Ancestry: "Probably have relatives...Scotland"

[Lisa in California]

After reading some posts, I am beginning to understand a bit about DNA testing.  I finally took a DNA test and received my results this week.
Three of the "ethnicity estimates" were:
Ireland/Scotland/Wales    33%
Great Britain                    27%
Europe West                    13%
The indented bubble under Ireland/Scotland/Wales was
Scotland, with the following explanations
- "Ethnicity Estimate - You probably have relatives who lived in this region in the past few hundred years.  Your connection to this region is likely through your ancestry from:
  Ireland/Scotland/Wales
  Great Britain
  Europe West"
- "Places in This Region - Specific places in this region where your family might have lived - Central Scotland & Ulster, Ireland"

To me, "You probably..." sounds like a guess and to my inexperienced mind, seems like a "filler" to my results.  Is there a reason why those statements would have been included?

I looked at my brother's results from earlier this year (knowing that there are reasons why they are different from my results)    -- two of his results included Ireland (not Ireland/Scotland/Wales) and Great Britain.  Could his test only identify Irish DNA and my test was DNA from Irish and/or Scottish and/or Welsh ancestors?

I apologize for my confusing post.  I can't come up with a clearer way of stating my results and asking questions that are clear.  Thank you in advance for any assistance.  Lisa

PS  I am delighted that I took the test as it confirmed that a suspected 3rd cousin is truly related to me.   

[hurworth]

Not long ago Ancestry had an Irish category and no Scottish category, and if you live in Chicago and the highlight of your year is March 17th that's just fine.  Scottish was lumped in with Irish.  Your brother may have tested when it was just called "Irish"

[sallyyorks]

Not long ago Ancestry had an Irish category and no Scottish category, and if you live in Chicago and the highlight of your year is March 17th that's just fine.  Scottish was lumped in with Irish.  Your brother may have tested when it was just called "Irish"

This is a big problem.
I read on a Genealogy blog a few years ago somewhere saying that these companies were forced to alter their geographical 'categories' when they came under pressure from testers in the USA who wanted to see a result showing their 'Irish' or 'Scottish' 'ethnicity'. The companies caved in and created these separate categories. But these categories were unrealistic, because there isn't really much difference in the 'ethnicity' of all the people of north western European heritage.
That is, that English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh 'ethnicity', and other parts of north west Europe, are in reality too similar to be separated, but that is not what some tester want to see!

[hurworth]

Ancestry has renamed the category.  It's not called Irish anymore, so people with Scottish, Welsh and Cornish ancestry won't feel left out.

Often, but not always, the distribution of language is association with the distribution of genes.  Douglas Hyde learned Gaelic in Ireland and was intrigued to meet people from Scotland that he could converse with in Gaelic.  The similar languages suggest similar origins.

[sallyyorks]

Ancestry has renamed the category. It's not called Irish anymore, so people with Scottish, Welsh and Cornish ancestry won't feel left out.

Often, but not always, the distribution of language is association with the distribution of genes.  Douglas Hyde learned Gaelic in Ireland and was intrigued to meet people from Scotland that he could converse with in Gaelic.  The similar languages suggest similar origins.

Interesting that they have been grouped together, what is this category called at the moment?
Commercial companies compare customers tests to a very small 'sample' population, as small as less than a dozen 'samples' in some cases but it is only their idea of what makes someone of a certain 'ethnicity'. Also obviously have a vested interest in getting the 'right' result for their 'customers', the one they think their customers will want to see

On the other hand, these quotes, from the link below, are from the largest scientific DNA study ever undertaken and it found there was no 'unique' link between these regions mentioned

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31905764
'A DNA study of Britons has shown that genetically there is not a unique Celtic group of people in the UK.
According to the data, those of Celtic ancestry in Scotland and Cornwall are more similar to the English than they are to other Celtic groups.'

...groups in Cornwall, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland had such different genetic patterns.

"I had assumed at the very early stages of the project that there was going to be this uniform Celtic fringe extending from Cornwall through to Wales into Scotland. And this has very definitely not been the case," he told BBC News.

The researchers did see distinct genetic groups within those regions but those groups were quite different from each other, according to Prof Donnelly.
"Although people from Cornwall have a Celtic heritage, genetically they are much, much more similar to the people elsewhere in England than they are to the Welsh for example," said Prof Donnelly.
"People in South Wales are also quite different genetically to people in north Wales, who are both different in turn to the Scots. We did not find a single genetic group corresponding to the Celtic traditions in the western fringes of Britain."

[Lisa in California]

Thank you all very much for your replies; they all make sense.  My brother took the test in May, so the category could have changed during the past 6 months.  After reading some of the posts in this forum during the past year (and learning a bit about the tests), it still was interesting to receive the results.  My research has gone back several generations so taking the test was more out of curiosity and to see if I could find matches with a couple of my favourite surnames, rather than wanting to know my ethnicity.   

My son also submitted his DNA sample (when I did) and the interesting thing is I have 179 4th cousins or closer and he has 444 4th cousins or closer!  I would guess there is such a difference because I'm Canadian and my husband and son are American (I would guess fewer Canadians have submitted their samples).  I would guess it would also depend upon how many of our ancestors' children survived childhood and had their own children.

All of your replies were very interesting; thank you for taking the time to explain.   

[Lweston]

I took the Ancestry DNA test last May.  Originally, they split my Irish from my British Isles ethnicity.  I noticed lately that they are all combined now.

[Lisa in California]

Hi Lweston:

Welcome to RootsChat. I suppose like others have mentioned, they change things as the public wants different results.  Am I understanding it correctly - they've combined your Irish and British Isles; or, they now just have one one category for people who are taking the test now?  Thank you for letting us know of the latest "trend".    Lisa

[Lweston]

Actually - I double checked - it used to be Ireland 22%, Britain 7%.  Now, it is Ireland/Scotland/Wales 22%, Britain 7%.  I didn’t notice exactly when the change happened.