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DNA update

(28 Posts)
Grammaretto Thu 25-Aug-22 10:54:59

My DNA ethnicity was updated yesterday on Ancestry and I am now more Irish than before. They say my DNA doesn't alter but that the way it's interpreted is.
Has anyone else been puzzled by their changes?

BlueBelle Thu 25-Aug-22 11:07:32

Mine has changed too and I m now a quarter Scandinavian Well it’s not the dna changing but the sophistication of the testing being able to pick up more minute traces I m presuming
Fine tune it in other words

Grammaretto Thu 25-Aug-22 11:18:18

I guess so but I think it's more to do with the fact that more Americans with Irish heritage are testing and so the gene pool/database grows.
I've already discovered that a distant Irish cousin was a very active sperm donor in the USA in the 1960s so literally hundreds of cousins appear from that source grin

VB000 Thu 25-Aug-22 11:23:02

Mine is showing 3% Irish, but the Scottish percentage has disappeared...

Mollygo Thu 25-Aug-22 11:33:53

Mine has changed too. I am now a much higher % Scottish. My sister who is really keen on genealogy sent me a list of our Scottish ancestry which explains it.

Grammaretto Thu 25-Aug-22 11:40:24

VB000 oh dear. Just when you had probably got used to it and were wondering which tartan to wear grin
My DMiL knows that she has Carribbean ancestry but at first this didn't appear at all and we were convinced there had been some infidelity but the update shows 1% Central African so we can all relax smile.

Sparklefizz Thu 25-Aug-22 11:43:44

Mine has changed too and I'm now more Scandinavian than I was before.

BlueBelle Thu 25-Aug-22 11:48:06

But this is where I m puzzled I ve traced mum and dads trees back to 1700s for mum late 1600 s for dad quite comprehensive trees but not a sign of any Scandinavian blood in the trees yet surely over the generations it would have fizzled out before it got to me So how can I be a quarter Scandinavian and yet no Scandinavians in my trees ?

CatsCatsCats Thu 25-Aug-22 11:48:36

I had mine done about 5 years ago - it turned out I was 100% northwest British.

Three years later, I was 80% northwest British with little scraps of every other nationality in the mix thrown in.

Chestnut Thu 25-Aug-22 11:58:56

Mine hasn't changed much, except they've gone from 3% Norway on my father's side to 2% Sweden & Denmark on my mother's side. I don't agree with this, but I expect it will swap back next time.

It's never going to be totally accurate and wavers around over time as they compile more and more results.

Chestnut Thu 25-Aug-22 12:02:48

BlueBelle

But this is where I m puzzled I ve traced mum and dads trees back to 1700s for mum late 1600 s for dad quite comprehensive trees but not a sign of any Scandinavian blood in the trees yet surely over the generations it would have fizzled out before it got to me So how can I be a quarter Scandinavian and yet no Scandinavians in my trees ?

You must have got a good dollop of Viking blood passed down! There seems to have been a lot of Viking babies born during that period. Check the areas your ancestors lived for places the Vikings invaded. Mine is Wethersfield in Essex where Wutha and his lads had a Viking camp.

Grammaretto Thu 25-Aug-22 12:28:55

Yes BlueBelle it does seem strange to suddenly pop up in you yet be absent in previous generations.
I have traced my trees thoroughly and should have English blood. I have none at all in my DNA. I am 10% European Jewish so that will be my German GGF and about 7% South east Asian/Philippines which is from my GGM who was from Indonesia. That's all good and proper but what became of the English?

SueDonim Thu 25-Aug-22 13:30:08

Mine changed today, too. I went from 55% Welsh to 49% Welsh but I’ve got extra Scandi and German DNA.

What I’ve been most surprised about it not to have any French, because my ancestors were Huguenots who fled France in the 1600’s.

Germanshepherdsmum Thu 25-Aug-22 13:44:06

What a small world Chestnut.

VB000 Thu 25-Aug-22 13:51:47

SueDonim

Mine changed today, too. I went from 55% Welsh to 49% Welsh but I’ve got extra Scandi and German DNA.

What I’ve been most surprised about it not to have any French, because my ancestors were Huguenots who fled France in the 1600’s.

Sue - here's an interesting piece on Ancestry site. Also DNA testing is not allowed in France (for ancestry/curiosity purposes) so not much to compare with, I remember reading that somewhere, as I have some Huguenots too, if you go way back!

www.ancestry.com/corporate/international/press-releases/DNA-of-the-nation-revealedand-were-not-as-British-as-we-think

Yammy Thu 25-Aug-22 14:00:47

Mine changed yesterday as well I am more Viking/Scandanavian but now it is Norway and Iceland, not some Swedish and Danish. This actually makes more sense to me . Icelandic friends years ago told me about the Norwegian Vikings who went to Ireland and then the English coast and took slaves to Iceland. Research has been done near where I originate from and the langue studied shows a close link with Norwegian and Icelandic in local words like fell and beck.

SueDonim Thu 25-Aug-22 14:05:33

That’s interesting, VB000! I didn’t know that about France. How annoying for we family historians. grin

There’s a family tale that there is Portuguese blood on my mum’s side but that hasn’t shown up yet. Both my mum and I have/had red hair and it is supposed to have come down from a Portuguese woman who migrated to Wales at some point. Maybe one day it’ll show up!

Chestnut Thu 25-Aug-22 15:17:12

Germanshepherdsmum

What a small world Chestnut.

I'm sorry to say I don't know what you mean. Are you from Wethersfield?

Germanshepherdsmum Thu 25-Aug-22 15:48:55

Nearby (along with maternal ancestors back to at least 1500s).. And my son and daughter-in-law now live nearby too. I know Wethersfield well.

ixion Thu 25-Aug-22 15:53:38

By many comments here about results 'changing', am I right in thinking that samples or details are kept on file and not destroyed after initial 'paid-for' analysis?
If so, what do they do with them?

Chestnut Thu 25-Aug-22 16:12:38

This is what Ancestry says:
Privacy for your Ancestry DNA test

Ladyleftfieldlover Thu 25-Aug-22 16:21:32

I seem to be more Scandinavian than before! Still mainly Northern European, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. I used to have a photo of my mum’s mum - blonde hair in plaits and bright blue eyes. Very Viking! However, the main reason I first joined Ancestry was because my dad’s mum, one of his sisters, my elder son and my granddaughter all have very dark skin. But there is nothing south of northern France! We expected Italy or SpIn to pop up.

ixion Thu 25-Aug-22 16:45:03

Chestnut

This is what Ancestry says:
Privacy for your Ancestry DNA test

Thank you Chestnut.
Interesting.

Oopsadaisy1 Thu 25-Aug-22 17:22:03

Maybe I’ll go back to being 25% Welsh, that will please my Welsh ancestors.
Instead of 25% Scottish, with no Scottish ancestors in sight.

Oopsadaisy1 Thu 25-Aug-22 17:27:18

Update is similar but with a bit of Swedish and Danish in there as well.