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General => Ancestral Family Tree DNA Testing => Topic started by: tilly56 on Monday 06 June 22 15:31 BST (UK)
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Any ideas please..... My daughter has just received her results from her My Heritage DNA test.
I am mostly English (as far as I know - I've just had my test done and am waiting for results) , a touch of Irish and a smidgen of Italian from my Greatx5 grandfather. My husband is Breton for many, many generations. Nearly all of his ancestors came from nearby villages or towns.
Although the result does not give my daughter as French, it does give her as 53.4% Irish, Scottish, Welsh - which I suppose is the Celtic connection between Brittany and those countries, plus my drop of Irish. She is 32% English (from me I would imagine).
What intrigues her is that she has 6.3 % Iberian and 7.2 % North African. She also has 1.1 % Nigerian. The North African and Iberian does seem quite a lot.
Would this be from her Breton/French side?
My brother had a test done via Ancestry some time back and he is 86 % England, Wales and N W Europe and 11% Ireland/Scotland. So it would seem no North African on our side....
How reliable is My Heritage? Someone I know has just had her results and, although her family tree shows her as English, English and more English, her results said 48% Scandinavian and 50 per cent Irish, Scottish, Welsh!
I would be very interested to hear you thoughts and explanations.
Many thanks
Tilly xx
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My Ancestry test results tell me that I'm mainly English, Welsh with lesser amounts of Scandinavian and northern European heritage.
The same test uploaded to My Heritage gives broadly the same result, but with a little north African and Nigerian thrown in. I have no explanation for that from anything my research has shown, and suspect that if MH ever update their ethnicity results it will disappear.
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Interesting!! What percentage of North African and Nigerian do you have?
My daughter has what seems to me quite a high percentage. Added together, her Iberian, Nigerian and North African are more than my brother's Irish. Do you think that if MH did an update these results would disappear too?
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My Heritage shows the following for OH (with Ulster Scots ancestry from at least 1700 onwards)-
Irish, Scottish, and Welsh 68.9%
English 22.0%
North and West European 6.7%
Ashkenazi Jewish 2.4%
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6% North African; 1.4% Nigerian. I have no known connection with those places.
Of course, I am only speculating about what changes would show if MH updated, I just don't entirely believe what they show at the moment - (although it's certainly more interesting than what Ancestry have). I also uploaded to LivingDNA, and they think I'm 100% British Isles, which I know not to be true.
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I cannot understand why people are fascinated by the so called “Ethnicity Estimate” that DNA companies provide.
The fact they even name it an estimate shows they know it is not an accurate figure.
At best it may be correct at the continental level.
What do people understand determines “ethnicity” do you mean race, nationality, language, political identification, religion, language or even culture? All have been described as portraying ethnicity!
All the above are also of interest to the family historian as separate topics but I suggest not as a grouping which in reality is not based of any hard facts.
Cheers
Guy
P.S. I would be happy to be proved wrong on this, perhaps someone could explain exactly what they mean by ethnicity
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What do people understand determines “ethnicity” do you mean race, nationality, language, political identification, religion, language or even culture? All have been described as portraying ethnicity!
All the above are also of interest to the family historian as separate topics but I suggest not as a grouping which in reality is not based of any hard facts.
Guy
I agree with you totally. I've attempted to raise the various meanings of ethnicity previously but the discussion seems to revert to this % of that and that % of the other.
Gadget
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Guy and Gadget +1 from me also.
My Wife and I took the Ancestry test about five years ago and since then our Ethnicities have changed out of all proportion to what they were given as when we had our first results.
I am now awaiting the results of a My Heritage DNA test so it will be interesting to see what their system reports, I post the comparison here in a few weeks.
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I think that the ads and marketing bumpf for the DNA testing companies (especially Ancestry) are aimed at “ethnicity”, whatever that is, because (they think) that is what people want to know.
Browsing through the consumer ratings for Ancestry a while back I noticed that numerous people complained about how inaccurate the ethnicity estimates were, and some were unhappy because they expected to be handed a completed family tree. :-\
Some Q&As which may help you a little Tilly:
https://familytreemagazine.com/dna/dna-qa-best-ethnicity-estimates/
If you enter some appropriate search terms into Google you will find many more.
Biggles, you could have uploaded your raw data from Ancestry to My Heritage rather than take a new test. There is now a fee to unlock the more useful features though.
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Good morning all - and thank you for all the comments, links to articles and replies.
What my daughter's DNA test has shown for me - or more for my husband - is a possible Iberian/North African part of his heritage ........Ethnicity? I agree that this is maybe not the correct term - and I know they are estimates, but can still be interesting when they fit in with local history, as these results do.
Not far from us, is a town in Brittany called Port Louis - the citadelle was built by the Spanish in the 16th century. My husband (who is doing his genealogy and is VERY careful) has always said how his paternal grandmother was dark skinned (for a Breton). That side of the family has definite facial characteristics, especially the eyes, and that has always made him suspect some blood somewhere that is not Breton.
So did one of his upstanding Breton ancestors have a frolic with an Iberian/North African sailor? Who knows!! If she did, it would be further back than he has yet reached with his family tree..... and I imagine it would have been covered up. Maybe his DNA results will show something - or not!
One thing this DNA test has brought us is...... a new cousin! So not all bad.
Thank you all again
Tilly x
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Aren’t DNA tests banned in France? Did you find a loophole? ;D
Sometimes there is some truth in family stories. You have some low percentages there though.
It will be interesting to see if they change with any updates, though I don’t know how often that happens on My Heritage.
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I'm now thinking of having a DNA test.
I have traced a few branches back to the 1700s, 1600s and 1500s, all ancestors were either Scottish (probably with a sprinkle of extremely early Irish in the Dunbartonshire branches), or English. Archeology shows that humans first emerged in Africa, thus I am expecting any DNA result to show African heritage.
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Ruskie - my daughter is in Britain, so no problem for her test. I didn't even think of it being illegal in France..... I do know some French who have had a test and no-one seems to have had a problem.I had a quick look on Facebook to see if MyHeritage have a page in France, and they do, and loads of people have had tests.... Of course, in France, getting round a law is a national sport :P
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I have my DNA results on several sites and all but one are fairly similar. My Heritage gives me a huge amount of Iberian and Scandinavian whilst the others just give a small percentage for them. Pinch of salt here.
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Ruskie - my daughter is in Britain, so no problem for her test. I didn't even think of it being illegal in France..... I do know some French who have had a test and no-one seems to have had a problem.I had a quick look on Facebook to see if MyHeritage have a page in France, and they do, and loads of people have had tests.... Of course, in France, getting round a law is a national sport :P
Where there’s a will there's a way. ;D
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"Ethnicity Estimates" are based on DNA matches, nothing more.
However, between MH & A, I'd say A are much closer with their estimates if my paper trail is correct but I'm guessing it's down to the amount of people descended from my families who've taken an A DNA test & many haven't uploaded to MH.
I don't like MH site for several reasons & seldom check matches as I find the site difficult to use.
Above all, I cringe when I see e.g. Mary Smith (born Murray) as women should always show by their maiden names!
Annie
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My 'MH' Ethnicity Estimate...
Irish, Scottish, and Welsh 78.3%
English 14.5%
East European 3%
Iberian 2.8%
Baltic 1.4%
I have Scottish & Irish on both sides but know of no Welsh ancestry to date although I know of relatives on my paternal side born in Wales which may have been taken into account with my matches?
I believe my English 14.5% is my maternal side only but the rest is unknown & not enough to have me curious/seeking them out.
My 'A' Ethnicity Estimate (which is broken down further on their site for you/us)...
Scotland 78% - Scottish Highlands & Islands - The Outer Hebrides
Ireland 20% - Ulster, Ireland - Tyrone, Londonderry & Antrim
Sweden & Denmark 2%
For me 'A' is 100% correct with my Scottish & Irish ancestry according to my own paper trail.
I find 'A' so much easier to use, find matches, compare, check trees, message et al.
MH is a complex site in my own opinion although others may find it ok.
My brothers' 23andme Ethnicity Estimate...
European 100% - North West European 100%...
"Northwestern Europeans are represented by people from as far west as Ireland, as far north as Norway, as far east as Finland, and as far south as France."
British & Irish 100% - Glasgow City, United Kingdom & County Cork, Ireland
The above doesn't fit with my research i.e. I have no clue as to how Glasgow City & County Cork fit in?
From the 3 I've picked out, 'A' results are more accurate to my own research & matches, the others are a bit vague.
I'd recommend you go on research & matches too but you need to consider NPEs.
Annie
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I think that the ads and marketing bumpf for the DNA testing companies (especially Ancestry) are aimed at “ethnicity”, whatever that is, because (they think) that is what people want to know.
Browsing through the consumer ratings for Ancestry a while back I noticed that numerous people complained about how inaccurate the ethnicity estimates were, and some were unhappy because they expected to be handed a completed family tree. :-\
Some Q&As which may help you a little Tilly:
https://familytreemagazine.com/dna/dna-qa-best-ethnicity-estimates/
If you enter some appropriate search terms into Google you will find many more.
Biggles, you could have uploaded your raw data from Ancestry to My Heritage rather than take a new test. There is now a fee to unlock the more useful features though.
Cheers for the info.
Uploading Raw DNA data does not always give the same results with another Company, there are differences in the data management processes.
As it happens there is a person on My Heritage who has taken their test and I want to see how we actually relate with cM values since I am expecting a 300+ cM match between us.
This is why I have taken a My Heritage test.
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Uploading Raw DNA data does not always give the same results with another Company, there are differences in the data management processes.
As it happens there is a person on My Heritage who has taken their test and I want to see how we actually relate with cM values since I am expecting a 300+ cM match between us.
This is why I have taken a My Heritage test.
Is that so? That’s interesting.
Have you previously uploaded your raw data from elsewhere to My Heritage? If so, it will be interesting to see how those results compare to results of the test done directly with My Heritage. How many cms do you currently compare with your expected 300cm match?
When you get the results would you please let us know. :)
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Uploading Raw DNA data does not always give the same results with another Company, there are differences in the data management processes.
As it happens there is a person on My Heritage who has taken their test and I want to see how we actually relate with cM values since I am expecting a 300+ cM match between us.
This is why I have taken a My Heritage test.
Is that so? That’s interesting.
Have you previously uploaded your raw data from elsewhere to My Heritage? If so, it will be interesting to see how those results compare to results of the test done directly with My Heritage. How many cms do you currently compare with your expected 300cm match?
When you get the results would you please let us know. :)
I have not uploaded my Ancestry DNA data to My Heritage, the person in question had a certain surname in her tree that rings very large bells to me and from her tree I could see she is a Cousin to a high match that I have on Ancestry.
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I haven't taken a MyHeritage DNA test, but I did take a LivingDNA test (out of frustration at my Ancestry tests repeatedly failing processing) and eventually an Ancestry test that succeeded on my fourth attempt.
I uploaded the LivingDNA test to MyHeritage, and for matches who appear on both MyHeritage and Ancestry, the match lengths are generally greater on MyHeritage than on Ancestry, even allowing for the latter's Timber algorithm.
I also uploaded both my Ancestry and LivingDNA tests to GEDmatch, where interestingly I found very little difference between the results. But I created a superkit from the two uploads, and that had the effect of not only stripping out some of the lower matches, but also reordering the higher matches, e.g. increasing the match lengths of some and decreasing other. The effect was again only slight, but noticeable due to the change in order of highest to lowest as presented in the highest 50 matches, for instance.
Typing this has reminded me that I must upload my Ancestry test to MyHeritage, as I have been comparing results on MyHeritage for shared matches between my brother and me, but his test is an Ancestry transfer in, and mine as said is LivingDNA.
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Biggles, do you have links to any sites which explain the difference in results between uploading raw data from a different company, compared to testing directly with the company?
I’m curious to read a bit more about it. :)
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There's an article by Roberta Estes on the use of imputation in genetic genealogy here:
https://dna-explained.com/2017/09/05/concepts-imputation/
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Thanks Carmella. Despite that, Biggles huge DNA match is still likely to be significant and a common ancestor deduced if he had uploaded his raw data to My Heritage?
Seems like ‘accuracy” might be vaiable. My FTDNA results align fairly well with my My Heritage upload.
It would be really interesting to know what others who have tested with one company and uploaded to another, and then later gone on to take a test with the second company - and compare upload results, with direct test results. :)
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At match lengths where the results are indisputable, and I generally take anything over 20 cM as falling into that category, the differences are minimal and not worth bothering about IMO. Yes, one test might give you a slightly larger total cM than another, but how do you know which test is the more accurate, if either?
One caveat is that if you have tested with a company that provide segment and chromosome data, I can see the value of comparing tests taken with the same company.
For smaller matches, where the chances of the match being false (IBC etc.) are significant, I don't regard a match alone as having any significant value, unless it is corroborated by other research, in which case each piece of evidence has a value in adding weight to the other.
As I mentioned above, if you create a superkit on GEDmatch from two or more tests taken with different providers, you will lose quite a few of the smaller matches, because with more actual data to compare and less imputation, some of the false matches are stripped out.
Unfortunately, GEDmatch has a much smaller database than some of the other companies, particularly Ancestry, so again the value is limited unless a potential match already has their test on GEDmatch or they can be persuaded to upload it for comparison.