Revisit your DNA profile

[Wade Hampton]

Today I got an email from 23andme, telling me that I had new DNA relatives. So I went to the website and saw the usual assortment of new fourth cousins. After I idly scrolled through the names, I decided to check my ancestry reports. Sometimes there are some minor changes.

The last time I checked it said I was half English, a quarter Scottish and a quarter French, from my mother’s side. No Irish, even though previous reports had said that I had Northern Irish ancestry.

This time the report said that I was 81% English and Irish, 18% French and 1% “Northwestern European,” whatever that means. No Scottish, even though all previous reports have indicated a healthy dose of Scottish ancestry.

It’s a puzzlement….anyway, if you haven’t checked your ancestry report in a while, take a look. You might be surprised by what has changed since the last time you looked.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Silly Moustache]

I have never done that kind of research,but in 1986, after my Dad died a friend did some research about his line for me as his father, was "never discussed".

My Dad was born "out of wedlock" in 1911 and his name was - initially, Swedish, but it wasn't wise to have any name that could be thought as Germanic when war broke out in 1914 so it was changed to "Andrew Andrews". Although at some ridiculously young age he helped hold or drive the horse for the milkman who called him "Willy, Wally Wahlberg". The "Wally" lasted lifelong.

However his father was multilingual and was a partner in a translation firm specialising in German/Germanic languages, and was quite affluent, until 13th June 1917, when the first bombing raid over London by aeroplanes (Gotha bombers) rather than Zeppelins came over.

One bomb dropped through the roof of the offices exploding in the main office where he and about twenty young female typists were working.

Parts of them were blown out of the third (?) floor into Fenchurch street below. Body parts scattered all over, and his decapitated body was found amongst the appalling mess.

My father was six years old and standing with his mother on the other side of the street preparing to visit him in his office.

Sadly, other bombs fell on a junior school killing many small children so that was the headlines.

Some time after, I'd been researching, I got an email from a woman in Canada who had traced his line back to the 17th century and my links to Gotland.

My father would never speak of his childhood or family, nor did he ever return to using his Gotlander surname.

[A Scot in Otley]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

Today I got an email from 23andme, telling me that I had new DNA relatives. So I went to the website and saw the usual assortment of new fourth cousins. After I idly scrolled through the names, I decided to check my ancestry reports. Sometimes there are some minor changes.

The last time I checked it said I was half English, a quarter Scottish and a quarter French, from my mother’s side. No Irish, even though previous reports had said that I had Northern Irish ancestry.

This time the report said that I was 81% English and Irish, 18% French and 1% “Northwestern European,” whatever that means. No Scottish, even though all previous reports have indicated a healthy dose of Scottish ancestry.

It’s a puzzlement….anyway, if you haven’t checked your ancestry report in a while, take a look. You might be surprised by what has changed since the last time you looked.


Wade Hampton Miller

Hi, Wade. I'm no expert in this DNA mularky, although I have read some stuff from the odd 'doubting Thomas' out there who know about stuff and mathematics.
Anyway, just wanted to add that in the 'British Isles' DNA context, the Scottish/Irish/English thing puzzles me. 1500 to 900 years back, you would have had Norwegian/Danish/Britons (Old Welsh speakers)/ Angles/Picts (maybe another name for Britons) Scots (Gaels - i.e Irish) Northumbrians (Danes/Angles) all marching and sailing about what is now Scotland robbing and killing each other at the behest of one or other local gangster. Search me how you could differentiate tween them all as with the passage of time they melded into the various groups we recognise today. For example, the Western Iles and ireland were a mixture of Viking (Norwegian) and Gael/Scots. The Scots/gaels ended up in the North East (Moray - a much larger territory back then than modern Moray). The picts were over Cumbria (now England) and central Scotland. Northumbrians (Angles and Danes - fighting over it) were from the Forth to about Hull (Scotland and England). Norwegians and gaels would sail from Ireland and the Isles through the centre of Scotland (different undrained landscape back then) to have a barney with the Danes in Northumberland. Later Scottish Kings ruled the land from the Tweed to Moray and maybe Stirling and a bit west. The Highlands and Islands were Viking/Gael bandit country until maybe 15th Century. Indeed the Lothians were essentially what the later 13c English Kings and Nobles regarded as Scotland (the bit worth killing over).

In short, Wade, I suspect you can safely assume that you have some Scottish/Irish/English/Norwegian/Danish/Welsh(ish) DNA in there. You never know about the French: French knights fought with the medieval Scottish hosts against the English, and .... I forgot to mention the anglo Normans. I have left Wessex out of this rambling through the wasted heath of my mind. Fill your boots, Wade.

[Mr. Jelly]

First thing to realize is that country boarders do not apply. Genetics do not pander to them. As the companies acquire more peoples DNA it expands their knowledge and thus the updates and changes.

Though I have an Italian last name I have around 8% DNA from that area. I'm rather proud to be Scot Irish.

[keith.rogers]

The "origins" thing is, I don't know what to call it other than "statistics," as in the quote attributed to Mark Twain about 3 kinds of lies: "lies, ****ed lies, and statistics." (I worked as a statistician for a few decades back - before computers did everything and I switched to that.)

So, there's no database (of statistical import) actually created from DNA of folks from hundreds or thousands of years ago. The correlation between [fragments of] your DNA and others draws its origins conclusions from using data collected from current folks, using questions like "Where did your oldest, known ancestor come from?" You get enough of that and you start drawing "conclusions" (in/ex-terpolations, SWAGs, whatever), but that data is very much a shifting collection as more and more people jump in to the pool, so to speak. It's probably got some validity, but the reality is that, especially in Europe/Mediterranean, including the British Isles, migrations, roving plunderers, crusades, and wars (after wars) smeared the DNA all over the place. And then a bunch of those folks moved to the US and stirred in some more DNA .

I was kind of pleased when I showed my 100% Swedish wife that I was 50% Scandinavian, according to the DNA folks, even though I'm at best 50% British Isles. Vikings? Maybe, but I'd guess, equally likely, just wishful thinking on the part of a lot of folks getting DNA testing and answering questions about where they're from, or think they're from.

[Tnfiddler]

Unless you’re govt. and your dna is on file, why would you willingly give the govt. yours for database purposes?? Just curious!!

[mjh42]

Mr. Jelly is on track. As the data base increases the markers become more defined in some ways and more diffuse in others. Match that with what is known, unknown, and misconstrued with family history and you get a profile that can confirm who you are all the while brining up questions of who you are.
I think most of the dna family tree testing services have statements about accuracy and reliability--it isn't 100%.

[Talk2Me]

Originally Posted by Tnfiddler

Unless you’re govt. and your dna is on file, why would you willingly give the govt. yours for database purposes?? Just curious!!

People give up info to the government and to private businesses daily. Why? It's generally either for "convenience" or "curiosity". In this case I'd guess #2.

[macuaig]

‘A man with one clock knows what time it is, a man with two clocks is never sure.” I have accounts at Ancestry and 23andMe, and you quickly learn how the “recollections” of other members in each service is much more of your reports than you’d expect.

They’re different from each other, and they both change frequently. This is useful and interesting, but this is certainly not simply an objective analysis of your DNA, which I was certainly expecting when I started.

Now if you want to talk commercial use of your genetic markers, yeah, they don’t care what your great granny told your aunt’s third cousin.

[Riverwolf]

Originally Posted by macuaig

‘A man with one clock knows what time it is, a man with two clocks is never sure.”

Same with guitar tuners.

I was always told we have Native American blood.
Ancestry found none.
Yep, lots of those 3-5 cousins.

Side note- They did find an older 1/2 sister that I knew only as a rumor.

[rllink]

I guess it isn't an exact science in that respect maybe. I have not done a DNA test, not because I don't believe in them, just that I don't care. My brother and sister have though, and they are different from each other and that is what they told me. We are a family of mutts though, so that isn't surprising. My brother's wife did one. Her family always said there was native American ancestry in her family and none came up in her DNA results. It kind of devastated her in that she had really bought into her native American ancestry and then to discover it was not true really embarrassed her.

[frankmcr]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

The last time I checked it said I was half English, a quarter Scottish and a quarter French, from my mother’s side. No Irish, even though previous reports had said that I had Northern Irish ancestry.

This time the report said that I was 81% English and Irish, 18% French and 1% “Northwestern European,” whatever that means. No Scottish, even though all previous reports have indicated a healthy dose of Scottish ancestry.

Could be they've changed their definitions. Quite a few people in Northern Ireland are of mostly Scottish ancestry, although they mostly would say they're Irish. (Talking about that would take us deep into political/religious territory though.)

[Dirk Hofman]

Thanks for the prompt Wade, I hadn't looked in a long time. Still 100% European, and 98% northern European. Mostly Belgian with a smattering of English, Irish, German, and Scandinavian. No real updates to DNA relatives, as 4th cousins aren't terribly interesting to me.

I do have more Neanderthal DNA than 43% of people on the site, however!

[A Scot in Otley]

Originally Posted by frankmcr

Could be they've changed their definitions. Quite a few people in Northern Ireland are of mostly Scottish ancestry, although they mostly would say they're Irish. (Talking about that would take us deep into political/religious territory though.)

Aye, it was only a few years ago that I found out what, I had originally thought was vague American terminology, 'Scots Irish', actually meant.

On that issue, leaving aside the 'other stuff', I have read Bill Malone's massive tome, Country Music USA, which goes back to the ol' days. I can recommend it for reading over a cold dark winter. Dispels a few myths too. There is also a 3 episode TV programme presented by Phil Cunningham (fabulous accordeon player) which covers the Scottish/Northern Irish influence and its transfer to the USA. Very educational.

[Dirk Hofman]

Originally Posted by Tnfiddler

Unless you’re govt. and your dna is on file, why would you willingly give the govt. yours for database purposes?? Just curious!!

I figured after the tracking implant, this was small beans!