternal grandmother was 100% French Canadian, (with her roots in France) going back 10 generations before her. Dad would have been 50% French (or French Canadian). My brothers and I should be showing ~25% French.

 

23 and Me:
European			100%
.  Northwestern European		95.6%
.  .  French & German	67.1%
.  .  British & Irish	26.7%
.  .  Broadly Northwest Europe	1.8%
.  Southern Europe		5.5%
.  .  Spanish & Portuguese	5.5%

 

FamilyTreeDNA
Europe			100%
. Western Europe		84%
.  .  England, Wales, Scotland	50%
.  .  Central Europe	18%
.  .  Ireland	15%
.  .  Scandinavia	< 1%
. Southern Europe		9%
.  .  Italian Peninsula	9%
. Eastern Europe		8%
.  .  West Slavic	8%

An old family photo was inscribed on the back "grandmother was Swedish and German." 

I know where that German came in.  But, I have never found the Swedish (according to the picture), Norwegian (from Ancestry), or even Scandanavian (according to FamilyTreeDNA). And, Ancestry includes an Icelandic segment which has to relate back to the Scandanavian (Viking) explorers who originally colonized the island nation.

Answer 16

It's all northern Europe as expected.

However, my Y-DNA shows a strong connection to southern Ireland. That was so surprising, I did it twice, and it stays the same. It's surprising because my male line should be German, perhaps Swiss if you go back far enough (where the Neff name is supposed to originate).

My dad's side of the line is German-from-Russia. They lived in a German colony along the Volga River in Russia since 1837, there were no Irish there. In 1901 they went directly to a small town in a heavily German part of North Dakota. My grandmother had a strict moral code, there's no way she fooled around, especially with someone who might be Catholic! So it seems like the Irish connection must be from before 1837. I have seen no matches with the last name Neff, and very few last names in common with each other either. I'm guessing the Irish didn't inherit last names until somewhat recently.

Answer 17

Ron Floyd     Wikitree Floyd-1923

Scotland                        65%

England & NW Europe  24%

Ireland                             9%

Finland                            2%

Red, White & Blue US Marine Corps 100%

(Father, Father-in-Law, Younger Brother, Oldest Son, Youngest Son) Semper Fi!

Answer 18

mtDNA: Jewish haplogroup J1b1b1, mostly Sephardic and Mizrachi. The maternal line goes through the Huguenot community. Jews were known to take Huguenot names when forced to adopt the naming conventions of Europe (have persistent male-based last name). However, this was not good protection from persecution. As we know, the Huguenot migration was undertaken to obtain religious freedom.

auDNA: British Isles, Scandinavia, Africa

As expected, I could not identify the names of many of my most recent African ancestors. Using circumstantial evidence and some reasonable assumptions, several of the "unknown" wives of known male ancestors have been proposed as most likely of African origin, consistent with the percentage of African ancestry reported.

I was surprised to find Irish ancestry, none of which I have been able to identify genealogically.

Conversely, my known French ancestry is not reflected in the most recent analysis of the auDNA.

Answer 19

MyHeritage's is absolute rubbish.  I'm tested, my mother is tested, my paternal Aunt is tested... absolutely no secrets have emerged and each has many, many identifiable genealogical DNA tested relatives, all descended from English with a small percentage of Jewish, (Ashkenazi) on Mum's side, and English with an equal smaller amount of Welsh and Portuguese on Dad's side.  Yet, somehow I'm supposed to have vast amounts of Scandinavian... way more than my husband who is 1/8th Danish decent.

I almost feel sorry for people who test to find out where they came from, if that's the kind of results that emanate. I pretty much ignore it all.

Answer 20

MyHeritage DNA ethnicity results:

Irish, Scottish, and Welsh   32.4%

English   25.0%

Balkan   15.0%

Iberian   15.0%

East European   7.6%

Italian   2.5%

North and West European   2.5%

The surprise is that there is no mention of France, even though I had three grandparents who hailed from Quebec, most of whom I've traced back to France. The fourth's parents were born in Lancashire, England.