DNA fun.. O/T

[Rough Edge racing]

  I have no real idea of my family history other than my father's parents came from Italy and my mother's parents came from Russia or Poland...So I  checked around and bought a DNA test kit.. Some may debate the tests but they can be reasonably accurate..........
  So ...I am  46.2 % Ashkenazi Jewish, 27% Italian, 15% Greek or Southern Italian, 8.1 % West Asian, 2 % Irish/Scottish, 1.7 % Middle Eastern....

  Anyone else done a DNA test?

   

[Petrus Rocks]

Funny, you don't look Jewish

[Chuck in Indiana]

Yeah, I have. You may find something you are not really prepared for..

[Roebling3]

I did a 2nd hand rescue of a pup, from persons I didn't know, 5 years ago. He was big trouble. Had lost his momma way too soon and wasn't cared for by any particular person. Fortunately, my son, thought full in many ways, knew a breed to which the little bastard was likely related. Search Anatolian Shepard. The fotos are a perfect match.
So I bought a larger SUV! The next xmas son & daughter in law gifted me a DNA test kit. No Anatolian Shepard, but a strong showing of Staffordshire Terriers, the ever popular Labrador Retriever and lesser contributors'. Nearing 7 yrs. He still listens to his own drummer, but never the less lovable, funny as the devil hisself, packed with energy and (@80#'s), a self-inviting lap dog to my SO.

More to our OP. Of you can delve deeper and track when, where and how the connections were made in your family history; it can get very interesting.  Good fortune,  R3~

[Rough Edge racing]

Funny, you don't look Jewish

  Oy Vey...I do look Russian however..

[Kent in Upstate NY]

I'm 56% English/Wales/N. Europe, 17% Irish/Scot, 15% French, and 12% Norwegian. Bloody Vikings! My sister has been doing a ton of research and found out that our maternal ancestors who located in the south were a rascally lot. Mostly moonshiners and second rate outlaws.

[John A]

I should do the DNA test to see if it supports what is the family story.  It goes like this: I had a relative who was a general in the Prussian army. He was involved in a coup that failed so he fled to North America, New Orleans. He married a well off Madam of a whorehouse.  They then went to Minnesota , near Hayfield . Dad showed me the place and he just remembered big horses. We went to the graveyard and found Dads great grandfathers grave, Adolph Althaus, a name that is rare after WW2 .  I also have a rescue dog that the vet thinks is a mix of Cairn terroir and Yorkshire terrier, it would be fun to see what the miserable cur actually is. Anybody have a recommendation of a DNA check facility?

[80CX100]

     I've never done the dna thing, but this past Christmas, as a result of 1951 photo of a baby girl found in my father's personal effects, I did a very intensive search for a long lost sister.

     I followed the evidence trail and I was positive there was a full blooded sister out there, that needed to be found.

     At the end of the search, the evidence pointed to probably 2 half sisters out there,one maternal, one paternal, that I was able to locate.

    At that point, my continuing to rattle skeletons in the closets, had the potential to negatively impact the lives of other people out there, so I gave up the search for now, until the universe tells me otherwise.

    As Chuck points, sometimes life and history are not always pretty.

    Knowledge is a great thing, but sometimes wisdom dictates, some sleeping dogs are best left alone.

    Ps. Rough Edge, not to sweep too widely with the brush, you may not look Jewish; but you certainly have a knack for generating HP and speed with a limited budget and ingenuity ;~)

     Kelly

[Chuck in Indiana]

     I've never done the dna thing, but this past Christmas, as a result of 1951 photo of a baby girl found in my father's personal effects, I did a very intensive search for a long lost sister.

     I followed the evidence trail and I was positive there was a full blooded sister out there, that needed to be found.

     At the end of the search, the evidence pointed to probably 2 half sisters out there, that I was able to locate.

    At that point, my continuing to rattle skeletons in the closets, had the potential to negatively impact the lives of other people out there, so I gave up the search for now, until the universe tells me otherwise.

    As Chuck points, sometimes life and history are not always pretty.

    Knowledge is a great thing, but sometimes wisdom dictates, some sleeping dogs are best left alone.

    Ps. Rough Edge, not to sweep too widely with the brush, you may not look Jewish; but you certainly have a knack for generating HP and speed on what looks to be a limited budget and ingenuity ;~)

     Kelly

  I've never done the dna thing, but this past Christmas, as a result of 1951 photo of a baby girl found in my father's personal effects, I did a very intensive search for a long lost sister.

Kelly, you *might* be surprised at what a dna test will turn up if you haven't done one. If that suspected sister or someone close in her family has done a test, it'll show up in a heartbeat. My family had a couple of hobby genealogists that had tracked our family back several generations. All well and good until a dna test said none of that was true. 

[Rough Edge racing]

Anybody have a recommendation of a DNA check facility?

  I used My Heritage, it's one of the less expensive ones...The more you spend may bring more comprehensive info...

[80CX100]

Kelly, you *might* be surprised at what a dna test will turn up if you haven't done one. If that suspected sister or someone close in her family has done a test, it'll show up in a heartbeat. My family had a couple of hobby genealogists that had tracked our family back several generations. All well and good until a dna test said none of that was true. 

     Some of my relatives have done the dna ancestry tests, it supports what I found by following the evidence.

     If anyone is familiar with the Butter Box Babies scandal from Nova Scotia, that is the area that my family is originally from.

     There used to be a booming baby industry from dirt poor rural Nova Scotia, sending babies to rich childless couples along the eastern Us Coast.

     The dna tests and the evidence I followed showed the same trail.

     At one point, I thought I might somehow own shares in the New England Patriots,,, it's waaayyyy too small a world out there, lol.

     Kelly

[80CX100]

. Anybody have a recommendation of a DNA check facility?

     I didn't check into myself, but from some of my relatives, ancestry.com, something like DNA123 or Ancestry 123,,, and many others I'm sure, it's a booming industry.

     Apparently once a year for a week? I think around remembrance day, you can upload and search data for a week free as a sales promotion fwiw

     Kelly

[Shorty]

My company does not break it down into countries, however, they give  basic regions: I'm a Euromutt:
European 100%
British Isles 54%
East Europe 17%
Finland 0%
Scandinavia 0%
Southeast Europe 3%
Iberia 9%
West and Central Europe 18%
My dad's lineage goes back from USA, 1700s, before that, France, to Switzerland, probably near lake Thun in Bern Canton. Funny thing is my wife's paternal clan goes back to the same region. We probably ought to apply for the coveted Swiss citizenship, lol.

[Sasquatch Jim]

I don't know of anyone who got to choose their incestors, I mean ancestors.

[Shorty]

I should do the DNA test to see if it supports what is the family story.  It goes like this: I had a relative who was a general in the Prussian army. He was involved in a coup that failed so he fled to North America, New Orleans. He married a well off Madam of a whorehouse.  They then went to Minnesota , near Hayfield . Dad showed me the place and he just remembered big horses. We went to the graveyard and found Dads great grandfathers grave, Adolph Althaus, a name that is rare after WW2 .  I also have a rescue dog that the vet thinks is a mix of Cairn terroir and Yorkshire terrier, it would be fun to see what the miserable cur actually is. Anybody have a recommendation of a DNA check facility?

I use FTDNA, and have taken both the YDNA, which tells you your paternal line (only) YDNA goes back in time tracing the father's lineage damn nearly unchanged for many generations.    Autosomal DNA , (called Family Finder on FTDNA), shows both parents lines, and will give you a much broader net to find cousins (or lost parents or siblings). FTDNA has a bigger database than the other companies. No matter what company you use, you should be able to upload your Autosomal results to a third part research company called gedmatch. Gedmatch allows uploads from different companies to allow you a broad base of DNA comparison.  Free for the basic service. It also offers more research methods for a fee.  https://www.gedmatch.com/login1.php      https://www.familytreedna.com/

[80CX100]

I don't know of anyone who got to choose their incestors, I mean ancestors.

       That is so funny, but so true.

       As part of my search which was focused on a small remote fishing/lumbering village max 200-300 people; At least 1/3 to 1/2 of the people there have the same last name as my mother.

       Anytime I was talking to them and asked if they were related to others in the village with the same name,,,"No, not related that was a different branch of the family, we're not related at all" lol

[AJ Huff]

I did. Came back close to what I expected however the German was much lower than I had anticipated and the Irish much higher. Huff and Hasemeier aren't very Celtic. Turns out my mom's dad was adopted. Tracked down his adoption record, sure enough he was Irish.

-AJ

[oldbike54]

 Pretty much Northern Plains antelope chaser and Northern Euro farmer 

 Dusty

[cloudbase]

My wife and I did it, mostly out of curiosity.  I wondered whether the family legends were true.  The DNA testing mostly closed the door on most of them, but it's still cracked just enough to provide some reasonable doubt.

[s1120]

Never done one but one day would like to..  I have a pretty clean history on my dad's side. My dads second wife was a registered genealogist, and she spent about 50 years tracing the family. I have boxes and boxes of files, and paperwork of my history since im most cases the 1600's.. We know a bit of my moms side....  but that was tough because my grandfather was adopted by his aunt/uncle after his mom died....  and research back then was a little muddy over what part of the family you were following.. 

[Sheepdog]

English: 47%
Irish/Scot: 28%
German: 13%
Norwegian: 9%
French: 3%

I don't do well in harsh sunlight...

[vstevens]

Depends how far back you go.  40+ thousand years and we are all likely related, living somewhere in east Africa.  I've read that every Y chromosome descended from one man about 45 or 50 thousand years ago (there were other males... their lineages just ended while ours continued).  And mitochondrial DNA, which is from your mother (sperm cells only transfer autosomal DNA to an egg), can all be traced back over 250k years to a woman in east Africa. 

Those of us who migrated out of Africa into Central Asia and then Europe and east Asia are more closely related than those people who didn't migrate.  That means a greater genetic diversity in Africa today.  It also means that any differences between any of us is literally only skin deep.  There really is no german, British, Ethiopian, Chinese, etc.  just homo sapien. 

I think that's cool 😎

[Chuck in Indiana]

I think that's cool 😎

Yeah, me too. Political rant deleted.

[Dilliw]

I’ve got autosomal on both my parents plus Y on me.

As a genealogical tool DNA has probably been the least effective method for us as compared to written records. It did identify 4th generational match on one of my lines that links two clans of McIntyre’s (my grandmother’s family) that previously were known but never connected.  My now connected cousins had no idea where their immigrant came from but from our records I can give them several clues.  Since one of these cousins has money and is interested in the research I might score down the line..

I got real lucky with written records on three of my lines.  One of the families is DAR so that had been well documented, the above McIntyre’s benefited from a book written by another family in the area, and a Westberry (different spelling) paid over $40k to a professional researcher and then put it all on a website.   The DNA matches so far have done nothing but confirm what was written so I can confidently say that I’m 10 generations of Carolina (here before the split) white trash 😊

[s1120]

I’ve got autosomal on both my parents plus Y on me.

As a genealogical tool DNA has probably been the least effective method for us as compared to written records. It did identify 4th generational match on one of my lines that links two clans of McIntyre’s (my grandmother’s family) that previously were known but never connected.  My now connected cousins had no idea where their immigrant came from but from our records I can give them several clues.  Since one of these cousins has money and is interested in the research I might score down the line..

I got real lucky with written records on three of my lines.  One of the families is DAR so that had been well documented, the above McIntyre’s benefited from a book written by another family in the area, and a Westberry (different spelling) paid over $40k to a professional researcher and then put it all on a website.   The DNA matches so far have done nothing but confirm what was written so I can confidently say that I’m 10 generations of Carolina (here before the split) white trash 😊

Ya the DNA info is nice to prove, or disprove family lines but its not the do-all it seems to be...  I have a vary uncommon name, and there are pretty much only two lines..  My stepmom had used DNA info to tie different pods of the family name to one or the other with some success..  Its tough getting that info sometimes though. the small family groups tend to be in small areas and tend to be a little scared of DNA tests.....   Im thinking they are expecting old girlfriends with babys to show up at the door!!! :) 

[brider]

...they are expecting old girlfriends with babys to show up at the door!!! :)

I would be a little wary myself, although my immediate family has no secrets. That's one reason I don't have a Facebook account, I try to convince myself that it's possible, and people did with regularity, to live rich lives without knowing every single little detail of relatives ten-times-removed.

But about a month ago I learned that a family genealogist (cousin of mine) was digging into the thin branches of the family tree, I believe using some DNA pathways, and learned of a woman down south that was related...it turned out that my aunt, who is now in her late 80's and was the second oldest of 6 kids (my mom was third youngest), left home after graduating high school in Rudyard, MI (way "up north") and went to Detroit to live/work with friends, and was gang-raped at the house she was staying in. She left immediately without any of her belongings and without reporting anything, back to my grandparents house in Rudyard. Very soon after she discovered she was pregnant. At some point she was taken in by a family friend that she did housework for, and this kind friend helped her thru the birth and adoption of the baby to a childless couple. She never knew who the couple was.

This aunt kept this secret to herself for her entire life, until she revealed it to my mom, who told it to me. Apparently the secret was kept from her siblings (my other aunts and uncles) as well. The cousin genealogist has not yet learned of this tragic link. Remember that there were 6 kids; when my aunt went back home, not even knowing at first that she was pregnant, there were still at least 4 siblings still in the house, including my mom, with my grandparents. I obviously don't know all the details, but my mom paints the picture of her own parents turning a blind eye, keeping the pregnant girl sequestered, ostracized, and making excuses, until the kind friend took her off their hands. My fond memories of my grandfather are now severely tarnished, although I always considered my grandmother a mean old German woman.

So yeah, I think this DNA technology is great and have no bad judgements against anyone that uses it, but really don't have an interest in learning more about my past.

EXCEPT...I DID learn that my childhood hockey heroes, the Bordeleau brothers Christian, JP, and Paulin, all from I think Three Rivers, Ontario, ARE ACTUALLY RELATED TO ME IN A REMOTE WAY! Of course, My name is common in Canada, but knowing that there is an actual blood link to one of your childhood heroes is PRICELESS!

[Dilliw]

Here's s secret that has been revealed :)

https://www.timesofisrael.com/dna-tests-bring-together-french-son-of-wwii-soldier-us-half-brother/

[Moto]

One thing to keep in mind -- though I don't know what good it will do -- is that the police are increasingly using relatives' DNA tests, available to them online from several companies, to identify murderers decades later. A California serial killer was a famous recent case, but another one just wrapped up in Idaho Falls, my old home town. A rapist/murderer was brought to justice because his distant relatives had gotten tested: https://www.eastidahonews.com/2019/05/newsmakers-ifpd-chief-johnson-shares-new-behind-the-scenes-details-in-the-angie-dodge-murder-case-shares-whats-next/.

So think about your families!

Moto

[Lannis]

So think about your families!

Moto

What harm can anyone's DNA test do to anyone in "our families"?   If a public matter comes to light, then that's all within the law. 

If when doing a private DNA test of some sort, you find something you didn't expect, you can either keep it to yourself if it will upset someone to find it out, or you can let folks know the truth about a situation. 

In either case, I can't really see where the truth will do anyone any harm.   Except for the "Do I Look Fat To You In This Bathing Suit?" sort of shading it a bit ....

Lannis

[LowRyter]

My sister did one of those tests.  It came out 85% British Isles (England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland)  and 15% Western Europe (Spain all the way to Scandinavia). 

The way I brought up:

1) my dad's side was from Texas.
2) my mom was Welch-Scot Irish ? on Granma's side and Grampa was German speaking first gen (German-Swiss).

If anyone was to ask me my immigrant identity, I would have said German because of Grampa.  The DNA says, not so much.