Sunday, November 16, 2014

WHAT DOES MY DNA TEST FROM ANCESTRY.COM TELL ME?


Ancestry DNA home screen

WOOHOO!  I received the results of my Ancestry.com DNA test.

This is the first DNA test I have ever taken.  Both my brother and my half brother have done DNA tests. Recently, I decided I wanted to have my own results.  Next on the list will be my husband.  To my knowledge, no members of his family have been tested yet.

NOW WHAT?

The first thing I wanted to see was the ethnicity chart.  I have enough information on my maternal side and a portion of my paternal side, to believe that it would indicate a lot of Scottish, Irish and English bloodlines.  

BUT, would there be any surprises?

It doesn’t look like it.  Here is the initial breakdown with the map.

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)
Ancestry DNA ethnicity with map

I was surprised to see the greatest percentage was for Ireland.  I know I have some direct ancestry from Ireland.  However, I believed the majority were from Scotland.  

Then, in looking at the circles on the map I can see the big overlap for that dark blue circle, which includes Scotland.  Alright then, that makes sense.  So, I’m 98% European.  No big surprise there.  Which breaks down to the percentages you can see on the map below. 

What areas are indicated in those Trace Regions listed at 11%?

Ancestry DNA trace amounts

Although it’s a little difficult to see all the different colored circles on the map, if I hover over them while on the Ancestry site, they become shaded in.
 
Here is a breakdown of those other areas of my ethnicity.

EUROPE EAST – 4%
SCANDINAVIA – 3%
EUROPE WEST – 2%
IBERIAN PENINSULA – 2%
WEST ASIA – CAUCASUS – 1%

HERE ARE THE MAPS FOR THOSE TRACE AREAS THAT COMPOSE 12% OF MY ETHNIC ORIGINS.  

Ancestry DNA EUROPE EASTmap
EUROPE EAST
Ancestry DNA SCANDINAVIAmap
                    SCANDINAVIA
  

Ancestry DNA EUROPE WESTmap
EUROPE WEST
Ancestry DNA IBERIANmap
IBERIAN PENINSULA
Ancestry DNA CAUCASUSmap
WEST ASIA - CAUCASUS
     









NEXT, I went to the “Matches” list to see what gems I could find there.

There are 263 matches.  Those matches range from 3rd-4th Cousin (1 match at 98% confidence) to 4th-6th Cousins at 95-96% confidence ( 51 matches ), to Distant Cousins, possible range, 5th-8th Cousins at moderate to low confidence.

I have already sent a message to the one match that could be a 3rd or 4th cousin.  I have also taken a look at some of the 51 other matches that could be 4th-6th cousins.  I expect I will also contact some of those people.

It will be very interesting to see if more close matches show up as other people participate in testing.
 
This is a learning process for me and I’m certainly hoping it will pay off in finding some lines of the family that I have yet to discover.

Have you participated in DNA testing?
If so, what was your experience and did you think is was worthwhile?

I’ll certainly let you know if I break down any brick walls or find a connection.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST
DNA TESTING - TIME FOR ME TO SEND IN A SAMPLE
FOLLOWING LEADS ON ANCESTRY - ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl


Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

2 comments:

  1. The results for our family have been a little strange and not exactly what we expected though I guess within the realm of possible. We are half German from both sides of the family, and yet we are showing a lot of Scandinavian and English/Irish/Scottish. I'm wondering if our Germans came from other places and that's why our results look 'strange'?

    Anyway, I'll keep working on it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was surprised when I first saw the Ireland entry, as I expected Scotland. However, I do know that some of my "Scottish" ancestors were born in Ireland. I always thought they were Scottish and the families had moved due to some financial problems etc. Now I think there may be more to that Irish connection. I am not well versed in Irish research and need to learn more. Good luck with your research. Have fun!

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I look forward to reading your comments. If you have any connection to the people mentioned in this blog, please let me know. I write about mine and my husband's ancestors and would welcome new information or meeting a new cousin or two. Thanks for visiting and come back soon.