Dna Ancestry Testing

[barry1010]

Has anyone had this done?  We have been idly thinking about it for some time, not to find long lost relatives (we have enough) but to find out just how 'English' we are.

Is it worth doing, is it accurate?  Recommended companies?

[follyfancier]

my 2nd cousin did this to confirm who her grand father actually was because her grand parents were young and not married.

she questioned that I was wrong

I new who it was most likely to be as my grand mother told me as it was her younger sister

the DNA test has confirmed that I was correct 

[THECORBYLOON]

Did they not also need a sample from the grandfather?

[237SJ]

I did it several years ago.  It's a bit of fun but doesn't really tell you very much.  I came out as 20% Irish which I know I`m not and have no Irish ancestry at all.  Now they say I`m not 20% Irish.  They change your ethnicity according to how many people get their DNA tested by region.

[237SJ]

That was on Ancestry com by the way

[follyfancier]

I dont know how they do the test he died in 1911 ,6 months before the child was born

[barry1010]

Thank you, so more guess work than science.

My paternal grandparents had a small farm in Shropshire and I was surprised to learn, after he died, that my father was born in Llandudno. 

My maternal grandmother was Brummie through and through, and I didn't know she was born and raised in Cheltenham. You wouldn't have known from her accent.

My paternal family were very tall, unusual for the times.

[Prudie]

I also did it on Ancestry and also it was more for fun. It confirmed what I knew about being primarily English and Welsh with some odd European bits thrown in and those have changed as time's gone by on my Ancestry profile which suggests that bit is almost meaningless. 

My daughter had done it before me and it picked up instantly that we connected as a parent/child but other than that my nearest matches were 4th cousins.

I would have thought more of it if it was just me but my daughter's came back zero Italian when her paternal grandmother is 100% New York Italian.

I'd add that Ancestry are really pushy and raise their prices by miles once you're hooked into the database bit. I ended up cancelling my subscrition and they still email me 3 times a week to come back.

[barry1010]

Thanks, Prudie. Other companies offer a similar service, probably with much the same results.

[netherfield]

We both did ours through Ancestry when they had a bogof, maybe 10 years ago now, both of our profiles of where we come from have changed through the years, as more people have had it done.  What you will discover is many a dozen 2nd, 3rd and fourth cousins who you have never heard of and no idea how you are linked.

[Khandro]

I heard of someone who discovered he was part Neanderthal, and he wasn't too pleased about that. 

[Hymie]

In this thread (in which you also posted/interacted), I included a link to a youtube video that explains the problems with DNA testing/analysis making claims for cultural ancestry links – I would take any such claims with a pinch of salt.

 

https://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/ChatterBank/Question1863877.html#gsc.tab=0

[Hymie]

I read somewhere that what with the interbreeding of the hominid species (many years ago), around 4% of homo-sapien DNA is Neanderthal.

[Barmaid]

Sorry, I was going to respond to this on Sat but was otherwise engaged.  I have done an ancestry DNA test and it has proved incredibly useful for my family history research.  On the other hand the ethnicity part of the test is really just a bit of fun.  The trouble with the ethnicity test is that it depends on how many other people have tested and as more people test your results will change.  It is never going to be wholly accurate though since some countries do not allow DNA testing for ancestry research purposes (France for example).  If you were only going to do it for ethnicity reasons, I would take the view that it is a bit of fun.

It has been a powerful tool for me in determining who certain ancestors were – although it is only a tool and one needs a fairly well documented and well researched tree for this tool to be of any use. 

Just to answer a couple of points.  It is not necessary for the ancestor you are trying to find to have tested.  It is through their descendants who “match” with you that you can work it out.  We get 50% of our DNA from each parent.  However, that 50% is random so for example, I might have more of my 2xg grandfather’s DNA than a sibling.  So, someone who matches with you will have a shared ancestor with you.  You then find someone who matches both of you and so on and by working out these matches it can help identify a previously unknown ancestor.  That is a very simple explanation and there are also many other factors involved.

There are lots of companies.  Ancestry, My Heritage, 23andMe.  Ancestry has the largest database.  You can upload an Ancestry test to My Heritage and to other sites, whereas Ancestry will not allow the upload of other tests to them.  I did an Ancestry test and have uploaded the results to at least 4 other sites which I use differently.  I’d go with Ancestry.  If you wait until Mothers Day/Fathers Day, they very often have offers on.

[barry1010]

Thanks all, excellent answers.

[Buenchico]

Worth a read, I think:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/aug/11/question-ancestry-does-dna-testing-really-understand-race

[Vagus]

We were given 23andMe test kits a couple of christmases ago. 
We found it just a bit of fun and I now get emails telling me 'yippee another 50 relatives have been found', most of them seem to be American. The only person I've recognised has been my cousins daughters daughter.