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General => Ancestral Family Tree DNA Testing => Topic started by: xpress4 on Tuesday 10 April 18 15:36 BST (UK)
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Hi there,
My Ancestry DNA Ethnicity, and that of my husband, shows Irish ethnicity. However, mine stops there and his continues to identify his origins as Munster and Connacht. I know I have generations of ancestors from Leinster and some from Ulster. Just wondering why my results aren't as specific as his?
One other question, does Ancestry break down Scottish ethnicity by region as well?
Thank you!
Brenda
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This is my personal opinion.
Sorry to burst your bubble but Ancestry DNA ethnicity predictions (and those of other firms) are not worth the paper they are written on. There have been countless threads on here about this if you want to do a search and see what others have said.
If you want to know why I have said they are unreliable look into how the firms arrive at these results, then if you still believe them so be it that is your right.
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In my experience Ancestry ethnicity does point to some significant origins and migrations which accord with the paper trail. However, it can appear to get the detail wrong. Before the last recalculation of ethnicity my wife was showing 5% German. I was happy I could explain this as her 2x great grandmother was Louisa Kirchner - from Ireland but of German descent. However with the recalculation she has 0%German and 2% Norwegian. I have now just located a 5th-8th cousin match of mainly German descent who shows no common ethnicity. I think this proves you have to allow for a margin f error! The other thing to bear in mind is that an ancestor’s genes may get filtered out over the generations and not appear in your dna at all.
Regards,
Phil
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This is because they have managed to match his DNA with more specific communities. You can read about how communities work here:
https://support.ancestry.co.uk/s/article/DNA-Genetic-Communities (https://support.ancestry.co.uk/s/article/DNA-Genetic-Communities)
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It would be interesting to see if Brenda’s percentages have changed in the past two years. The results can change over the years, which is another reason to not take them too much to heart. :)
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This is my personal opinion.
Sorry to burst your bubble but Ancestry DNA ethnicity predictions (and those of other firms) are not worth the paper they are written on. There have been countless threads on here about this if you want to do a search and see what others have said.
If you want to know why I have said they are unreliable look into how the firms arrive at these results, then if you still believe them so be it that is your right.
I thought that too until a supposed second cousin of mine turned out to have 50 % Polish ethnicity, supporting the family suspicion he wasn't a late child of the couple registered as his parents (actually his grandparents) but of their daughter and an unknown Polish man from a contingent known to be in the area at time of conception. I have more details on another thread. My match with him wasn't close enough to be the supposed relationship, but fitted well with the 2C1R relationship.
Also from my percentage of Scottish ethnicity it has given more support to the theory that one of my ancestors was from Scotland. I hope one day, there might be something more specific on location. I have one known branch from Lanarkshire, but percentage Scottish ethnicity is much more than for that one line.
Ethnicity estimates may be of more interest to descendants of emigrants (US, Canada, Australasia etc) who might know they had European roots (from their surname) but know little about which regions they might have come from.
My percentages have changed but not much over the years, still broadly follows the paper trail, but apart from definite Scottish and probable Scottish, both of home came south, all my other ancestral lines are from counties in southern England.
My husband's is even more specific 88% East Suffolk, Essex, East Anglia. The paper trail shows his ancestors in Suffolk, northern Essex and southern Norfolk. The rest is Scandinavia and Germanic Europe which is quite reasonable for people from East Anglia.
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It is often said that the ethnicity estimates are just a bit of fun, etc., you shouldnt rely on them. However I do feel that there is without doubt good science behind them, as my experience is that they do reflect what I know from family history, and my genealogical investigations.
I had my DNA tested by ancestry, and have uploaded it to at least( what a memory!), 4 other organisations, the usual suspects, MH/FTDNA/Gedmatch/Living, and possibly one other.
The first thing to say is that my test was carried out about 2 years ago, and with Ancestry/MH/FTDNA there have been at least 1 update, in the case of Ancestry, 2 or 3 I think.
However, they all come to roughly the same conclusion, I am 75-85 % and even more Irish, the majority of the rest is north Ireland/South west Scotland. There is a little splash of north west Scotland, and possibly a few % (2/4/or<1) which is possibly just white noise in the testing.
Some went into minimal detail - FTDNA said 96% British isles, and 4 * West central Europe, while Ancestry went into by far the most detail., indicating specific areas of Ireland where ancestors likely came from.
The most impressive details was that they indicated Connaught/Galway, and north Connemara specifically. Now my Great Grandmother Margaret Burke came from near Clifden in the wildest, west of Ireland. She came latterly for my family (1870's), and on her own, while most of my other ancestors came from the counties making up Ulster, especially the coastal counties of Donegal, Derry & Antrim. Those who came to Scotland tended to travel across the North Channel to Scotland from the northern counties, while those from counties further south went to Wales and England - and of course to the West!
As a result It may be that Margaret's contribution to my DNA mix stood out and was easier to identify. However they also pin-pointed Donegal, from whence many came to the central belt of Scotland. But I assume that when the test was being run, they did not know where the test donor came from.
So I definitely think there is something in it, and they can in some cases pin-point smallish areas of origin, especially if there has not been that much mixing up of genetic material with that of other areas. Ancestry indicated the Innishowen Peninsula, that part of Donegal closest to Scotland, and that would be where I might start my searching for those branches that I have no idea of origin - like my Duffys - my maternal paternal line, who have been is Scotland since before 1826.
Another point to bear in mind for my specific ethnicity estimates is that people were moving back and forward across the North Channel out of necessity on their own and in groups long before the 'plantation ' times, Dalriada was a western costal kingdom uniting ireland and Scotland, before Scotland was born. The Vikings came from the north east, and ruled in Orkney/Shetlands, the Northern Isles, the Western Isles and Ireland, so our ancient ( beyond the bounds of an autosomal test is what I mean here), ancestry will have been truely mixed up.
On the pont of the break down of Scottish ethnicity, in my case at least, the areas were given as south west/north west/west central scotland, nothing more distinct. However I suspect if you came from a distinct part of Scotland away from the the central belt, with much less genetic mixing, in a way like Connemara, then I imagine the genetic fingerprint for there will be more distinct and identifiable. However perhaps they (Ancestry) don't have the volume of samples to identify that. Plenty emigrated from Scotland to the USA & Canada, but not in the same volumes as the Irish went to USA & Canada.
Jane
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It’s very curious the way that Ancestry completely changes Ethnicity Estimates when they update every so often…
I noticed this Article on DNA testing and Ethnicity recently:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/aug/11/question-ancestry-does-dna-testing-really-understand-race
Romilly.
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I've never been convinced any DNA company could possibly tell any of us where our DNA originated!
I don't believe much of their ethnicity calculations.
My brother is seemingly descended from “Niall of the Nine Hostages”!!!
Did they dig him up to get a sample of his DNA to prove my brother descends from him ???
I believe I'm related to the people I have DNA connections with (present day) but it's our paper trail which finds those connections.
Regarding the people in the article which Romilly posted, it's not clear if any paper trails were followed or whether there were NPEs.
Personally, I think DNA testing sites use family trees of shared matches & other means (not quite sure what) to identify our 'probable' ethnicity.
I wouldn't have taken a DNA test for the sole purpose of finding out my ethnicity but clearly many do.
The trouble with many who do take the test, they can't be bothered doing the leg work/paper trail although I can understand descendants of illegitimate ancestors or themselves being illegitimate using DNA as a 'guide'.
However, any DNA connections still need paperwork trails where possible as NPEs/illegitimacy did occur just as they did/do with our legitimate (paper trail) ancestors.
I do have to admit, my paper trail & ethnicity do seem to work out so far.
Annie
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Ethnicity estimates are generally considered to be accurate at continental level, but less so the more precise they claim to be. Smaller percentages should be treated with greater suspicion.
Ancestry's "DNA Communities" is a rather misleading term. Whilst the more general ethnicity allocations are derived from DNA matching across reference populations, the DNA Communities are not directly calculated from your DNA. They are inferred by a computational algorithm from the locations entered in the family trees of members with whom you have matches, so similar to the way that the Thrulines algorithm works, and therefore just as susceptible to inaccuracy dependent upon the accuracy of other family trees and other assumptions.
I have mentioned here before that my brother and I are both attributed by Ancestry to two communities in the United States, including Ohio, Indiana and Eastern Kentucky. Our direct Ancestors have never been anywhere near that region, nor do any of them originate from the USA. But our maternal GGF whose family origins are Welsh, had several wives before marrying our GGM. His wives were all from English families, but several of his sons from his first marriage emigrated to the USA in the late 19th century, where there are now numerous descendants who have taken DNA tests with Ancestry and created family trees, all half-cousins at various degrees of separation with whom we share DNA Matches through our GGF alone. As a result, Ancestry insists that we are partly of North American origin! ("Generally accurate at continental level" ?)
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Ancestry have updated mine 3 times since test taken in 2019. The latest with paternal and maternal lines split confirming welsh on mum's side with a higher % than previous 2 updates. The accuracy is improving, I think. Increased Sweden on paternal side is/might be still ancient DNA from Yorkshire or Northwest viking at 7% (0-10) or a mystery ancestor.
It's getting better.
Simon.
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They are based on the members, so it changes on Ancestry about once a year because more people join.