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Tracing ethnic roots through AncestryDNA

Last week AncestryDNA was made available to even more countries! It is now available in over 30 countries.

Participating countries are: Albania, Armenia, Australia/New Zealand, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, and Vatican City.

I am so excited that Poland has been added!

My ethnicity broke down in the following manner: 35% Europe East; 29% Great Britain; 17% Ireland; 14% Scandinavian; 3% Europe West; 1 % Italy/Greece; and 1 % Europe Jew. So what does that mean? Where did those percents come from?

My AncestryDNA results
Half my DNA comes from my father and half comes from my mother. I am sending in a DNA kit for my sister today and I can not wait to see the difference between us. Just because we are sisters does not mean that we will get the same percentages from each parent.

Having worked on my genealogy since I was in high school, I already know who my immigrants are and what country they were born in. However, I still had a slight surprise with my results. I am not sure where the 1 % Italy/Greece comes from, or the 1% Europe Jew. I think it is safe to say that my 35% Europe East come from Daddy. My mom probably gave me the entire 29% Great Britain and 17% Ireland. But then that 29 plus 17 gives me 46%. I can assume – safely I think – that Mom also gave me my 3% Europe West (which includes Germany). That makes my 14% Scandinavian come from Daddy. It also leaves my 1% Italy/Greek and my 1% Europe Jew up in the air.

Hopefully, I will have that answer soon. Daddy did the DNA kit this weekend too and in six to eight weeks, I will confirm if he provided the Italy/Greek gene or the Europe Jew gene. My educated guess is that Daddy’s side provided the Europe Jew gene, leaving mom the Italy/Greek gene. Six to eight weeks will seem, I am sure, like an eternity!

In the meantime, if YOU have Polish roots, please do a DNA test. If you have Matys or Vasylyshyn roots, or Kurenda or Skrabalak, or Hruszczak roots, please submit your AncestryDNA! Perhaps we may find ourselves to be cousins!

© Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2016

Comments

  1. Discover your ancestor's history through the Ancestry DNA Test, which is readily available at DNA Forensics Laboratory.

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