dna tests

[davidft]

There are three tests that can be taken

yDNA - only males can take this and it gives the haplogroup group for the direct male line only eg father, grandfather, great grandfather etc. Can be useful in one name studies (sometimes). Ancestry no longer do this test so you would need an alternative like say ftDNA.com

Autosomal (family finder) this is the test you did and looks across all your ancestral lines. Both males and females can take it. It is this test that is used to guess your "ethnic" heritage although in reality it is guesswork based on imprecise science. Still they have to start somewhere and in time results might get more accurate. What results you get depend on what comparison populations the testers use so if you took the test again but with a different supplier you could get somewhat different results. Similarly if your brother took this test but say with ftDNA it might get different results to yours but you would not know if that was due to the different comparison samples they were using or because of the genes he inherited at random from you parents. This is also the test that is used to find close relatives (up to 5 generations) across all lines

mtDNA - both females and males can take this, This test gives the haplogroup for you direct female line eg mother, grandmother etc. Other than that it does not have a lot of use

As well as the tests above there is a website called gedmatch.com where you can upload yDNA and autosomal results to compare with those of others and also to get alternative "ethnic" predictions

If you are looking at doing more tests it may be worth looking at ftDNA.com to see the packages they do of combinations of tests and the descriptions they give for them

[Cazza47]

Thank you

[heywood]

Hi davidft,
I took the Autosomal test and got these results:

Ireland 53%
Great Britain 34%
Iberian Peninsula 7%

Trace Regions 5%
Finland/Northwest Russia 4%
Europe West  1%

I have an Irish parent and an English parent. As far as I can see that ancestry is just that.
I am just curious as to why there would be more than half Irish - would I be right in assuming that some time back there is also Irish ancestry within my English side.
Is it all a bit general? However,  it does look generally as I expected - just the extra 3 %   
I do not want to connect with others particularly, but on a positive note, the only 2nd cousin match which shows, is known to me 
The other matches begin at 4 -6 cousin but a couple of the ones I have looked at do share a surname or discrete area with me ( theirs go back to mid 1800s emigration to US) so it is interesting.

I just wonder davidft what observations, if any, you have about my results.

Thanks for reading
Heywood

PS I hope you don't mind my asking for your opinion and also, Cazza47, my joining in this thread. I didn't really want to start another one as there are so many.

[medpat]

Don't worry if your brother goes elsewhere for his DNA test, there is a free site, GEDmatch, where you can download your raw DNA information so you'll be able to compare both DNA results.

[youngtug]

Don't worry if your brother goes elsewhere for his DNA test, there is a free site, GEDmatch, where you can download your raw DNA information so you'll be able to compare both DNA results.

                See reply #9

[davidft]

Hi Heywood

Your breakdown is in something like I would imagine for someone who only has known Irish and British ancestry to look like. Of course the fact that most of us don’t know our ancestors back more than several generations means there could be all sorts of ethnic curiosities in our makeup waiting to be discovered.

What we inherit from our parents is done at random so the fact that you have more Irish than British could be down to successive generations taking more of the readable markers from the Irish side of your inheritance than the British side, if that makes sense.

Part of the problems with these ethnic predictions is that the science is really not that far advanced and a lot of the prediction is based on comparing your results with populations (sometimes very small populations) of people whose ancestry is supposedly known. Even then you get some interesting variances. For example my analysis (ftDNA) said I was 67% Western and Central Europe and 33% Scandinavian, note no British Isles despite having ancestors here for hundreds of years. Then my father is tested and his results are 39% British Isles, 33% Scandinavian and 24% Western and Central Europe and a few per cent trace regions. So you can see within two generations quite a difference between two people who are 100% related in the first generation.

What I am saying is do not get to wound up on what the analysis says as the results are not accurate enough for that yet but they may become so in time. I mentioned that my test was with ftDNA so if I took the Ancestry test which I think you tested with I could get different results as they use different groupings to ftDNA. Unfortunately Ancestry does not allow me to transfer my data into theirs to get an analysis. There is a company called gedmatch.com where you can transfer your date in for free and get several different analysis of your makeup depending what model they use. The reason it is free as it is a way for them to collect peoples data so they can build up their database of ethnicities and perfect and refine analyses that are done so if you don’t want to be part (anonymously) of their database that wouldn’t be an option for you. It was of interest for me to do it as it confirmed some of the supposedly rare markings in my DNA reading (I say supposedly rare as being a sceptic I think that is short hand for saying we have not tested enough people)

Not sure what you mean by the extra 3%. As I see your total is 99% (sometimes they do not total to 100) being the 53 + 34 + 7 + 5 = 99. The 1 + 4 for Finland and West Europe is a breakdown of the 5% trace regions.

You did well to get a 2nd cousin match my nearest proven link is 4th cousin once removed. Quite surprising we managed to proven it with all the appropriate paperwork and the lady herself had two incidents of illegitimacy and adoption in her line as well as her grandmother emigrating to the US.
Proving 4th to 6th cousins isn’t easy but can be done with lots of perseverance, and maybe luck if Irish records are involved as they are not freely or fully available.

Not sure if that is what you were looking for but if there is anything you want to ask based on that or what I may have missed please ask

David

PS I did hear at the beginning of the year that ftDNA were meant to be redefining their ethnic analysis based in improved sampling towards the end of the year. If this does happen it could affect the tests done with Ancestry as it is actually ftDNA who do the test for Ancestry.

[heywood]

That's super, thanks.
Sorry for my poor explanation. I do understand the breakdown.

I meant the extra 3% was the 53% Irish where I am, in theory, 50% Irish and 50 % English.
I thought I may get some Iberian Peninsula from my Irish parent  (West of Ireland), that could be just fanciful but certainly 'the look' is there and some European/ Scandinavian perhaps, as part of my English parent's which has Lancashire/Midlands and Suffolk.

My 2nd cousin and I had already discovered each other but it is good to see that relationship heading the list.
In the other more distant matches, there is also someone with whom I corresponded some years ago. We share a surname back in mid 1800s but mine stayed in Ireland whilst the other went to US. We could not prove anything but now there's a bit of a match!

I am not bothered about any of it, I am quite happy and whilst I know it is not for some people and it is early days, I am fairly satisfied
Thanks, David.

Heywood

[Spike H]

Heywood if you have any ancestors from Cornwall, Wales or Scotland they are more likely to be included with the "Ireland" results rather than Great Britain. (It's a Celtic thing). Many people with Cornwall ancestors can show 5 to 10% Iberian also.

[Ruskie]

Heywood, there is LOADS on the internet which will help (or hinder) you. It's a very complex subject which David has explained well.

Spurred on by this discussion I have just entered my 'Family finder' results to gedmatch. 
To say that I am more confused than ever is an understatement!  So far I have only had a quick look at my results entered into the admixture utilites and what I have taken away from this is I have a large proportion of WHG (which it took a while to find out is Western Hunter Gatherer  ). I think most of us would find the same.

It's all good fun though.