My Ethnic Heritage According to Three DNA Companies

I was talking with someone recently about autosomal DNA tests and their value to the person who simply wants to learn more about their ethnic origins and isn't necessarily trying to make genetic matches to other people or solve a lineage-related family mystery.*

My experience learning about my ethnic origins via three DNA companies was fascinating.

According to Ancestry.com, my origins are 89% in the British Isles.

My ethnic heritage according to Ancestry.com

I take these results with a grain of salt as they don't match my paper-trail research about my heritage. Granted, I should show a significant connection to the British Isles. But what's missing here is the fact that I should show a higher percentage of Western European roots. Several lines in my ancestry came from what is now known as Germany. My Ancestry.com results don't reflect this.

According to Family Tree DNA, my roots are more varied. This seems more reasonable until I notice that western Europe is pretty much missing from these results as well.   

My ethnic heritage according to Family Tree DNA

So you can see why I sprang for yet another DNA test - this one from 23 and Me. I was fortunate to purchase this test when 23 and Me was battling it out with the US government about what kind of health information they would be allowed to provide. At that time, they had a discount on autosomal DNA tests in order to keep money coming in. (Now that they've resolved the issues with the FDA, their test prices are significantly higher.)

My ethnic heritage according to 23 and Me

These results are much more in line with what I expected to see based on my research. A very strong British/Irish connection combined with a significant French/German connection.

Although each company explains how their ethnic results are determined, clearly the companies are using different methods. If they were all using the exact same method, my results would look the same across all three companies.

In any case, I mainly took the tests to find genetic matches and further my research since as you can see, I have a strong sense of my ethnic origins. I have a huge number of matches across these companies, including my parents, an aunt, a sister, and thousands of cousins!




*All three companies provide genetic matches, though the tools each one offers for connecting with and making sense of those matches vary significantly.