Ancestry DNA tests came back this week....

[Barbara_C]

Has anybody done this and was shocked at what they found out?
I knew I was part Irish, English being from MN of course some Swedish, Norwegian but was shocked to find out Im over 1/8 Jewish and some French....
My best friend who is Russian/Jew.....told me well nobody is perfect but your getting closer now.
I went with her to Israel 12 years ago for 2 weeks and fell in love with the beauty and the food and the history.....everything.

[brandrea]

Interesting to know

I’ve never done it, mainly because my family roots trace back to the early 1600’s in Switzerland. That’s fair enough back for me

[ltmgeller]

Just did mine too, nothing surprising though.

[Blansky]

I'm not particularly interested in it but when people are sometimes shocked that they have Swedish ancestry, they failed to realize that the Vikings conquered great swaths of Europe and since a large population of North America came from Europe, it's bound to show up in their ancestry.

Since you're from Minnesota, adds to the line as well.

I was adopted at 6 months old, but still no desire to have someone knock at my door and tell me I'm their long lost cousin/brother/ uncle etc etc My nightmare is it might be cousin Eddie...

I'm not sure how far these DNA things can go back, but I would guess that pretty much everyone has some ancestry from almost everywhere.

I think I read that everyone's DNA is 99.9% identical.

[MrGoat]

I did 23 and me because ancestry’s T&C’s at the time stated once you provide them your DNA it is their property to do whatever they want with.

I was shocked that my brother (same dad, different moms) and I only share about 20% of our DNA. It’s also a little perplexing that our Dad shows Ashkenazi Jewish and SubSaharan African but my DNA does not and neither does my brothers.

The worst, I was always told I had lots of Native American ancestry. My dad’s grandmother was 100% Chippewa and my mom’s great grandfather was 100% Cherokee. I was shocked when only 0.5% Native American ancestry was shown on my DNA test. Apparently there something to do with maternal and paternal DNA and opposite sexes don’t pass on a majority of that DNA.

I’ve found a lot of relatives I never knew I had through it though and found out a lot about my family history.


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[Barbara_C]

I was thinking about trying another service just to compare results.....

[Stan Cooper]

23andMe says I'm a mutt, and yes, there were several surprises. The 3.2% Ashkenazi Jewish and 2.2% Sub-Saharan African bits were probably the biggest, plus the higher than average Neanderthal.

[THC]

We are all better off not knowing imo

[MrGoat]

Originally Posted by Stan Cooper

23andMe says I'm a mutt, and yes, there were several surprises. The 3.2% Ashkenazi Jewish and 2.2% Sub-Saharan African bits were probably the biggest, plus the higher than average Neanderthal.

What’s your Neanderthal percentage Stan? I thought the Neanderthal DNA thing was pretty cool. Mine is more than 71% of 23andMe customers.


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[Blansky]

Originally Posted by THC

We are all better off not knowing imo

I think I agree.

I'd be sort of disappointed if I was searching for my ancestors to be the rulers of European high society and in fact came back as 80% Australopithecus and my great, great, etc etc grandmother's name was Lucy.

[Krash]

I’m 50% human. 50% Beta Reticulan.


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[Barbara_C]

Being 13.5 Ashkenazi and 2.6 Sephardic Jewish then 4.6 French was a shock...I've spent most of my life thinking I was mostly Norwegian ,Swedish and Irish ........even had 1 percent Greek.

[Dan Pierce]

Originally Posted by brandrea

Interesting to know

I’ve never done it, mainly because my family roots trace back to the early 1600’s in Switzerland. That’s fair enough back for me

My dad spent lots of his retirement investigating our heritage and found out my 7th Great Grandfather came to The New World via Bristol, England back in 1684.

Over time, as tech and the number of participants grows, the percentages can change drastically. I started our mostly English with some German and a dash of Italian. Now I'm mostly German with a larger portion of Italian and just a dash of English.
dP

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by Dan Pierce

My dad spent lots of his retirement investigating our heritage and found out my 7th Great Grandfather came to The New World via Bristol, England back in 1684.

Over time, as tech and the number of participants grows, the percentages can change drastically. I started our mostly English with some German and a dash of Italian. Now I'm mostly German with a larger portion of Italian and just a dash of English.
dP

These days we think of European countries as stable elements with defined borders and specific languages and cultures but through the ages the entire continent was a hodgepodge or wars and conquerors and invaders etc etc.

By studying the history even of England different "countries" were in and out and to such an extent that your ancestors could have lived in one place and still have DNA from various countries with out ever leaving town.

And the same with all of Europe. One soldier from another country could have changed your entire DNA with his ancestral history from where ever.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englan...he_Middle_Ages

When we read about the Norman Conquests of Europe that meant the "Norsemen" (Vikings) who were all over parts of Europe.

With the Crusades thousands of Europeans headed to the "Holy Land" over decades and would have changed the DNA of the people in their wake.

The Romans (Italians) conquered all the way to England, and soldiers could have come from as far away as Constantinople spreading their DNA.

And people wondering/confused about Jewish ancestry...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histor...Jews_in_Europe

[Dan Pierce]

Originally Posted by Blansky

These days we think of European countries as stable elements with defined borders and specific languages and cultures but through the ages the entire continent was a hodgepodge or wars and conquerors and invaders etc etc.

By studying the history even of England different "countries" were in and out and to such an extent that your ancestors could have lived in one place and still have DNA from various countries with out ever leaving town.

And the same with all of Europe. One soldier from another country could have changed your entire DNA with his ancestral history from where ever.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englan...he_Middle_Ages

When we read about the Norman Conquests of Europe that meant the "Norsemen" (Vikings) who were all over parts of Europe.

With the Crusades thousands of Europeans headed to the "Holy Land" over decades and would have changed the DNA of the people in their wake.

The Romans (Italians) conquered all the way to England, and soldiers could have come from as far away as Constantinople spreading their DNA.

And people wondering/confused about Jewish ancestry...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histor...Jews_in_Europe

You could spend decades just reviewing the history of those who conquered Sicily alone.
dP

[Stan Cooper]

Mine is more than 58% of 23andMe customers.

Originally Posted by MrGoat

What’s your Neanderthal percentage Stan? I thought the Neanderthal DNA thing was pretty cool. Mine is more than 71% of 23andMe customers.


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[Krash]

Czechia, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Croatia, Slovenia, Albania, Serbia, Montenegro…They’re all the same people…They all share the same DNA. Some people go as far as saying Germany and Russia are in that mix, too…Eastern European descent.


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[Blansky]

Originally Posted by Krash

Czechia, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Croatia, Slovenia, Albania, Serbia, Montenegro…They’re all the same people…They all share the same DNA. Some people go as far as saying Germany and Russia are in that mix, too…Eastern European descent.

I'm not too knowledgeable of Eastern European history but it's interesting at the time of World War 1 that the King of England, Kaiser of Germany and Czar of Russia were all cousins.

Of course this has more to do with monarchies, political intrigue and control of wealth, than the lives of the common people but it's interesting.

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/...holas-wilhelm/

[INC]

Originally Posted by Krash

Czechia, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Croatia, Slovenia, Albania, Serbia, Montenegro…They’re all the same people…They all share the same DNA.

Not really

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by Dan Pierce

My dad spent lots of his retirement investigating our heritage and found out my 7th Great Grandfather came to The New World via Bristol, England back in 1684.

Over time, as tech and the number of participants grows, the percentages can change drastically. I started our mostly English with some German and a dash of Italian. Now I'm mostly German with a larger portion of Italian and just a dash of English.
dP

Interesting to know Dan.


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[Krash]

Culturally, there are differences. Genetically, not so much.

Eastern Europe 1815:


Eastern Europe 1880:


Eastern Europe 1900:


Eastern Europe 1930:



Eastern Europe now:



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[AzPaul]

Had it done but all the countries that were linked to me are contesting the results.

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by AzPaul

Had it done but all the countries that were linked to me are contesting the results.

Well that's disappointing.

Not one of them would own up to it??

[KathleenL]

My father was career Army so we lived all over the world and didn't live near any family except for two years after Daddy retired. It was when I was in 6th and 7th grades, and we lived in the same city in Washington as my mother's sister and brother-in-law (my aunt and uncle). But I didn't become interested in our family history/genealogy until after my parents had died. And I didn't do a DNA test until 2012, when I did it through Ancestry.com.

I knew that my mother's side was mostly Irish, with a tiny bit of German and English thrown in, and that my father's side is Italian. Just took a look at my DNA results on Ancestry, and as of today they are:
Ireland - 43%
Southern Italy - 30%
Aegean Islands - 13%
England & Northwestern Europe 5%
Northern Italy - 3%
Greece & Albania 2%
Malta - 2%
Scotland - 2%

Interestingly, my older sister (whose DNA was also done through Ancestry and her results are linked to my tree on Ancestry) shows the following results as of today:
Ireland - 34%
Southern Italy - 21%
Scotland - 16%
Aegean Islands - 14%
Northern Italy - 14%
Malta - 1%

If you were to look at us, and our parents, you would see that my sister takes after my father, and I take after my mother. And per our DNA results, I'm 43% Irish while she is 34% Irish, and she is 35% Italian and I am 33% Italian.

This is how Ancestry shows my DNA, broken down by which came from which parent:

[DJ TT 2002]

What I already know about my immediate family is enough to keep me up nights !!!

[Dan Pierce]

Originally Posted by brandrea

Interesting to know Dan.


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My dad has discovered lots of interesting family history. Below are just a couple examples.

One of my ancestors was a German Hession soldier who was captured by George Washington on Christmas Day, 1776. This was the famous crossing of The Delaware River. Out of the 30,000 Hession soldiers who were hired to help the British, about 5000 laid down their arms in return for land and a chance at The New World.

Two of my female ancestors were 2 of the 58 wives of Brigham Young.

There's much more and this family history info is a treasured value that will hopefully be passed down thru generations.
dP

[MrGoat]

Originally Posted by Dan Pierce

My dad has discovered lots of interesting family history. Below are just a couple examples.

One of my ancestors was a German Hession soldier who was captured by George Washington on Christmas Day, 1776. This was the famous crossing of The Delaware River. Out of the 30,000 Hession soldiers who were hired to help the British, about 5000 laid down their arms in return for land and a chance at The New World.

Two of my female ancestors were 2 of the 58 wives of Brigham Young.

There's much more and this family history info is a treasured value that will hopefully be passed down thru generations.
dP

That’s awesome Dan!!

Through my own research I found out one of my German ancestors (a female) started a small town in Pennsylvania and one of her sons (who I’m a direct descendant of) was tasked by the Committee of Safety (headed by Benjamin Franklin) to build rifles for the revolution. In 1801 him and his father were killed and scalped while hunting “their” property.


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[Barbara_C]

In reading above most Americans are mutts/Heinz 57....like me
Im willing to invest a little more money in a diff company and compare DNA test results, I bet it will be diff than the first.

[Dan Pierce]

Originally Posted by MrGoat

That’s awesome Dan!!

Through my own research I found out one of my German ancestors (a female) started a small town in Pennsylvania and one of her sons (who I’m a direct descendant of) was tasked by the Committee of Safety (headed by Benjamin Franklin) to build rifles for the revolution. In 1801 him and his father were killed and scalped while hunting “their” property.


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That's great history right there.

My 7th Great Grandfather was an associate w/ William Penn and was granted 498 acres near Philadelphia. His twin grandsons started Peirce's Park [the spelling of our family name has changed many times over the centuries], at the time the world's largest arboretum. It was eventually bought by Pierre DuPont and is now called Longwood Gardens. The brick farmhouse that was built there in 1730 is still used today and I'm hoping to visit someday.
dP

[ronricks]

I don’t think these are very accurate. My cousin used two of these services and got completely different results with each.