I was just notified that my ethnicity estimate from Ancestry has been updated once again. According to this post from Ancestry, the estimates are getting more and more accurate because they’re based on more and more data. I don’t don’t really understand how that works but I know there’s lots of information out there when I’m ready to explore.
But I found comparing my estimates with my brother’s as well as with our previous estimates pretty interesting.
Here’s a screenshot of the current new estimates with Larry and me side by side.
So Larry has a good chunk of his DNA indicating Germanic Europe, where I have just a smidge. France and Norway don’t show up in him at all. And I have what appears to be substantially more Irish blood.
Now when I look at a similar image from a year ago (which appeared in this post on our ethnicity estimates) I see how things shifted.
Larry’s portion from Ireland and Scotland went down significantly and Germanic Europe went up. His England, Wales and Northwestern Europe went down slightly and mine went up. My percent Irish went down, Germanic Europe made its first appearance and Sweden, as well as Greece & the Balkans went away.
I don’t have time to do research to try to understand or analyze this, but I thought you might it prompt you to check to see if your AncestryDNA ethnicity estimate has been updated as well.
P.S. If you haven’t done AncestryDNA but are intrigued, for the next 12 days the kits are on sale for $59, down 40% from the regular price of $99.
My profile has changed significantly as well. Based upon what I know about my heritage, the very 1st profile they sent made no sense at all, but the two most recent ones seem quite close to what I would expect. So, face validity for the recent results is quite good. The fact that you and your brother differ by a lot seems troubling–siblings profiles will have differences but not by that much. How good is the face validity of either of your profiles?
If I’m understanding what you mean by the face validity of our profiles, we share 2409 centimorgans. So I don’t know what that says about the reliability of the ethnicity estimates.
Which of the two profiles (if either) is close to what you would expect based on your knowledge of your family history/ancestry? That would be one with good face validity (i.e., it makes sense). However, if neither makes sense based on your knowledge, that would certainly be problematic.
Do you and Larry have a different mother or father? If not, those figures are disappointing. I haven’t bought Ancestry DNA, and i’m not encouraged to do so. Seeing different results like that raises a massive question mark over their accuracy and reliability
Larry and I have the same parents and we share 2409 centimorgans. We’re definitely full siblings.
You are more genetically similar to your siblings than anyone else. That said, what you inherit from each one is completely random. This is why testing and comparing your siblings is so beneficial. I would see this as an advantage. He may likely have DNA cousins that don’ show up in your list, giving you a lot more by default.