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Ancestry ethnicity updates/changes coming

  • 25-10-2019 2:04pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 398 ✭✭


    Ancestry's blog says it is rolling out DNA ethnicity updates/changes as they now have so many more people who have tested since the last time they did this. Presumably the updates will be more precise as well.

    They are saying you should keep checking your results for the new info. Mine has not been updated yet but a new match has. Has anyone here gotten an update yet?


Comments

  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,609 Mod ✭✭✭✭pinkypinky


    Yeah, they sent me an email for one of my kits but I didn't have a note of the previous.

    I do have one for my own so will compare at the weekend and report back.

    Genealogy Forum Mod



  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,108 ✭✭✭pedroeibar1


    Yes, mine has been updated.

    I was 99% Irish, 1% England/Scotland/Wales.

    I’m now 98% Ireland and Scotland, 1% England and Northwestern Europe and 1% Sweden (which includes a big chunk of Denmark).

    The Ireland & Scotland (includes N Ireland) bit says it is most likely through ancestors linked to the community in Munster. That is correct as on my paternal side the eight 2nd great g.parents are 4 x Munster & 4 x N.Irl / Scotland and the eight maternal side are all Munster.

    The new addition of a small bit of Scandi has pleased me as my Y-DNA line is supposedly of that origin (other than me, nobody of my surnames has tested for Y).
    I’ve not yet had a chance to look at Ancestry’s matches, hopefully can do so over weekend. However it seems that Ancestry's fine tuning is working.


  • Registered Users Posts: 118 ✭✭NutmegGirl


    Mine has been updated, got an email 2 days ago
    I had been 79% Irish & Scotland, mainly Leinster has been refined down to Wicklow/Carlow/Kilkenny
    The rest (which is England/Wales) , the map stayed the same


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,706 ✭✭✭Waitsian


    Yes mine has been updated. I'm 88% Irish/Scottish (Munster/Ulster), 4% English/Welsh and 5% Norwegian, 3% Swedish = 8% Scandinavian. I belong to a DNA group of Ontario Settlers of British and Irish descent.

    Here's the thing though. I've traced almost all of the Irish links of my family to at least 1830, and the British to the early 18th century, and the results match what I know EXCEPT the Scandinavian! I'm baffled. How far back do these results cover? 200? 300? 400, 500 years? Less? 8 % seems like a lot.

    Actually I do have one brick wall on my mother's Irish side. Her grandmother's parents are a mystery. But she definitely born in Ireland in the mid 19th Century. Could they be the source? Why would Scandinavians be in Ireland then?


  • Registered Users Posts: 398 ✭✭VirginiaB


    The Vikings. They 'visited' early and often.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,706 ✭✭✭Waitsian


    VirginiaB wrote: »
    The Vikings. They 'visited' early and often.

    Yeah, from the 9th to the 11 Century! Surely that's not going to show up in a C21st DNA test? :eek:


  • Registered Users Posts: 311 ✭✭srmf5


    I was previously 98% 'Ireland & Scotland' and 2% 'England, Wales & Northwestern Europe'. My estimate is now 94% 'Ireland & Scotland' and 6% 'England, Wales & Northwestern Europe'. The genetic communities have remained the same with Connacht, specifically 'North Connacht', 'West Roscommon & East Mayo', 'West Roscommon, East Mayo & North Galway', and 'South Sligo & North Roscommon'.

    My mum and dad's sister are both still 100% 'Ireland & Scotland'. They both have the same genetic communities as me. My dad's aunt's results haven't changed either and remain as 98% 'Ireland & Scotland' and 2% 'England, Wales & Northwestern Europe'. She has the same genetic communities except she lacks 'West Roscommon, East Mayo & North Galway'.

    You can still view your previous estimate for comparison. At the bottom of the estimate, it says 'Updated Aug 2019'. Click this, then click 'Ethnicity Updates' followed by 'View previous estimate'.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,609 Mod ✭✭✭✭pinkypinky


    I was previously 94% Ireland and Scotland, 4% Norway and 2% England, Wales & Northwestern Europe.

    I am now 100% Ireland and Scotland. Sub-groups have not changed.

    Genealogy Forum Mod



  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,108 ✭✭✭Jellybaby1


    In my previous update I had lost my polynesian connection, and the latest update has drained away my few drops of Norwegian blood. Now I am mainly England/Wales/Northwestern Europe (Belgium, Channel Islands, England and Wales) and slightly less Northern Ireland/Scotland. Almost 50/50.


  • Registered Users Posts: 106 ✭✭Earnest


    mod9maple wrote: »
    Yes mine has been updated. I'm 88% Irish/Scottish (Munster/Ulster), 4% English/Welsh and 5% Norwegian, 3% Swedish = 8% Scandinavian. I belong to a DNA group of Ontario Settlers of British and Irish descent.

    Here's the thing though. I've traced almost all of the Irish links of my family to at least 1830, and the British to the early 18th century, and the results match what I know EXCEPT the Scandinavian! I'm baffled. How far back do these results cover? 200? 300? 400, 500 years? Less? 8 % seems like a lot.

    Actually I do have one brick wall on my mother's Irish side. Her grandmother's parents are a mystery. But she definitely born in Ireland in the mid 19th Century. Could they be the source? Why would Scandinavians be in Ireland then?

    As I understand it, the results do not cover a specific number of centuries backwards. If you are reported as 8% Scandinavian, what that means is that 8% of your DNA is similar to DNA of other tested people who are currently living in Scandinavia. And since immigration into Scandinavia has not been large until recently, it follows that Scandinavian DNA must have got into your DNA by emigration at some stage.

    That said, results can be bizarre. In the latest Ancestry analysis, I am 7% Swedish and no other Scandinavian. I could understand Norwegian or Danish ancestors as there was large-scale settlement in Scotland and England, but I thought Swedish Vikings went east and south, not to these islands.

    I have put the same test on to MyHeritage, which tells me I am 23.4% Scandinavian. MyHeritage also makes me 6.9% Iberian, and while I have a Spanish ancestor in the 14th century and a possible one in the 15th, that couldn't account for 6.9%.


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  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,609 Mod ✭✭✭✭pinkypinky


    Remember that these ethnicity results are just a bit of fun. I don't take them seriously except on a continental level. That said, I expect in the future they will become more accurate.

    Genealogy Forum Mod



  • Registered Users Posts: 398 ✭✭VirginiaB


    I finally got my Ancestry DNA update. Says I'm 93% Ireland-Scotland, 4% England-Wales-NW Europe, 3% Portugal. The last is a new one for me. I have a great-grandfather from Asturias on the north coast of Spain--directly south from Dublin. They don't even sell the Ancestry DNA test in Spain, I was told, very annoying. So I guess they figured Portugal was close enough.

    Except for the aforesaid gt grandfather, all my ancestors came from Ireland--Cork to Antrim--in the 1840s and 50s. I'm impressed that I am still so Irish-Scottish--yayyy. My only sibling is 96% Ireland-Scotland and I have cousins who are 100%. Interesting they all chose to marry 'within the family'. We are New Yorkers so they had plenty of choices.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,609 Mod ✭✭✭✭pinkypinky


    It's all just a bit of fun.

    Genealogy Forum Mod



  • Registered Users Posts: 398 ✭✭VirginiaB


    I'm afraid I have to disagree. It is far from perfect but it is definitely much more than a bit of fun.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,609 Mod ✭✭✭✭pinkypinky


    All the major contributors to the field agree that it's only accurate on a continental level at the moment.
    I do believe it will improve with time.

    Here's Roberta Estes' take on it.
    https://dna-explained.com/2018/12/28/ethnicity-is-just-an-estimate-yes-really/

    Here's another article quoting Debbie Kennett and Adam Rutherford
    https://eu.freep.com/story/life/2018/10/05/dna-testing-accuracy/1517018002/

    Genealogy Forum Mod



  • Registered Users Posts: 311 ✭✭srmf5


    pinkypinky wrote: »
    All the major contributors to the field agree that it's only accurate on a continental level at the moment.
    I do believe it will improve with time.

    Here's Roberta Estes' take on it.
    https://dna-explained.com/2018/12/28/ethnicity-is-just-an-estimate-yes-really/

    Here's another article quoting Debbie Kennett and Adam Rutherford
    https://eu.freep.com/story/life/2018/10/05/dna-testing-accuracy/1517018002/

    Trace regions can probably be ignored even at the continental level. My dad gets <1% South America with FTDNA despite being Irish :D. The estimates can provide some entertainment.


  • Registered Users Posts: 398 ✭✭VirginiaB


    I agree there is less to it than the kit sellers claim but more to it than some here say. I am speaking particularly of Ancestry.com because of their very large database. It also makes a huge difference if the person's ancestry is from a country where Ancestry.com has many DNA customers, a critical distinction. DNA results are most helpful, of course, in conjunction with a well researched tree. The few hard-core mysteries I've solved have all come via matches with good trees that go back far enough.

    A full and intelligent reply to the objections here would require too much space. Of course, I could write something short and dumb but maybe some think I already did!


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,609 Mod ✭✭✭✭pinkypinky


    There is a huge difference to the value of ethnicity estimates (slim to none) versus matching, which is the gold of DNA testing.

    This topic is headed "Ancestry ethnicity updates" so all responses were presumably tailored to that aspect.

    We're going around in circles, so locking the thread.

    Genealogy Forum Mod



This discussion has been closed.
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