Ancestry.com DNA Test

[TerryB]

Is it any good? I just sent in my sample today. They were having a sale.

 

[turner ashby kidd]

Haha, gotta laugh Terry. It's good enough for me. Got mine for fun and has been well worth my money.
I get updates, refinement of findings as more test are done.
Nothing is exact, results are approximations and hunches about origins. History nerds know all this, nation states came late.
Hope you enjoy !

 

[Sheltowee]

Cannot advise on the technical aspects. As I understand, there are many different DNA test methods. Sure others will chime in on which are "best".

I got the one on sale- did not pay for any add-ons.

Seems spot on to me. Lines up with everything I know of my genealogy. Even drills down to the US region where all my ancestors live/ lived.

I thought worth the cost. Although I still don't fully understand the how.

 

[Snowbound]

It can be very entertaining if you link your results to a large Ancestry Tree - matches and Thru Lines.

 

[lupaglupa]

My husband was able to use his results to make a big breakthrough on his family tree. I haven't been that lucky (yet) but I have found dozens of cousins I would not otherwise have known of.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

The most frustrating part of the test is the number of people you match that have no Ancestry tree so you can't see how they're related to you.

The test confirmed 3 of my 4 lines of ancestry, and the adoption in the 4th. It also debunked the theory my family was related to another family with the same last name and origins in the same time and place.

Although the adopted line pointed me in the general direction, it was nearly a decade before any close enough relatives matched and responded to messages before I could determine my probable biological ancestor.

 

[lupaglupa]

The most frustrating part of the test is the number of people you match that have no Ancestry tree so you can't see how they're related to you.

I have used the group tags to segregate my matches into family groups. I have enough data now I can see which family line most new matches fit into, even though they have trees (or very small trees).

 

[Allyn]

I took Ancestry's DNA test for fun. I had already done a great deal of research, already knew where most of my ancestors had originated. I was able to make a few new contacts, which was helpful. The funniest part has been the continued changing ethnicity analysis - some of it has been spot-on, particularly for Ireland, but otherwise it's been completely laughable. And, I uploaded the raw data to a couple different genealogy sites and got completely different analyses. So, do it for fun, and definitely don't rely on undocumented submissions! (Ancestry doesn't vet anything.)

 

[Sheltowee]

So…. Recently received updated DNA results from Ancestry. A year ago, it showed I shared 5% match with Cornwall.

So I excitedly began researching about Cornwall and "my people".

Now- updated results show no match to Cornwall. Zero….

So what happened here? How much of this can I trust? Seems very fluid and prone to error.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

It's not unusual for an Ancestry DNA update to not only adjust percentages, but also sometimes drop a low percentage match entirely. The updates stem from having more data.

 

[bayonet]

My Brother did the DNA blood test and it came back 2% American Indian! Go figure. Maybe I got it from the American Indian woman I dated for awhile when I was in the Army. The rest Ireland, Scotland, Northern European as in already knew that. He gets e-mail updates of 2nd or 3rd Cousins etc.

 

[bayonet]

The best place to research is the Family History Center in Salt Lake City, Utah run by the Mormons. I was lucky to make it there twice. I already knew my family Civil War history but there it led me to 1 relative in the American Revolution.

 

[lupaglupa]

We have a friend who is a geneticist. He says to ignore the low numbers, they are often statistical errors.

 

[Sheltowee]

We have a friend who is a geneticist. He says to ignore the low numbers, they are often statistical errors.

Interesting….and I get it. Sure there must be a +/- margin of error. But 5% seems significant enough that it should not just "evaporate".

And I understand that results will fluctuate based on additional data being included. But the evolving science aspect gives me pause.

To be fair, I suspect the majority of results are spot on.

 

[John Winn]

We've discussed this before but I thought I'd mention how Ancestry determines where your ancestors were "from." They just get tests from people who now live in those places and see what traits they share. They do a little statistics and then determine that 'probably' people who have X DNA string have origins in that place.

But that gets a bit tricky as it doesn't really tell you where your kin originally came from; only that they share traits with the people who live there now (and have for a while). So, you could be told some of your folk were from eastern England but, in fact, they were from what's now France and those who shared their traits in France are for some reason no longer all that common so you don't get linked to France.

I tend to look at it more from a step back and say something like 'my lineage is very likely northern Europe' rather than 'I see that I'm 62% Irish.'

 

[bayonet]

We've discussed this before but I thought I'd mention how Ancestry determines where your ancestors were "from." They just get tests from people who now live in those places and see what traits they share. They do a little statistics and then determine that 'probably' people who have X DNA string have origins in that place.

But that gets a bit tricky as it doesn't really tell you where your kin originally came from; only that they share traits with the people who live there now (and have for a while). So, you could be told some of your folk were from eastern England but, in fact, they were from what's now France and those who shared their traits in France are for some reason no longer all that common so you don't get linked to France.

I tend to look at it more from a step back and say something like 'my lineage is very likely northern Europe' rather than 'I see that I'm 62% Irish.'

True. On the Irish side going on memory and research there is like 14 or so Family names (although the spelling on them has changed over the centuries) that started off in Northern France, came to England with William The Conqueror, then moved over into Ireland.

 

[RobertBruceFerguson]

I have been satisfied with my DNA tests with ancestry and 23 & me. 55% European and 45% American Indian, 0.02% African as well. Neanderthal ancestory is also in there somewhere.

All of it expected except for the red headed Neanderthal part, lol. Also, thought I'd have slightly more Native Amercian rather European ancestry.

 

[DaveBrt]

The best place to research is the Family History Center in Salt Lake City, Utah run by the Mormons. I was lucky to make it there twice. I already knew my family Civil War history but there it led me to 1 relative in the American Revolution.

A large percentage of what they have is available on FamilySearch.org. If you can link to a tree already on the site or will put some of yours on it, you will get possible matches for others that are linked to a tree on their site and your tree. If you do not want to connect with them, you can still search for people you know and expand your info on them and find trees that they are on.

 

[Hammons]

If you are doing it for fun you should not be disappointed. If you want to go deeper into your paternal line and make sure you are correct in your lineage you will need to get a BIG Y test done which Ancestry does not offer. Unless others have done a BIG Y project meaning multiple testers it will not matter, anyone doing it would most likely match with someone's haplo group. Familytree is currently the only one I know of doing it, and has the largest DNA Big Y tree available. Though be warned you could find out things that you do not want to. You will not be able to fully track your maternal line, and really DNA minus Big Y is only really good for about 4 generations after that is gets questionable. Also parts of DNA can skip generations and siblings of the same parent.

Be aware most DNA companies are sharing your information with LE by request without warrants, read the fine print. Another tactic LE uses is to upload a suspect sample and see who pops up as a relation to then narrow it down. DNA is become more and more of a powerful tool so be sure to pay attention to any changes the company you use uses it. This goes for LE use and private commercial pharmaceutical use as well.

So now that we went down that rabbit hole, have fun with it!

 

[bayonet]

If you are doing it for fun you should not be disappointed. If you want to go deeper into your paternal line and make sure you are correct in your lineage you will need to get a BIG Y test done which Ancestry does not offer. Unless others have done a BIG Y project meaning multiple testers it will not matter, anyone doing it would most likely match with someone's haplo group. Familytree is currently the only one I know of doing it, and has the largest DNA Big Y tree available. Though be warned you could find out things that you do not want to. You will not be able to fully track your maternal line, and really DNA minus Big Y is only really good for about 4 generations after that is gets questionable. Also parts of DNA can skip generations and siblings of the same parent.

Be aware most DNA companies are sharing your information with LE by request without warrants, read the fine print. Another tactic LE uses is to upload a suspect sample and see who pops up as a relation to then narrow it down. DNA is become more and more of a powerful tool so be sure to pay attention to any changes the company you use uses it. This goes for LE use and private commercial pharmaceutical use as well.

So now that we went down that rabbit hole, have fun with it!

I got no problem with LE (Law Enforcement) looking at my DNA. Quite sure (hopefully) there are no Ax Murderers or Texas Chainsaw Massacre Whack Jobs in my family tree. Although I do have a Brother that's a Pervert