Ancestry's Ethnicity Update Is Finally Here - Share Yours!

[TinaRoyal]

Ethnicity is derived from DNA.

[Petros]

Quite so
There is a huge difference between Ancestry and MyHeritage in their estimates for my ethnicity

English 72% vs 62.4% (both pick up on the Southern English)
Scandinavian 10% v 36.4%
Irish 8% vs none
Scottish 7% vs none
Welsh 3% vs none
Ashkenazi Jew none vs 1.2%

[Pheno]

Yes but they can only compare with their databases and Ancestry's is much bigger than that at My Heritage.

Ethnicity estimates are only as good as the size of the sample.  It is why they are updated - the sample size increases as more people take tests.

Pheno

[Gadget]

Ethnicity is derived from DNA.

It is not.

I said:

I think that you are confusing DNA with Ancestry's estimates of ethnicity. Their estimates are dependent on their reference group.   In addition to different reference groups, each company seem to use slightly different measures to calculate ethnicity.

Ethmnicity is a concept  which can be defined in various ways. As petros says, different companies:

define ethnicity differently.
have different reference groups.
have different categories.

DNA is a physical attribute. Ethmicity is dependent upon socially constructed definitions.

add - rainy day reading

https://www.ancestrycdn.com/dna/static/pdf/whitepapers/Ethnicity2020_white_paperV2.pdf

[arthurk]

The latest ethnicity update convinces me more than ever that it's a waste of time - or that it produces an eye-catching headline, but when you dig deeper you find that it's a load of rubbish.

My wife's figures are:
England and NW Europe - 72%
Sweden and Denmark - 13%
Wales - 7%
Germanic Europe - 5%
Scotland - 3%

Another family member has:
England and NW Europe - 78%
Wales - 14%
Norway - 6%
Ireland - 2%

Ancestry's own DNA tools confirm what my wife has always known, that the other family member is her sister, who shares the same two parents and all other ancestors.

Consequently I don't see how the ethnicity figures convey anything useful.

[TinaRoyal]

To quote from the AncestryDNA Learning Hub.

“When a customer takes an AncestryDNA test, our scientists compare their DNA, piece by piece, to see which reference group each piece of that customer’s DNA most closely resembles. The ethnicities assigned to each piece of DNA are then totaled up and the percentages are calculated.”

So Ethnicity is derived from DNA by Ancestry.

[Pheno]

We are just wondering if ethnicity plays any part in your makeup unconsciously?

Although I am always happy for England to win sporting competitions I really have no allegiance and often get moaned at for supporting the other side.  My husband, on the other hand, is fiercely patriotic.

Our latest ethnicities have me as 49% England and him as 83% England, almost double my figure.

Wonder if this is reflective in our support for our country and where ethnicity might play a part?

Interesting?

Pheno

[brigidmac]

You dont inherit all the same ethnicity genes as your siblings just as one may inherit different physical traits and not the others
Especially with distant relatives so I wouldnt expect to have exactly same ethnicity as a sibling or even exactly half of a parents ethnicity
It doesn't make the tests wrong or rubbish .

[arthurk]

You dont inherit all the same ethnicity genes as your siblings just as one may inherit different physical traits and not the others
Especially with distant relatives so I wouldnt expect to have exactly same ethnicity as a sibling or even exactly half of a parents ethnicity
It doesn't make the tests wrong or rubbish .

I'm well aware that siblings' DNA isn't identical, so at best this is only ever going to be an incomplete picture of anyone's ethnicity. What do these percentages tell you that's actually of any use?