DNA Puzzle

[yomper45]

I understand how my DNA was determined, but a thought came to me that i would like answered.
If you are English your DNA can be traced back to North Western Europe plus any where in the known world, i get that, but if you are American, not what is known as "First Nation", you can only be checked back to South America, Europe, Asia and in case i have missed them the Russian confederation. And that i understand. But if you are Black American, or should i use the term Afro/Carb American you can only trace back to Africa, unless of course there was some inter race mix along the way. So my question is how do Americans DNA define American? They eat mostly the same food as Europeans or Asians, Chinese ECT. WHAT DEFINES AMERICAN.

[brigidmac]

Where did you get that information ?

To add a personal example the African DNA specifies particular regions my cousin who has 2percent Congo matches an American who has 35 percent Congo other African regions and 2percent English ...I don't know how far back the match goes but from profile pic they look a bit alike apart from skin colour

Modified they've got tiny tree but I looked at trees with surnames of their parents and one family seemed to come from Antigua  as location in 1930s

[Shropshire Lass]

Apart from First Nation peoples, there isn't an 'American' dna.

[brigidmac]

I think I misunderstood original post

I thought you were saying that Americans ancestors from USA as far back as they know  could not trace back to ethnicities like Welsh Scottish Irish etc

We have matches with Americans who have high Welsh ethnicity and tho they may not know it link to a family from a certain area of Wales I can trace to 1789 with certainty

Those with any Scottish invariable connect to my father's family but my mother also had a 3x ggparent of Scottish origin ...lineage unknown .

Tho most of the trees that trace back to 1700s or beyond  don't have any indication of anyone arriving in USA at any point.

[yomper45]

Sorry i think i confused those who replied.

The real question is Other than "First Nation" tribes is there something in "Americans" DNA that can label them as Americans.

If i can give an Example from my DNA.

I have a clear indicators that label my family line originating from Norway and Denmark, however my family roots over the last 1000 years are UK based (verified by Family Tree, as best i could) and this shows up as 54% English. So is there the same "type" of indicator for Americans or would it be true to say that at the moment no American can claim to being "American" only American by virtue of x generations living there?

[brigidmac]

i think the latter

because apart from First Nations the others are relative immigrants in DNA terms

how high is your norwegian denmark ethnicity ? + where were your british based ancestors ?

a lot of north english hve viking blood ...and in 18th + 19th century sailors who settled anglisisced their names but sometimes stayed in communities where they might marry other scandinavians or children of scandinavians .

its a very interesting topic and its good to see examlpes my mother has 2percent scandinavian which is too small to investigate
Mymaternal  cousin has 8 percent which is enough to be one ggggrandparent ...but could also be from small amounts from 3 great grandparents 1 from his maternal side  and 2 from his fathers side

[Guy Etchells]

I understand how my DNA was determined, but a thought came to me that i would like answered.
If you are English your DNA can be traced back to North Western Europe plus any where in the known world, i get that, but if you are American, not what is known as "First Nation", you can only be checked back to South America, Europe, Asia and in case i have missed them the Russian confederation. And that i understand. But if you are Black American, or should i use the term Afro/Carb American you can only trace back to Africa, unless of course there was some inter race mix along the way. So my question is how do Americans DNA define American? They eat mostly the same food as Europeans or Asians, Chinese ECT. WHAT DEFINES AMERICAN.

The trouble is America (USA) is very much like the UK in that its population is a mixture of many nationalities and immigrants.
The way DNA ethnicity is decided is down to each testing company but basically they take a sample group of individuals and test their DNA and that acts as the base grouping for that country.
Obviously the larger the chosen base group and the more carefull it is chosen the more accurate the sample will be but it is still all based on a sample and another company may/will show a different mixture in the ethnicity.
Cheers
Guy

[Nanna52]

I’m Australian and there is no Australian ethnicity on Ancestry.  I imagine that there is no American ethnicity either.
My ethnicity says:
England and north Western Europe
Wales
Scotland
Norway
France
It even differentiates Cornwall, Devon and Kent so pretty spot on there.
I have one great grandfather from Canada or America (they border hopped).  He might account for Scotland because I haven’t found any other links to there yet.
It is fairly accurate except that my great grandparents from Somerset aren’t as prominent as others.
Australia is under Oceania and nominates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders

[yomper45]

First Thank you all for your answers. I now feel that i was correct that only "First Nation" tribes can call themselves American.

My paternal Surname is a Scandinavian phrase for where my Ancestors Lived, and is very common in the North West of England, although I came from the South (or as we say "Saff"), if thats not a clue i do not know what is!!!.

I can see this will apply to Canada, Australia and New Zealand, I hope i am not causing any offence, its  not meant to be.


My DNA  make up is English, Scottish, Norwegain, Danish, German and a slight French.

I can trace back to Norway direct through my Paternal but so long ago that would be a small trace, however my French is Normandy, which is also a trace which probably comes from the Norman Conquest as they we originally Vikings, my Danish can be traced back to a Grandparent in 1200 along with the Norwegian, although it a bit further back.
My English trace is based on North West, Anglia, and South West, with small bits of Kent and London.

Some friends have been shocked to find they have a larger % of Scots and South West,  when they believed it would be the Irish that would be the largest %.

I know DNA will vary within Siblings, sometimes but it is always a small variation, and that was what made me think about Colonial countries.

thank you for your answers and interest in the question