No. Nor with 23 and Me.

So are you surprised that you're not more English?

Sounds to me like some genetic material may be stronger in your DNA or it's a sum of the parts kind of thing.

Does Ancestry take questions about results? Can you ask them about results or is there some type of data that would let you know how you relate to others?

Also I've been wondering about doing because much of my Mother's extended family was wiped out in the holocaust and on one half of my Dad's side I have never met or even heard of any relative.

Did you address confidentiality? Do they match you up with relatives? Curious how it all works from someone who's tried it.

Expect surprises are bound to be part of the analysis.

Rococogurl, thanks for your reply. I just got my results this afternoon. I haven't added anything (yet) to help them match me up with relatives. I'm just the lone wolf. I'm not exactly planning to plunge into an ancestor quest, but when a special offer on the DNA analysis was available I thought it would be interesting.

My mom was Jewish (France and Germany) and my dad was half Irish, half English. I don't know a lot about the other 3/4 of my ancestry beyond great grandparents, EXCEPT the English side that goes back for centuries.

Yes, I'm utterly astonished that I'm not more English. Two percent ain't much. Turns out I'm 57% European Jewish, so either my mom's genes are super strong or someone from my dad's side of the family knew a Jew in the Biblical sense. :) I'm 29% Irish, and my Irish grandmother would be tickled to know she beat out the Brits.

I feel like the guy in the commercial who went from lederhosen to a kilt. I have as much North African, Italy/Greece, and Iberian Peninsula as English. Each 2%.

I like the North African component, which includes Israel/Palestine, because it means I carry a bit of the diaspora.

Linelle, I might be 100% wrong about this, but my understanding is that the DNA ethnicity may done on your mitochondrial DNA which is matrilineal, so your mothers mothers mothers mothers and so on.

The most surprising thing I found out is that I'm in the top 1% of humans for percentage of Neanderthal DNA.

Ancestry ethnic results are coffee table stuff. Doesn't mean a thing. It's compared to the other people who have tested at ancestry. There are a few really good blogs that will explain it very simply or more complicated which ever you choose. You get 50% from each parent but not necessarily the same mix as your full sibling. Then you get 25% from each grandparent. Then you get 12% from great grandparents and not necessarily the same mix as your full sibling. If you have done the documentation already, you have a much better and truer ethnic result than ancestry's test -or anybody's test- will give you.

Ancestry's test is not daughter, daughter, daughter. It's autosomal. Here's what each test is for https://www.familytreedna.com/

If I can find some good blog posts without spending the entire evening, I'll come back and post them. Search gardenweb, too. This subject has been discussed in depth.

Well, this is a really great site. Look along the right hand side of the home page for blog post titles.

https://dna-explained.com/2016/03/10/concepts-identical-bydescent-state-population-and-chance/

This one is good, too. https://dna-explained.com/2016/02/25/concepts-how-your-autosomal-dna-identifies-your-ancestors/

Imhappy, thanks for the info and links. I was expecting some European Jewish and Irish. I'm simply astounded by the small amount of Great Britain. Seems so weird to me, given that I'm sure of the people and where they lived. I wasn't expecting a neat 25/25/25/25, but this is weird to me.

I have tested on three sites.

"I've always assumed that my four grandparents contributed roughly one-quarter of my ethnic makeup."

This isn't true, necessarily.

"You get 50% from each parent but not necessarily the same mix as your full sibling. Then you get 25% from each grandparent."

That latter comment isn't true, either. I thought the same thing until I really started researching what my DNA results mean.

Yes, you get half your DNA from each parent..... but you don't get an even half of each segment of their DNA. Instead, you have a 50/50 chance of inheriting each segment. Did I confuse you yet? For the half of my 23 chromosomes I got from my mom, technically there is a chance that every single piece I inherited came from her mother.... (statistically, very small chance.. but it is still possible.) This chance is why siblings look different, inherit different diseases, etc. One sibling might have ended up with a particular grandparent's DNA.... I know (because my paternal grandma has tested,) that I got more DNA from her, on my dad's side.

So, perhaps that is what happened with the OP's DNA..... or someone was adopted along the way and that wasn't clearly documented in the records .... or Ancestry's algorithm isn't perfect yet. (Ancestry's algorithm will only improve with time.)

As I said earlier, I'm challenged when it comes to science. So it's possible that my dad got more of his mother's stuff (Irish) than his father's English. FWIW, I look like my dad who looked like his mom.

We've never done any literal DNA testing, because both DW & I are heavily Norwegian. On my side, it's 90% Norwegian, with some English & Danish. DW is ~~ 75% Norwegian & ~~ 25% Swede. So yeah...we're all cold Northern-European's!

When our DD was in her grade-school years, she was a little blondie! When DW would do DD's hair in long braids, she looked like the prototypical "Blonde-braided Swedish girl"!

Faron

Faron, I thought my English ancestry was a solid 25%.

Jaka, the English parent might have had a Viking in their past. And the borders between parts of Demark and Germany have moved many times. So both could be correct

I am with Faron. My moms side of the family back to the 1500s is pretty much from the same island in the Baltic (Danish-or Swedish since they found for it too). And my dads parents were Swedes. My dna should be rather boring.

@Linelle -- I think your dna story sounds fascinating. Please keep us posted as you read more and persue. I expect this stuff is always a bit of a puzzle.

It's too early for me to read the full articles, but I read some of them. So the reader's digest version is we give them a sample of our blood, and they look at the chromosomes in order to find our ethnicity? Just like they do with dog's, right? Which I've always wanted to do with my two.

I told this story before, but two years ago I was blown away when I found out my grandmother was full blood Indian, my mom was half, and I'm a quarter. Mom never told me when she was alive. My cousins knew, but not me. Mom had blue eyes, I have green, my brother had green. My mom's twin had jet black hair & blue eyes, mom had light brown hair, I have dark blonde hair.

That was a pretty shocking day for me!

Oakley....... it's a spit test :) They have an algorithm which improves as more people test and/or more populations around the world are tested (which is why it isn't perfect.) Yes, it analyzes the segments of each chromosome to see what population/region each particular sequence comes from.

i think it's fascinating! there is some unknown ancestry in our family... i know my parents would probably have been very curious to get tested and see the results... i probably will like to test some day, esp if some of my sibs are interested too...

Yep, it's a vial of spit. They said 1/4 tsp. but it sure seemed like more to me.

I have a friend who has been doing the Ancestry thing for a while, and I'll be talking to her soon.

I was so not expecting to be surprised by my results. :)

FamilytreeDNA is having a sale.

https://dna-explained.com/2016/05/05/surprise-mothers-day-sale-at-family-tree-dna/

Be sure you know what you are testing for! Won't do you any good to take the wrong test. And of course, they won't sell you the Y test unless you are male. You aren't trying to research your mother's line, are you? If not, the general test will do.

After you get your results back, if you are interested in finding matches with other relatives rather than a graph that says where you came from, upload your ancestry raw data to DNAland.com, FTDNA.com and GEDmatch for starters. There are more places but that would be a good start.

If you have a grandparent or aunt/uncle still living, now would be the time to get the ancestry test. When it's on sale, of course. You want the closest oldest relative you have if you are going to do genealogy. Don't wait. Anyone could die tonight. And if you don't think you're ready for the science stuff yet but might be someday, get the DNA test done for your older relatives now. The raw data won't change but if you don't have it, you will never have it.

As I've said before, your results might not match your full sibling because the DNA that you inherit might not be the same segments s/he inherits. It's a crap shoot. I'm more confident in my matches that also match my aunt than in matches that only match me. THOSE I hope belong to my Other Side. I wish more of them would test. I've got brick walls to break down!

Human DNA is quite complex. The British Isles have been stopovers for all kinds of N. European cultures since the end of the Ice Age uncovered it. If I wasn't "Norman" enough for my liking, I'd blame the Vikings. ;)

I'm 71 and my brother will be 79 in June. There's no one else older than us. My grandparents and parents are gone. My dad was an only child and my mother's sole sibling (my aunt) adopted her children. I have a cousin or two on my father's side, rather removed as it were, not sure of the correct term, who would be a challenge to reach.

I have a local friend who has a rather similar makeup to mine and she is much better informed about the variables that can yield unexpected results. She and her sister have quite different ethnic percentages. She suggested that I get my brother's DNA sampled and then compare.

Ipinkmountain, my friend said the same things as you re the British Isles. That totally makes sense to me. However, what doesn't is that my known relatives' English ethnicity could be so diluted, to the point of relative insignificance.

Oh thank you for posting the sale! My father has an interest in doing this. I am not sure what he wants to find out though. He will be here tomorrow I will ask him.

So is this place that is having a sale better than ancestry.com?Arent more people on ancestry.com?

what are the options for the DNA tests? Basically ethnic make up and family finder? this has nothing to do with medical correct?

Linelle, I'm the lederhosen guy, but the opposite. We always grew up thinking we were Irish. Grandpa thought he was Irish. We celebrate Irish Holidays. I joined ancestry and did a very extensive search. Can't find an Irishman anywhere! We're German :o

So yeah, having found that out I've considered doing the DNA thing. But most of what I've read says I'm really not going to gain any real information out of it.

Errant, LOL.

It sounds like you did a very extensive search through Ancestry. And somehow you gained enough information to figure out you aren't Irish at all. It would be fun to hear how you figured it out. What made you smack your head and go, Wow!!!!

So, why do the DNA? I didn't expect to gain any real information out of mine. I expected very boring and predictable results, esp. for one quarter of my makeup (paternal grandfather) for which I have lots of documentation. Names, dates, marriage licenses, at least through the male line where the name remained the same for centuries. Had it been 15% or even 10% Great Britain, it would be understandable. But 2% just makes me laugh. I am not what I thought I was. It doesn't matter, and yet it does.

Boopadaboo, FTDNA has a different way of comparing
the segments but it’s fine. The ancestry
test is cheaper but then you still have to subscribe either to the site or to
the DNA portion. So by the time you add everything together it’s about the
same.

If you test at ancestry you can still upload your ancestry
raw data to FTDNA but it will cost you $39 just once to view the matches
forever. You will get email addresses of your matches and you can email them
directly. At ancestry your messages go through the ancestry messaging.

You can also upload to GEDmatch.com and to DNAland.com among others and they will match you according to their data base. Free. Data bases are smaller but the more data bases you get into the more chances you have of finding matches. And as far as that goes, the more places you test the more likely you will break your brick wall.

Uploading your raw data is very simple and it takes a day or
two depending on how busy they are before you have matches.

If you want medical you can uplaod to Promethease and I
think that’s free. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E5V7bec_xE
The results you get back from them is hundreds of pages. Very interesting but
SO confusing if medical is not your thing.

Your options are: male line (son, father, his father, his
father, etc.) the female line (daughter, mother, her mother, etc.) or the whole
darn she-bang. FTDNA has all three.

Ancestry does the autosomal which is the whole thing. So if you know what you hope to find out,
choose your test that way. If you are just curious and will take anything you
can get, do ancestry. Ancestry has a
larger data base but if the line you need isn’t there........

As for your father being interested; Good for him. If your brother is willing, do it. Even if
he waffles on doing it, do it anyway. If you don’t do it now and he dies before
you do, his DNA will be gone forever. I’m 69. My aunt is 92. My plan to get my
last 2 aunts together to have a gab fest didn’t happen before the younger one
died. I have no one older left on my
mother’s side. If I had Money, I would test everyone who would do it. I have
connected with more “cousins” by looking to see who has saved my documents and
photos to their tree. Collaboration is the name of the game for genealogy. If you
are only looking for ethnicity then your own research will tell you just as
much. (I have a double dose from an uncle/niece marriage. My whole family married into the same families over and over. Siblings and cousins married back and forth until my tree looks like a spider web.) My DNA showed a lot of really northern ancestors. From my research I know my ancestors came from Germany, England, Canada, and probably Ireland/Norway/Denmark/Iceland. WAY up north!

I've been wanting to do this for my kids. I know my heritage-on my Dad's side it's 99.999% Sicilian (the .001 was a Spanish princess), my mother is German and Dutch. But my ex-husband was a mutt. He's got a Scottish surname, so there is that component, but a Swedish nurse once told him he looked very much Swede, and I believe that is true. I know little about his mother-she left when he was a baby, so I've only got a photo of her-I believe she had French in her, but I have no way to know as my ex has been out of our lives for over 25 years.

neetsiepie, you and your kids should test. It won't tell you everything but it might put you on the path.

No matter how you go about it, testing or researching, it takes a LOT of time. Thank god for the internet! And if you get people who answer your emails, BONUS!

I came here to post this link that came in a newsletter today. The caution is you might get a surprise you weren't expecting. Personally, it's much more exciting to me to find something headline worthy or a black sheep than to know my ancestors were as boring as I am.

http://www.yourgeneticgenealogist.com/2014/01/artificial-insemination.html

Today Ancestry sent me a link that helped answer a question of mine, or at least has put me on the road to understanding. The puzzlement for me wasn't so much that I'm way more European Jewish and Irish than I'd alway thought, but that I have so little Great Britain (2%) in my DNA. Given the extensive research (non-DNA) and written history on that side of the family, that was the one ethnicity I'd been so certain of. Hah!

Anyway, the first graphic in the attached link, showing ethnicity blocks and how they are passed down, has been very illuminating for me. What I hadn't realized is that not ALL of a parent's (or grandparent's) DNA is passed down. That has made all the difference.

Ethnicity blocks illustration

You might be interested in reading about DNA testing on the Legal Genealogist website. Judy Russell is a genealogist and an attorney and she does a great job of explaining this. There are 2 articles that are very informative. The first one explains 'those percentages' and the second one is how to get the most 'bang for your buck.'

http://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog/2016/05/01/those-percentages-revisited/

http://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog/2015/02/02/2015-most-bang-for-the-dna-buck/#comment-357360

About the ethnicity results from Ancestry---remember, these estimates suggest where your ancestors were living from 500 to 1,000 years ago. Just because your 2nd great grandfather was from Germany, doesn't mean this family was in the same area 1,000 years ago.

For me, the really useful part of the Ancestry DNA results are the cousin matches.

I just received two kits from Family Tree...one for me and one for my DH. While I am excited to test and see the results I am more than ticked off that I was charged $12.95 EACH for shipping. The two "kits" (5X7 envelopes) were shipped together in the same 8x11 envelope. It's very lightweight and couldn't have cost more than a few dollars to send via USPS. What gives?

joanie, I had to pay slightly less for my Ancestry packet, but was still pissed because it was also lightweight and essentially an envelope.

joanie, are you getting DNA tests from Family Tree (spit?) for a mere $12.95 each? Earlier today I uploaded my Ancestry data to Family Tree and then paid $39 for access to cousins. I'm awaiting moderator approval to post in their forums. I can't figure out how to edit my profile. I want to change my surname back to my maiden name for this effort and include my birthdate.

This stuff is incredibly interesting to me, given that it's not all cut and dried and as I'd expected. But it seems you need to spend several hundred $$ to cover all your bases, and then you go down the rabbit hole. I'm not sure I want to commit to another time suck.

Linelle - that's what she paid for shipping.

Joanie if they came in the same package I'd call them and request a refund.

Well duh. And she was quite clear about it. :p

I figured out the postage on the USPS website and it couldn't have cost more than $3.50, yet I paid nearly $26.00! I wasn't sure what to expect, but for $12.95 a piece I though I was getting "kits" like med-large boxes or something. What a ripoff!

If I call or email them and complain I'm wondering if it will affect the test results.

It might say you're 100% from Uranus.

joaniepoanie, I can't fathom that the billing department and the laboratory where the tests are done would even be aware of each other in the grand scheme of things. I'd complain. Won't do you any good but complain anyway. Was Family Tree a spit test or a cheek swab? Should have been a cheek swab. Ancestry is a spit test.

Imhappy......thank you. It is a cheek swab. The return postage is also prepaid but for this small and light little envelope can't be more than $2.

I have a question for you.....reading through the info, they have a release form so that matches can be notified. I have no problem releasing my email, but they release your full name. I'm not comfortable with this and don't understand why they would need to release your name instead of just your email. If I received an email from a match I could then share my name if I choose to. Also, if you decline the release form when you send back the test, it can never be reversed. This just not make sense to me. Am I being overly concerned about the release of my name?

Although I tested at ancestry their business practices have become alarming TO ME in recent years and I no longer use their DNA matching. I've removed my test results from there and only use FTDNA and GEDmatch. Oh and DNAland. I am sure they have retained my DNA for future sales to 3rd parties.

As for overly concerned about privacy. Six of one, half a dozen of another. Do you have a dedicated email address for matches to use? I am one of those privacy freaks. It's impossible to be totally anonymous and still make contact with strangers who might be as paranoid as I am. You might be able to use a fake name. Something similar to your real name and then set the record straight when you are contacted by a match. In my experience, the people who have contacted me were legitimate and looking for matches to their DNA to find family. I don't know what might happen down the road. Surely room for nefarious deeds to be done. I guess it depends on how badly you want to find blood relatives.

Before you spend your money on the ancestry DNA test right now, read this

https://dna-explained.com/2016/05/15/ancestry-modifies-their-autosomal-dna-chip/

Forgot to say, my best relative finder is the family trees there. If someone saves one of my documents or photos to their tree, I know they think they're mine. The DNA matches leave you to figure out where you match. It could be several generations back and it might be a sibling branch of your direct ancestor. Sometimes you just can't figure it out. If something is saved from my tree to someone else's tree, I know who they saved it to. It's not 100% that they have the right person in their tree, but they think they do. It's an opportunity for contact. BUT it will cost you the price of a subscription. Don't forget to calculate that into your final cost for doing the DNA matches. You will either pay for a DNA subscription or an ancestry subscription but you will pay.

Imhappy....thank you! I'm going to think on it. I'm primarily interested in knowing my ethnic roots with the DNA test, not meeting a tenth cousin.

I only know as far back as grandparents on dad's side from Hungary/Romania and the little searching I've done indicates the records in those countries only go back to around the 1890's. I've only come up with my grandparent's Ellis Island info.

I know of a great grand on my mom's side. They are all from Ireland as far as I know.

I would like to know names, occupations etc. on both sides as far back as possible but that might mean going and looking at church records in those countries. I had a freebie subscription a few years ago through work to Ancestry and only found the Ellis Island info.

Thanks again!

Joanie, this blog post might be right up your alley, then. http://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog/2016/05/15/musings-on-a-dna-sunday/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheLegalGenealogist+%28The+Legal+Genealogist%29

If anyone came over before Ellis Island they might be at Ward's Island/Castle Garden from 1820-1892. http://www.castlegarden.org/ I got good stuff there for great grandparents. Some of mine came over before there was anywhere to be "processed". I still haven't found a passenger list or any evidence of them leaving there and landing here. And of course the Mayflower stuff is so documented you can read about it for days. I don't know how hard you've looked or where but ancestry isn't the only place with good records and lots of places are free. About every 3 years new data bases come on line so don't keep a subscription anywhere year after year. Spread them out. And be sure and use the free ship's lists and Germans to America and google books. There is enough free stuff "out there" to keep you occupied for a long time. I want to know the same things you want to know; more than names and dates. It's Time Consuming. But- so interesting I wouldn't do it any other way. I've written a couple dozen stories about my ancestor couples. It puts their life on paper and shows more about their life than born-died. You can put together a good time line from census and birth of children. One Thing: Census. Read the original census page, not just the transcript. And there are years that have more than one page of answers. Look at the page before and the page after to see if your family is continued. Also, you might find more family near by. Copy everything the census asked. Usually they ask occupation and where an individual and their parents were born. Different questions on different census will add up to the story. Then if you really want the birth certificate or marriage license you can usually get it. One time period I've had the most trouble with is 1800ish. The east coast kept records. The rest........well, it's been a headache. A lot of the midwest states weren't even required to keep records until into 1900.

My first piece of advice is to subscribe to some genealogy blogs. They know when new data bases come on line and where to find them. They also know stuff that I don't know I don't know ;-) Even reading someone's Irish blog might give you a clue about where to look or what to look for.

Imhappy......thank you for all the great info!

The other day I blithely paid FamilyTreeDNA $39 for I'm not sure what. I was able to upload my Ancestry DNA data for free, which opened a list of possible 2nd cousins and beyond. To dig deeper I need to pay or subscribe, or something. Again, I'm not sure what the $39 unlocked.

[The most common surname is Cohen. What?!! It is kinda cool I might go back to Aaron and the tribe of Levi, the ancient priesthood.]

Anyway, this morning I decided to face reality. My brother and I are the oldest and only living members of our family immediate family. My dad was an only child and my mother's only sibling adopted her children. There are some 1st cousins several times removed, but I don't even know where they live.

I have one child and it's looking more and more likely she won't have children of her own.

First of all, this will cost some money on an ongoing basis. That's not really a deal breaker, but it does make me look at my reasons for doing any further research. For myself? Sure, I like knowing this stuff. For my daughter? Maybe she'd be interested. Or not. One thing I do know. I am already addicted to the internet. I freely admit that. I probably don't need to burrow down another rabbit hole that consumes the time that might be spend in the sunshine and in relationship with real people.

Twenty years ago, even ten, there was seemingly enough time for all of this. Now, I'm not so sure. I have books to read and places to visit and friends to have lunch with.

My ethnicity is fascinating to me, esp. since it's not everything I expected it to be. But it's just one aspect of my identity. It's also about relationships. Even though my English component came in at a paltry 2% (I had expected at least 25%), I still have a known and documented family history and emotional connections that I can't discount or devalue. I would rather visit the 13th century church where I know my ancestors were baptized, married and buried, rather than chase down a distant cousin from an unknown branch of my DNA.

I don't mean to diminish or disparage those seriously questing to uncover their roots. I find it utterly fascinating and a worthy pursuit. I think that for me, at this point in my life, I need to rest in what I already know.

You don't have to pay again unless you are uploading another DNA file from someone else in which case you have to make a new sign in page with new information for them. You will still "own" it but it will be a separate account. Be sure to print off your sign in page so you'll have your kit numbers and everything you need to sign in for each of your accounts. Go back to your sign in page and click around. You should find your matches. It takes a few days for them to compile so be patient. And if they're really busy it might take a couple of weeks. Don't pay again.

Remember, the ethnicity estimate is an estimate. It's taken from the people who have tested. If a few people from your neck of the woods have tested, you will have a small % of that country as your estimate. Your pie graph really doesn't tell you anything. The history you already have is more representative of it.

Some new information about ancestry.com DNA

https://dna-explained.com/2016/05/18/creating-a-phased-parental-kit-at-gedmatch/

Do you know much about judaism? Sometimes in order to save themselves people invented a new life and new name and within a generation no one would know it was all made up. If their children lived to adulthood they might tell the adult children. You could not tell a child a secret that might get them all killed. Marranos or conversos in Spain...

practigal, I don't know much about modern Judaism. My mom was Jewish but my upbringing had a more Protestant flavor. I do read the Bible and love the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) and realize that the Diaspora caused Jews to land in places quite unlike Israel/Judea/Palestine.

I know that a quarter of my documented ancestry was in England for many centuries. They were Anglican to the core. It's kind of funny and somewhat ironic that this rather conservative and piously Christian branch of the family might have been bursting with Jewish DNA. :)

Linelle, there is much truth to what practigal is saying. I cannot remember the names but there are in fact cities in England where many Spanish PortugueseJews ended up and blended in over time with the rest of the population......I am not positive but I think Lincolnshire was one mentioned. It truly is fascinating.

As far as I know I am Russian Polish--Eastern European Jewish. I most definitely look Mediterranean. I had my DNA done several years ago and had a ridiculously high match to English and French. I still shake my head over that one.:) go figure!!!

Sheila, it's utterly fascinating and somewhat hilarious to see my long-held assumptions put to the test. I don't plan on spending a lot of time or money trying to figure it all out.