Organize Your Family History

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Fun with ethnicity estimates

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I had my DNA tested by Ancestry a few years back and I’m just now figuring out how to use it in my genealogy research. I found the ethnicity estimate interesting. And then I found it even more interesting when Ancestry updated its estimates.

My brother, Larry, lives in Australia and when he visited recently he agreed to submit a sample. I was curious about how ours would compare, in terms of ethnicity. I was also curious to see what migration group was provided to him. (I was given North Alabama Settlers.)

When I first asked him, Larry’s response, “Don’t we have the same DNA?” I responded that while our DNA comes the same sources (half from our dad and half from our mom), what we get from each of them is different so our ethnicity results might be different.

The results arrived yesterday and I was tickled to see that there were what looked to me like some fairly large differences. Here’s a screenshot of our two results side by side:

 

As you can see, I have a higher percentage of Irish ancestry showing up in my results (41% vs 34% in Larry’s) and his results show 8% Germanic Europe, where I have none. I have a smidge of Greece and the Balkans and he has a smidge of Sweden. Fun stuff!

Oh, and the migration group provided to Larry was Lower Midwest and Virginia Settlers.

Have you compared ethnicity results with a sibling? I’m curious how different your results were.

Comments

  1. It’s uncanny, Janine — substitute “brother Michael, who just returned home from a year in Japan,” and you could have been reporting on the side-by-side scene at my house JUST LAST NIGHT, right down to the ethnic compositions, sibling differences, and migration destinations and timeframes!

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  2. I recently got back my sisters test (both of our parents have passed so I was really happy when she agreed to test) and our ancestry DNA (especially the new estimates they released recently) fits perfectly with our different physical characteristics. She has olive skin and brown hair and she tested higher for our dad’s Italian genes, while I have red hair and freckles and my test showed that I have more of our mother’s Irish genes. I love the new compare button they’ve added recently. I was able to send my sister a screen shot that made it all perfectly clear for her to read and understand our DNA differences.
    I just found your blog from a YouTube video. Organizing and Genealogy are two passions of mine too so we might be soul sisters. 🙂 I’m looking forward to digging deeper into your blog. Thanks for sharing!

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