Ancestry DNA update

[pughcd]

Hi Gadget,

Yes it's always interesting to see the latest tweaks. I am fortunate in having four grandparents with very different backgrounds. Consequently I only have 96 4th Cousins or closer. It's certainly worth checking out your matches ethnicities. One could easily put this data into a spreadsheet.

Thanks for the suggestion!

pughcd

[100%Gog]

Hi

I got my Ancestry update today. No change for me and to be honest I find my percentages a bit dubious.

Wales 97%
England & NorthWestern Europe 3%

I know my ancestors did not move around a lot but 97% seems a bit much, nobody can be that "pure" 

When I first did the test a few years ago I had percentages of Ireland and Scotland in my breakdown but they have all vanished a couple of updates ago.

I did a DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA some years ago, they give me a different breakdown.

England/Wales/Scotland 53%
Ireland 44%
Italian Peninsula <2%
Magyar <1%
Baltic<1%

I am guessing they interpret the results in a different way. Don't know which to believe....any ideas?

Cheers
100%Gog

[Gadget]

Hi Gog

Ancestry has the largest reference group for their DNA estimates. However, as you say, your Welsh estimate is rather large.  What you should really be looking at is the range, as the estimate is just that- an estimate.

What you need to do is to click on the figure in the table and another popup will appear with the range.  This is what they have calculated for my Welshness 

Gadget

[100%Gog]

Hi Gadget,

Just did what you said and it came up with a 91-100% range!

When I first did my tests I was expecting some southern European in the mix because as a family we have a bit of a latin look about us. So surprised to get such high Welsh numbers.

100%Gog

[Gadget]

Your interests  (below your messages), look very  Welsh to me 

 

[alpinecottage]

My new Ancestry  results are as follows; 61% Irish, 27% English, 6% Welsh, 6% Swedish/Danish.

Looking at my papertrail and going by my 64 4xgt grandparents (some are estimated because I haven't got back that far), I have 55% Irish, 28% English, 5% Welsh, 6% Scottish and 6% Unknown.  Interestingly, and I may be reading too much into this, my Unknowns were named Anderson and just remotely possible that they came from Sweden or Denmark.

Anyway, even ignoring the smaller percentages, I'm quite impressed by how accurate my "ethnicity" breakdown seems to be. 

I am a bit suspicious though that all my chromosomes (apart from chromosome 6) are all pure English, Irish, Welsh  etc. So for example, my chromosome 1 contribution from my mother is entirely Irish while the same chromosome contribution from my father is all English.  On the other hand, my chromosome 6 contribution from my mother is about 80% English and 20% Irish while my chromosome 6 contribution from my father is about 90% Swedish/Danish and 10% Irish.  Even the Welsh contributions are wholly concentrated on just three chromosomes, yet my Welsh ancestors were born in 1700's - plenty of time for the chromosomes to get fragmented.  Perhaps I just don't understand how it works 

[louisa maud]

Alpine, I don't understand how it works either, I keep being sent information which I know is not my family tree, my Gt grandfather as an instance is totally wrong, half of me is sorry I even  did a DNA test, nothing new to what I had already found under my own steam

Louisa Maud.

[LizzieL]

My latest ethnicity estimates give me a few percent Irish, which  is odd because my paper trail gives me no Irish ancestors at all. But looking at Ancestry's explanation - Irish not only covers parts of Western Scotland (which I knew about) but it covers the Channel Islands and Brittany  I have one branch from Jersey, so that might explain the "Irish".

Personally, I don't waste time getting hung up on the ethnicity estimate, probably because it is otherwise pretty accurate for me and even more so for OH, who has both sides coming from a small area of East Anglia. However it did confirm a family suspicion that my 2nd cousin once removed was the child of my 2nd cousin and an undisclosed Polish serviceman and not, as his birth cert stated, the child of the 2nd cousin's parents (who were actually his grandparents.)

[Simon62]

My latest results  15% Welsh down from 16% on mum's side (grandfather from N Wales), I match on chromosome 3 and 18 with 4 or 5 people in the Gedmatch Wales group. 7% Sweden Denmark which is on Dad's Yorkshire or Westmorland side, I'm guessing ancient DNA (0-10%). England & Northwestern Europe 68% Scotland 8% Irish 2%. Broadly the same.

Simon