DNA

CMGragain · February 2016

Sigh. I'm a WASP. DNA shows 100% Northern European ancestry. DH's is a little more varied, but not much. He has 1% European Jewish!

So, we just got the results of our DNA tests from Ancestry.com. I'm a little bummed that I don't have that Native American that I thought I had. Nope! Actually, my biggest ethnic group is Irish - 45%. I knew I had some, but not that much. I know nothing about my great-grandmother's family, due to family breaks and secrets.

Anybody else try this?

luckya23 · February 2016

I gave this to my dad for Xmas. He has been doing the ancestry.com lineage for a while, so he doesn't think he needs to verify anything, so I'm not sure if he sent it in yet. I'm betting he is very wrong and might have to start over! lol

charlotte989875 · February 2016

This is so cool, I've really wanted to try it. I'm interested to see if anyone else has had a good experience with it!

kvruns · February 2016

How much does it cost for an analysis?

labro · February 2016

What I really want is an analysis with Finding Your Roots. My great great grandfather disappeared shortly before hostilities began with Germany in WWI. We could never find any information after a certain date. One afternoon he took his sons out for ice cream and disappeared just after that. He was a German living in NYC but from letters it didn't appear that his family in Germany knew about his wife and children in the US. I've always kind of wondered if he was a spy or something equally secretive but the reality is he probably had another family somewhere else.

MyNameIsNot · February 2016

I really want to do this for DH. He has a mix just at the grandparent level, but we don't know much beyond great-grandparents. I'm really curious about all of their roots.

Mine would be super boring, probably 99% western european. But if my sister ever got on board, I'd be willing to split it with her.

wandajune6 · February 2016

kvruns said:

How much does it cost for an analysis?

It's usually about $100 but they often have deals where you can get it for $70-80. If you want to do the DNA analysis, go with Ancestry or another big name. We once tried one from a Groupon and it was pretty pointless.

I've been doing genealogy research for a few years now and was impressed by my results. If you can, go with male relatives as well: they get better DNA results (I forget why).

There were no surprises: I'm 100% European. 52% Eastern European, 48% assorted Western Europe/ British/etc. Given that parts of my father's family can be tracked back to early settlers, I assumed there would be more intermixing but there was nothing.

The best part of the DNA results, I think, is in confirming some of the connections. My maternal side is all Eastern European Jewish and many people changed their names as they came to the US. Seeing the connections to other family trees helped confirm that my research was correct.

thisismynickname2 · February 2016

Wow, @labro
that's kinda crazy!

There are no secrets on my mom's side. She's "off the boat British" as we like to say, and it's only a few generations back that the family came from Ireland (potato famine) to England. We were chatting with an Irish man while visiting there and I mentioned the name Riley was in my lineage. He said in the thick brogue, "Can't throw a stone over a schoolyard fence without hitting a Riley."

My dad did a free trial of Ancestry a few months ago. He's more of a mystery because he was orphaned as a teenager but knew his family had been in the Midwest for a couple generations. We only knew "German and Austrian." So he found out that someone (his grandfather, I believe) actually lived on the border of Germany and Holland and their spouse was Austrian. When I visited Brussels prior to getting married, the customs agent looked at my last name and said, "Welcome home." In seeing my puzzled "huh?" look he proceeded to tell me how my last name translated in Dutch.

Fun stuff! Always really interesting.

tigerlily6 · February 2016

I'd also really like to do this. My dad's side of the family is French-Canadian (among other things), and the family legend is that an ancestral grandmother was Algonquin, so it would be cool to see if there is any basis for that. My mom's side of the family is 100% Polish, so I don't know if there would be any big reveals there. It's possible there may be some Jewish ancestry on that side that we aren't aware of, but that wouldn't be too big of a surprise considering the village my grandparents came from was pretty much 50/50 Catholic and Jewish and I'm sure there were intermarriages between the two groups.

dyerwise · February 2016

I did one through Ancestry also! I figured I would just mostly be a mix of various white Europeans, but I was pretty curious since I don't know much about my Dad's side of the family. I was right, I'm 34% Irish, 24$ Western European, etc.

What was AMAZING and unexpected was that it matched my DNA to a relative. I don't know much about my Mothers side of family history beyond my Great Grandmother. The woman I matched with turned out to be my (deceased) Grandmother's half-sister, which I never knew existed. We got into contact and ended up having an hours long conversation where she filled me in on everything to do with my Great Grandfathers side of the family. It was super interesting. She and my Mom also talk regularly now. No one knew about her until I did the DNA test. It was so crazy.

Forgot to mention, also did a DNA test for my dog... no long lest relatives but did find out he was a Beagle/Pomeranian mix instead of the Corgi/Pomeranian mix the shelter thought he was. Now we know why he is so stubborn.

banana468 · February 2016

DH's birthday gift from me this year (and this month) was an analysis from 23 and me. We're waiting to see the results but he's pretty excited.

kimmiinthemitten · February 2016

I've always wanted to do this. My moms mom is adopted and the story goes that she was a teenager in high school who had an affair with the janitor. Unfortunately, the name she gave at the hospital does not exist according to Ancestry.com and neither does the city in Pennsylvania she said she was from.

My paternal grandfathers lineage is traced back to the boat he came over on in 1617 so there are no mysteries there. However, the family story is pretty cool. We have copies of wills signed by former Presidents and were a part of Daniel Boones tribe. I need to get down to Clark County, KY where apparently there's some still some property that belonged to us.

MyNameIsNot · February 2016

kimmiinthemitten said:

I've always wanted to do this. My moms mom is adopted and the story goes that she was a teenager in high school who had an affair with the janitor. Unfortunately, the name she gave at the hospital does not exist according to Ancestry.com and neither does the city in Pennsylvania she said she was from.

My paternal grandfathers lineage is traced back to the boat he came over on in 1617 so there are no mysteries there. However, the family story is pretty cool. We have copies of wills signed by former Presidents and were a part of Daniel Boones tribe. I need to get down to Clark County, KY where apparently there's some still some property that belonged to us.

We might be related! My maternal grandfather can trace back to the Daniel Boone on his mother's side. She was originally from Loretto, Kentucky, but everyone we know of is now in Louisville or Lexington.

princessleia22 · February 2016

I've thought about doing this also. I really would love to hire a professional to trace my ancestry, but that's pretty expensive. As far back as I can trace on ancestry.com, my family (both sides) are still in US, with a few legs marrying immigrants. We have a common last name, so tracing it was difficult. I have some native american ancestry on my dads side and haven't been able to trace that part at all. DH has some mexican ancestry that we can't trace ourselves. He just knows he had a great-great-great grandfather that was hung for stealing horses. And both our families have been horrible at passing on family history, so it would be interesting to see what I professional could trace.

short+sassy · February 2016

I have to give my mom's side of the family credit. They have all kept excellent records and lots of old timey photographs. Because of this, I can trace my lineage back to the 1850s. They were in the Azores (Portuguese island, 1300km off the coast of Portugal) at that time and then some of the family immigrated to Hawaii in the 1890s.

So, 50% Portuguese on my mom's side. Though my maternal grandma recently confessed that she thinks there might be some French on her side, lol.

My dad's side is more of a mish mosh. His dad immigrated from Germany as an infant in the early 1900s, but my maternal grandma didn't really know.

I'll have to talk to my H if this is something we should do. I think it would be interesting. He was adopted so I could see this being something he would either really be gung-ho about or just the opposite.

[Deleted User] · February 2016

I put the ancestry.com DNA thing on my amazon wishlist for Christmas this year. Didn't get it. Might buy it for myself if I get a tax refund this year. I can take my dad's genealogy back to Prussia. My mom's gets lost with her parents since she doesn't know her grandmothers' maiden names. AND since my mom is foreign I have the added problem of records not being in English if I could find them at all.

My boyfriend however, I've decided to call him a Super-American. His family has been in the United States since before it WAS the United States, like 1600s. I traced his lineage back to BC times, so I have no idea the accuracy of that. He has Princes and Dukes and Knights in his lineage back in the 1200s. Of course, all this is from other people doing ancestry on ancestry.com, so I really don't know how sure we can be, but it's still pretty cool.

MairePoppy · February 2016

I'd like to do this for my husband. His maternal grandparents came over from Ukraine/Austria around 1908. I found an Ellis Island document for his grandfather/ nothing for the grandmother, but I doubt the spelling of her name was correct. She told her grandchildren lots of tall tales about so I'm really curious about her. We have no info on his paternal grandparents, also from Ukraine.

My father's family is French Canadian, with a Black Foot great great...grandmother thrown in there somewhere. My mother's family is French Canadian on her mothers side and Irish on her father's side. There really isn't much info on the Irish side.

Waiting for a sale, now.

madamerwin · February 2016

I've always wanted to do this! My paternal grandfather was really into genealogy, so I have a lot of info on that side of the family, but my maternal great-grandfather was orphaned and we don't know a ton about those ancestors. I've always been told we're English, Scottish, French, and German, and my grandmother claimed she was 1/16 Cherokee (but so does everyone, it seems). I would love to know my exact lineage.

Side note about my grandfather's genealogy hobby: He made all of his kids and grandkids family photo albums, with photos dating back to the mid-1800's. It is SO cool to see the people I came from. Turns out I look a LOT like my great grandmother! He also put together a family tree going back, like, 8 or 9 generations, as well as a family tree tracing our family back to John and Priscilla Alden, who came over on the Mayflower. One of these days, I really need to enter all of that info into Ancestry.com, since I am sure some long-lost relatives would find it useful.

CMGragain · February 2016

You all know that there is a genealogy program on PBS tonight, yes?

kimmiinthemitten · February 2016

MyNameIsNot said:

kimmiinthemitten said:

I've always wanted to do this. My moms mom is adopted and the story goes that she was a teenager in high school who had an affair with the janitor. Unfortunately, the name she gave at the hospital does not exist according to Ancestry.com and neither does the city in Pennsylvania she said she was from.

My paternal grandfathers lineage is traced back to the boat he came over on in 1617 so there are no mysteries there. However, the family story is pretty cool. We have copies of wills signed by former Presidents and were a part of Daniel Boones tribe. I need to get down to Clark County, KY where apparently there's some still some property that belonged to us.

We might be related! My maternal grandfather can trace back to the Daniel Boone on his mother's side. She was originally from Loretto, Kentucky, but everyone we know of is now in Louisville or Lexington.

Ooh, really? I'm curious now! I do have a coworker in common with my paternal great grandmother, so it wouldn't be the first time.

ETA our namesake isn't Boone though.

CMGragain · February 2016

Daniel Boone had 10 children, so it isn't surprising that many people are descended from him.

julieanne912 · February 2016

My mom did some pretty extensive research into my dad's side of the family when I was in jr high. From what I recall, she traced it a ways back to the 1700s, when some ancestors came over from Ireland and settled in Appalachia. They were Scotch-Irish though, so originally from Scotland. She also was able to investigate a bit on other branches that came from Germany, although I can't remember where.

My mom's side was far easier, on her dad's side anyway.... her grandfather came from Ireland in the early 1900s. We still have cousins etc. in Ireland. My mom's brother and one of her sisters actually have dual citizenship there, her sister lived there for about 15 years until retirement. On her mom's side, it's mostly German from way back.

We do have a relative, I believe on my paternal grandfather's side, who was a minister and tried to convert Joseph Smith (ie the father of the Mormon church) to quit being a crazy and come back to regular Christianity or whatever. He wrote a book that mentions it, my mom has a copy that we found after my grandmother died.

ShesSoCold · February 2016

I've often wondered about my mom's side of the family. Both of my great-grandparents on that side were immigrants (Italy and Finland). I know a little about my grandma's childhood and her parents but nothing about my grandpa's side.

Someone on my dad's side of the family years ago made a family tree and did an asston of research. I guess they're all German but can only be traced back to Sheboygan, WI. Where a shitton of distant relatives still live. Boring.

ohmrs2014 · February 2016

I want to do the DNA testing for my dad's side of the family. We know his family is from Italy, but apparently one of my great great grandmothers was 1/2 French. He also has a disorder with his hands where he can't extend his fingers all the way. It developed later in life and he always thought it was from working outside in the elements for most of his adult life. Well, when I broke my ankle, my orthopedic doctor looked at his hands and said that's something they see in people with Nordic blood/ancestry in them. Caught the both of us off guard. Would be interesting to see if that's true.

fyrchk · February 2016

Kind of a weird question but interested to see what you guys think. My parents divorced when I was young and I was adopted by my step-dad. He is who I consider my father but I am also curious about my ancestry. I know I can do a DNA for my biological history, but when you do your family tree...what have you done (general you)? Both fathers? Adopted father? Biological father? It just seems like it's going to be tricky for me. I have no relationship with my biological but obviously my DNA is from his family. However, he's no longer listed on my birth certificate...

madamerwin · February 2016

fyrchk said:

Kind of a weird question but interested to see what you guys think. My parents divorced when I was young and I was adopted by my step-dad. He is who I consider my father but I am also curious about my ancestry. I know I can do a DNA for my biological history, but when you do your family tree...what have you done (general you)? Both fathers? Adopted father? Biological father? It just seems like it's going to be tricky for me. I have no relationship with my biological but obviously my DNA is from his family. However, he's no longer listed on my birth certificate...

I don't have experience with this, but here's my two cents anyway... You could definitely do both, but I would for sure do your bio father's. Since genealogy is a study of your lineage, whether or not you consider bio-dad family, his ancestors are your ancestors. That isn't to say tracing step dad's lineage won't be interesting and important, but it will not give you a picture of where you and your DNA came from. But I definitely understand why your step dad's family tree would be more important to you.

lyndausvi · February 2016

A 46 year old family secret was revealed with help from Ancestry DNA. Basically I have a first cousin who was given up for adoption. Only my mom's generation knew, none of mine knew. Through DNA she was linked to the family.

My sister and nephew both did the DNA. Happy to report they were linked as relatives

And also to the long lost first cousin.

cgss11 · February 2016

I would like to do this as well. There is quite a bit of family history on my Mom's side, but not my Dad's. Everyone has always said we're just all German though.

I had medical genetic testing done, and it turns out I am a carrier for two seperate things, commonly found in the Jewish heritage. All the doctors ask if I'm Jewish when they see this, but my Mom says she's not aware of any ancestry. It would be interesting to see what a DNA would say.

MairePoppy · February 2016

lyndausvi said:

A 46 year old family secret was revealed with help from Ancestry DNA. Basically I have a first cousin who was given up for adoption. Only my mom's generation knew, none of mine knew. Through DNA she was linked to the family.

My sister and nephew both did the DNA. Happy to report they were linked as relatives And also to the long lost first cousin.

My SIL uncovered some family secrets when she was creating the family tree. That was just with vital records. I suspect DNA would uncover more inconsistencies.

thisismynickname2 · February 2016

On the flip side of family secrets, if DNA analysis were more accessible it would shut the pie hole of all meanie siblings who like to tease, "You're adopted!!" ... Like my sister did to me as the only blonde of the family when we were kids...

madamerwin · February 2016

thisismynickname said:

On the flip side of family secrets, if DNA analysis were more accessible it would shut the pie hole of all meanie siblings who like to tease, "You're adopted!!" ... Like my sister did to me as the only blonde of the family when we were kids...

I escaped that one because my sisters witnessed my birth, but they would regularly tell me I was an accident. I would go crying to my mom, who would say "No sweetie, you weren't an accident, you were a surprise." That made me feel better until I was old enough to realize that "surprise" is just a nicer way to say "accident."

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