The Latest Ancestry DNA Update is Weird

Ancestry DNA recently updated their results, predictions, etc, which means I'm a new breed of something or other that I wasn't yesterday.

First of all I lost the small bit of German DNA that I have, my last name being of Rhineland Prussia roots, Americanized around the Revolutionary War. I've gone from 1% to 2% Welsh. And I've gone up quite a bit in Scottish DNA, nearly balancing England, Ireland, and Scotland.

But This is what's weird, and why I'm not so trusting of this latest calculation: My Grandparents results vs my Mom and Aunt.

My Grandpa R is 4% Welsh and my Grandma A is 2% Welsh. My Mom's results were 10% Welsh whereas my Aunt is 4% Welsh.

My Grandpa R is 3% Scottish whereas my Grandma A is 8% Scottish. My Mom's results were 0% Scottish (nothing!) whereas my Aunt is 16% Scottish.  

My Mom's not happy that for the first time Scotland isn't showing up at all with her results, and I think there's a mistake there.  My Dad is 38% Scottish.

Further proving what an imperfect science all this DNA region testing is.  The app has taken away the ability to see percentage ranges for each ethnicity.

It's all fun, and there's some truth in the data, but it's not to be taken quite literally.

A map of my heritage and the second is my communities, though I also belong to "Munster Ireland" and "Arkansas, Oklahoma & Texas Settles", which are not pictured.

The New Ancestry DNA Update Gave Me New Numbers and a New Region

From Ancestry:

"Thanks to our growing and increasingly diverse DNA reference panel, we’ve added eight new regions from across Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Although you may not see these new regions in your personal results, you could see changes in your ethnicity estimate as part of this update."

 "This update adds the following eight regions to AncestryDNA • Indigenous Americas—Panama & Costa Rica • Indigenous Americas—Ecuador • Indigenous Americas—Chile • Aegean Islands • Arabian Peninsula • Egypt • Levant • Bengal

"Your DNA itself doesn’t change, but the technology and methods we use to analyze it are constantly evolving. As we continue to advance the science, you will see even more updates in the future. We’re bringing you our most precise ethnicity estimate to date using a combination of scientific expertise, the world’s largest online consumer DNA database, and millions of family trees linked to DNA results."

My numbers have shifted around a little, and I now have Wales! All of 1%, but I've now got a little of the whole British Isles.

To Give you an idea, here is my previous numbers: England 36%, Ireland 35%, Scotland 19%, Germanic Europe 6%, Norway 4%.

For my updated DNA results I'm going to include my range in parentheses.  "You range comes from making multiple comparisons of your DNA to our reference panel. It includes other possible, but less likely, percentages."

My updated results: Ireland 41% (13-41%), England & North Europe 39% (33-58%), Scotland 13% (0-32%), Norway 4% (0-8%), Germanic Europe 2% (0-12%), Wales 1% (0-12%).

Since I've done my whole family, including grandparents and an aunt, plus I know the results of another grandparent, a cousin, and a great-uncle (my maternal grandmother's brother, which is interesting to compare), it's interesting looking through all the numbers and recognizing patterns. 

It's interesting going through all the information.  My Dad use to have Wales, but no longer does, though I did trace one of his lines on Family Tree (not reliable information) to the Welsh monarchy several centuries back.  My Dad is now 44% English and 43% Scottish, but only 2% German despite our last name being of Americanized German origin.  My maternal grandmother now has Irish, though she wasn't showing it before, and we had a few paper trails back to Ireland on that side, so that's finally showing up.  My Great-Uncle still has 3% French, which my Grandmother didn't inherit, so none of us down this branch of the tree inherited it, but it's nice to see it's still there, though he lost his 1% Spain.

And it's fun comparing myself with my siblings and seeing all our different numbers.  Robbie and my percentages are really close.  Michael is evenly balanced between Ireland, Scotland, and England all within the low 30%.  Steven is 55% English and only 5% Scottish, though he and Robbie are both 4% Wales (my Mom is 6% Wales).  Also, my Mom is 100% British Isles.  She's the only one out of my whole tested family who has nothing in continental Europe.

Fun stuff.  It's all very fascinating.  Sure enough as more data is collected and algorithms improve the numbers will continue to change.

It's cool my Irish numbers have increased to my dominate region, though Scotland went down because of it.  I'm still primarily Celtic!!  :D

 Sarah

 

Ancestry DNA Has A New Update: Separating England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales

Ancestry DNA has a new update which separates the British Isles.  There used to be only two ethnicities: England and Scotland/Ireland.  Now England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales are all separated.   And alas I have all but Wales.

This is what I am now, before it changes again.  In the brackets are my ranges, as Ancestry does this whole "1,000 Estimates" thing using probabilities, a reference panel, and what is known.  The percentages are derived by algorithms based on current knowledge and information.  Essentially this information is subject to change, because DNA research is still imperfect.  This is what the algorithm assigned me: England (30-36%), Ireland 35% (0-43%), Scotland 19% (0-20%), Germanic Europe 6% (0-20%), Norway 4% (0-5%).

Now, this is what the system gave me.  Once upon a time I was able to see the whole list of ethnicities and what they tested, and even if the system didn't assign an ethnicity to me, doesn't mean I don't have it.  I used to be able to click on a random Ethnicity and see if it was all 0%, or if there was a small percentage bracket.  For instance my Mom is Ireland 56% (42-63%) and my Aunt is Ireland 50% (34-55%), yet my Grandma didn't register as having any Irish.  If I was allowed to see the full list of ethnicities and then click on Irish, I could see what the tested bracket percentage said.  My Grandma has Irish in her family tree, though it's possible they emigrated from Scotland (as she registers 37% Scottish), but with my Mom having 56% Irish with the percentage bracket she does, there's no way my Grandma doesn't have a small percentage of Irish.

Also, I was hoping to have some Welsh in my DNA, so that I could be British Isles Divergent (nerd reference).  Apparently I don't have any, though my Dad is 2% Welsh (0-13%), Mom is 1% Welsh (0-7%), my brother Steven 5% Welsh (0-11%), and my Grandma Stuff. is 4%.  I have gone down my Dad's family tree on the Family Tree website, and there is Welsh there, some of which are royalty (which I take with a grain of salt, but it's fun).  I've found Welsh elsewhere.  It's a little, but there's a paper trail.  Proof that our DNA is a hint of linage, but not a true representation of our heritage and family history.  DNA is simply what we inherit. 

The most interesting discovery is between my Grandpa R and Grandma A.  We always assumed my Grandpa had a lot of Scottish.  He was obsessed with Scotland, yet he only has 5% (0-14%).  Ironically my Grandma A has more with 37% (0-37%).   It's just funny.  Though my Grandpa was 91% Irish (71-95%), connecting with 9 regions all through the south of Ireland, from Kerry to East Cork.

It's all fun.  It's interesting comparing the results of my family.  My Grandma's brother, my Great Uncle, had France 3% (0-7%) and Spain 1% (0-1%) show up in his results, so that's interesting.  And even though Steven is the only one of my siblings to have Wales show up in his DNA, he only registered 6% Scottish (0-13%), whereas my brother Michael is 33% Scottish (2-35%).  Steven is 47% Irish (22-54%).  It's just interesting how similar, yet different we all are, even with the same linage.

So I've spent the weekend nerding out over Family History. :0)

PS. I don't care what they say, I'm still British Isles Divergent.

Going Offline while Visiting England, Scotland, and Ireland: Getting in Touch with my Roots

 I'm back!

While I was taking a break from being online I was with my Mom touring England, Scotland, and Ireland, fulfilling both our dreams in visiting the land of our ancestors.  We went with a tour so everything was mapped out for us, didn't have to worry about driving, and met many new friends.

It was so beautiful!

On September 22 we flew out of Salt Lake and landed in London on the 23rd, spending a couple days there.  Then we inched up to Scotland visiting Oxford, Bampton, Bourton-on-the-Water, Stratford-Upon-Avon for the night, Audlem, Chester, York, Lake District, Edinburgh, Glamis Castle, St. Andrews, then over to Dublin, Wicklow Mountains, Glendalough, Avoca, Rock of Cashel, Blarney and its stone (Yes, I kissed it), Killarney, Inch beach, Wild Atlantic Way, Dingle, Ross Castle, Cliffs of Moher, Medieval banquet at Bunratty Castle, and then finished by staying at Dromoland Castle.

Epic!!

Needless to say I wanted to be completely in the moment.  With the international cell phone plan I was on I was limited to 800 mb in data and wanted to dedicate that to texting, google maps, and the (okay, I'm admitting it) occasional popping onto Pokemon Go to catch international Pokemon.

Got Mr. Mime.

A couple times I hopped onto Facebook out of habit and quickly got off, though one of the times I read something my sister-in-law wrote about one of my nieces, so I don't regret that because it was quite funny.  But beyond that I really avoided Facebook, Twitter, and other sites, and it was a strange, but nice experience.  I also completely disconnected myself from the news.

I was so disconnected that I thought LDS General Conference was a week later then it was, so when I was at Dromoland castle using their really good wifi, I was really confused when I found all the talks already on the gospel library app.  I NEVER forget general conference, so that proved how out of touch I was to not even be aware.

I'm really excited to be blogging about the stuff I learned and all the fun adventures in coming months.  I took 4,215 pictures, and my Mom took just over 8,000 pictures.  A lot to download and go through! 0_0  But I'm already ready to relive it all.

Before going on the trip I wondered what place I would feel "at home" in.  For instance, I loved visiting France last year, but it didn't feel like home, just a fun place I visited and would like to travel to again.  Tokyo, on the other hand, felt like home.  I left a part of my heart there.  Between England, Scotland, and Ireland I found my heart in Ireland.  I loved all three places, would love to spend a week in the Lake District being by the water and explore other places more thoroughly, but Ireland felt like home.  If I was ever able to return, positive thinking, I would like to visit Wales as well, as I have genealogical roots there as well.

Maybe I feel connected to Ireland because I'm studying Gaeilge.

In terms of inherited DNA I'm 23% Ireland and 70% Great Britain, so more G.B.  (Fun fact, I stated inherited because the genes we get vs our ancestral tree is not the same.  My Grandma is 5% Western European, her brother, my great uncle, is 62% Western European.  I'm less than 1%.  My maternal great-grandparents must have had a lot of Western European, and in just 4 generations I won't pass any of that along.  But I've still got my Celtic roots!)

 (Grandma vs Great Uncle Allen DNA results)

(Why it's good for siblings to get tested, because we all inherit different things, and then pass on different things.  Doesn't fully represent our roots, just what's been inherited.

Man, wish I could have seen what my Granny and Gramps results would have been!!)

In terms of feeling a connection to Ireland, maybe a part of that is because our trip up through the U.K. felt more rushed, like a highlight trip, whereas by the time we got to Ireland the jet lag wasn't so bad and we had more time to explore certain places.

But I also feel really connected to my Mahoney line, out of all my lines, though I also feel really connected to my emigrant Robertson ancestor.

James Bell Robertson, who came over just before the Civil War, fought for the Union, and was at Gettysburg.

(In the coat of arms Blue represents loyalty and truth, Red is the "Martyr's color" signifying military fortitude and magnanimity, yellow represents generosity, chevron repents protection, Lion = deathless courage, and snake = wisdom.  From Irish Surnames.)

But the Mahoney (O'Mahony) coat of arms is the best!  Ah man, I love it.  I wish my Mahoney line didn't dead-end in Newfoundland.  A fire destroyed important key documents.  But according to this document the O'Mahony's is apart of a royal Celtic dynasty who built 14 defense castles in the Southern part of Cork next to the sea.  How cool is that!!??  It would be neat to be descended from Celtic royalty.  Maybe that's why I'm feeling drawn to the Irish Gaelic language?  I also have O'Niel (O'Niell), which I guess goes back to the High King of Ireland in the 5th century.  Cool stuff!

So a trip of a lifetime, and I enjoyed every moment.

And the weather was surprisingly amazing!!!

Why You Should Test Your Grandparents for Ancestry DNA, and other Ancestry DNA Discoveries

 My Maternal Grandmother's DNA Results

 A little over a month ago I received my maternal Grandmother's Ancestry DNA results. It was bright and colorful, showing more regions then I ever imagined having done genealogy work on our family tree.  I imaged she would be heavily Great Britain and Irish, instead the breakdown was:

Europe: 98%

Great Britain: 32% (3%-61%)

Scandinavia: 26% (5%-47%)

Iberian Peninsula: 14% (2%-25%)

Ireland: 11% (0%-27%)

Europe West: 5% (0%-21%)

TRACE REGIONS: 10%

Italy/Greece: 6% (0%-14%)

Europe East: 4% (0%-10%)

West Asia: 2%

Caucuses: 2% (0%-4%)

(Note: What are the percentage brackets?  Why not a set percentage to represent each region?  From Ancestry.com: When we calculate your estimate for each ethnicity region, we run forty separate analyses. Each of the forty analyses gives another estimate of your ethnicity, and each one is done with randomly selected portions of your DNA. Why forty? Ethnicity estimation can be variable from comparison to comparison — different combinations of DNA can give us different information, so doing multiple analyses can give us a more accurate estimate, as well as the likely range.)

(Note: Trace regions are areas where traces are found in the DNA, but the evidence is so small it could be there by chance.)

(Note:  I wasn't familiar about the Caucasus, but it's actually where the term "Caucasian" comes from.  The Caucasus DNA regions are located primarily in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey. It can also include Bulgaria, Jordan, Greece, Italy, Kuwait, Palestine, Romania, Turkmenistan.)     

  I was pretty excited about my Grandmothers results.  So much variety.  Pretty much all of Europe covered.  Regions I haven't found in my paper trail search on my family tree.  I was particularly shocked by the Iberian Peninsula (Spain, Portugal, also found in France, Morocco, Algeria, Italy).

What variety would I find in my DNA?  With roots going back to the 1600's and 1700's in U.S. history, I've got to have a slew genetic regions, right?

But here's the interesting thing about DNA.  We only get what we inherit.  1/2 from my Mom, 1/2 from my Dad, 1/4 from my Grandparents, 1/8 from my Great-Grandparents, 1/16 from my Great-Great-Grandparents, etc.  How much genetic information can be lost in all those divisions?

 My Maternal Grandfather's DNA Results

 When I first administered my Grandfather's DNA test, which involved having him spit into a tube, the first test failed, so I didn't get his results when my Grandmother's results came in.  Thankfully Ancestry DNA sent me another test.

His results came last week, along my Mom and my results.

Here's what his shows.

Europe: 100%

Ireland: 75% (59%-88%)

Great Britain: 20% (5%-36%)

TRACE REGIONS:

Scandinavia: 2% (0%-11%)

Finland/Northwest Russia: 2% (0%-5%)

Iberian Peninsula: <1% (0%-3%)

I wasn't at all surprised by his results, since his lines strongly go back to Ireland via Hallisey, Mahoney, O'Niel, etc.

Note, though, Scotland and Wales doesn't show up as a separate region.  Both can equally show up under Ireland and Great Britain, due to trade, war, lack of mountains, easy travel, etc.  I know my Grandfather has Scottish in him, and it looks like it's showing up under the Great Britain region.

My Mom's DNA Results

 I was really curious to see what my Mom inherited, since she gets 1/2 from my Grandparents, and whatever she gets and doesn't get, I have a 50% of getting or not getting.  What she doesn't inherit I have no chance of receiving, forever lost through whatever posterity I may have.

Her results were interesting.

Europe: 100%

Great Britain: 64% (41%-84%)

Ireland: 25% (8%-42%)

Scandinavia: 5% (0%-16%)

TRACE REGIONS

Iberian Peninsula: 4% (0%-11%)

Europe East: <1% (0%-5%)

Finland/Northwest Russia: <1% (0%-2%)

Italy/Greece: <1% (0%-3%)

 My Mom inherited none of my Grandmother's Europe West region, which was interesting, plus she didn't inherit any of the Caucasus.  She also received a small amount of the Iberian Peninsula, so I still have some chance, right?  Though my Mom is convinced the Iberian Peninsula percent proves we have French ancestry.  I think it would be cool having ancestry going back to Spain and Portugal as well.

 My DNA Results

 There were two things I knew about myself.  One being that I have a strong German linage thanks to my Stufflebeam heritage, and also through my Paternal Grandmother; Second, I have a strong Scottish/Irish/English/and some Welsh from my Mom's side, so I was going to be equal parts U.K. and Germany.

That's not what happened!!!!!

Europe: 98%

Great Britain: 70% (47%-91%)

Ireland: 23% (5%-41%)

TRACE REGIONS

Scandinavia: 4% (0%-14%)

Europe West: <1% (0%-7%)

Asia: <1%

TRACE REGION

South Asia: <1% (0%-2%)

(India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, also found in Myanmar (Burma))

West Asia: <1%

TRACE REGION

Caucasus: <1% (0%-4%)

I have pretty much no German in me!!!!

I was floored.

I was also shocked by how much UK/Irish I have in me.

 Check it out, I have more Great Britain in me then the typical U.K. native!

 I have an average of 70% Great Britain, while the typical native only averages 60%.  With all my deep American heritage how is that possible?  It's all those crazy 1/2 divisions from parent to child.

Iberian Peninsula didn't come up once in my DNA, though it was solid in my Grandmothers.  Essentially this means the Peninsula is every bit apart of my linage, I just didn't inherit any of it, but it's still apart of my identity.

Also, my Mom didn't inherit any of my Grandmothers Caucasus region, which means the trace region I have popping up in my DNA came from my Dad.  I wish he was interested in doing the test. Also, the Trace amount of South Asia come from his side as well, which is fascinating.

Also note, just because 70% of my DNA pops up as Great Britain, I can still have French and German roots in there as well.  The Great Britain DNA region is found primarily in England, Scotland, Wales, but it's also found in Ireland, France, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Italy.)

The DNA results are interesting.  I've been linked to a lot of 4th cousins, so I have more work to do.

Another interesting feature of Ancestry DNA is a feature called DNA circles, which is still in BETA.

Hugh Patrick was one of my Hypothetical Ancestors, where I took his information from the research of others, not knowing for sure if that line had correct information.  There's a crazy amount of sloppy genealogy out there, in which I'm guilty of.

 

I was hoping of being connected to Hugh, because of his father, who knew our first President George Washington personally, knowing him long before the Revolutionary war, having served as one of his rangers during the French and Indian War.  James was also a Patriot, serving throughout the Revolution.

 

Thing is, it's hard to prove linage to James through a paper trail, because of the nature of records back then.  From The Patricks of Eastern Kentucky: "The children listed for James Patrick are only guesses. It is probable they are James's children but it has not been proven. It is also probable James had other children and another marriages, but it has not been proven."

 It's not clearly known who James children were, but there are guesses, and I have DNA links from his son Hugh, if he is his son.

James Patrick also has a possible daughter in Mary Ann "Polly" Patrick, and though she isn't on my family tree, I have DNA links to both her and her husband through their descendants.  They had more then one child, and I'm having cousin ties to a few of them, I just don't know where they belong on my tree.

There's still a lot more to discover, and this is really the beginning.  It's such a puzzle!