Unexpected % dna.....why?

[decor]

If she has DNA matches with paternal cousins, it'd be interesting to see their Scottish % .

[KGarrad]

Ethnicity estimates are just that - guesstimates!
They shouldn't be relied upon.

More to do with marketing than science.

[gizmo303]

Thank you for your advice...unfortunately I still don’t understand.

Family research shows that this one line lived in Scotland. All the others lived in London or southern England. This goes back to about 1700s. Does this mean that prior to this, a large proportion of my friends ancestors were from Scotland?

Thanks again, sorry I’m not getting it!

Shosh

X Duplicate post. Sorry

[gizmo303]

Yes to estimates / a guide. Also anyone of your line(s) can have another biological father - non-paternity event (NPE). That changes things. We're getting into 32, 64, 128...

Can you honestly account for a high % of your DNA matches? I can't and done extensive work on mine. There are NPE at various points and would hazard this would occur for everyone at some stage in their own trees.

In my research I have viewed very large detailed trees that people have worked on for years. At a paperwork level they are fine but at a DNA match level I know areas are wrong.

[Ruskie]

Ok, I think I understand. The ancestry ethnicity % is saying that my friends dna has elements that are similar to those people they have tested whose ancestry are claimed to have come from Scotland, though they may be incorrect or they may be from somewhere else but just known to have lived in Scotland. As the pool of testing increases and it become more accurate and less guesswork, then these % may change.

Do I understand?!

Thank you!

Yes. 

[Nanna52]

I gave up on ethnicity when they told me that both my son and I have 16% Scottish.  I have not found any Scots in my research for my line, but my sons grandmothers line goes back five generations born in Scotland. 

[brigidmac]

 I find the ethnicity very useful and often turns out to be truer than at first glance
If the  parent had family from north england they would probably have scottish blood from way back in history in several lines .

Im over 50 percent Scottish most from my father but we found that my mothers great great grandmother was also Scottish.

Its a good idea to look at shared matches and see how Scottish they are + how many of the great grandparents you can identify shared matches in case there was unknown adoptions or illigitimacy in one line