DNA

 Has DNA helped me in my genealogy research?  Yes, it has.  I’ve touched upon this on a previous blog entry in January 2024 titled Origins.  Interesting how the companies have updated their estimates.

First, let’s look at the ethnicity.  Ancestry reflects that I have six regions.  These are as follows:

·      48% England & Northwestern Europe (reflected in the map as green)

·      40% Germanic Europe (reflected as blue)

·      5% Ireland (Orange)

·          3% Central & Eastern Europe (purple)

·          3 % Scotland  (brown)

·          1% Sardinia (teal)

The Central & Eastern Europe as well as Sardinia are regions I have not traced ancestry to.  Those must be my brick walls.

I have also uploaded my DNA data to other websites including MyHeritage, myFTDNA, and myLivingDNA.  You have to check all these sites periodically as they keep changing as more and more people test or upload their information.

 

MyHeritage has a different breakdown but still in Europe.

·      27.5% English

·      21.7 % Scottish & Welsh

·      21% Germanic

·      13.2% Dutch

·      5% East European

·      4% Danish

·      2.6% French

·      2% Breton

·      2% Irish

That really changed from earlier estimates.  East European must be the brick wall area as I haven’t traced families to those regions.

FTDNA has similar results with their myOrigins.

·     

71% England, Wales, and Scotland

·      20% Ireland

·      6% Greece & Balkans

·      <2% Central Europe

·      <1% Finland

Interesting results there too.  What’s real interesting is that Central Europe, which includes Germany is so low, when I have traced most of my Dad’s ancestry to Germany.

LivingDNA shows only Great Britain & Ireland – no Germanic or Central European.  So, here’s their breakdown:

·      29.3% East Anglia

·      26.4% Southeast England

·      9.9% South Central England

·      5.5% Northern Ireland & Southwest Scotland

·      5.4% Northumbria

·      4.6% Aberdeenshire

·      4.6% Northwest England

·      3.7% Cumbria

·      3.3% Ireland

·      3.1% South England

·      2.2% Central England

·      2.1% North Wales

This is great for breaking down the areas of England but I know I have Germanic ancestry.

Let’s create a chart to see the similarities and differences:

REGION	Ancestry	MyHeritage	FTDNA	LivingDNA
England & Northwestern Europe	48%	27.5%	71%	86.7%
Germanic Europe	40%	21%	Incl in Central Europe	Not incl
Ireland	5%	2%	20%	3.3%
Central & Eastern Europe	3%	27.8%	<2%	Not incl
Scotland	3%	21.7%	Incl in England	5.5%
Sardinia	1%		Not incl	Not incl
Finland	Not incl		<1%	Not Incl
Greece & Balkans	Not incl		6%	Not incl
Totals	100%	100%	100%	95.5%

 

I have traced my ancestry to Germany, England, Scotland, Ireland, and France.  So, where does that leave Central & Eastern Europe?  How is Europe divided up into different regions?  Well, that takes us to the World Atlas to get the definitions.

·      Northern Europe consists of Iceland, United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland), Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.  This region is also known as Baltic, British Isles, and Scandinavia.

·      Eastern Europe includes Russia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia & Ukraine,

·      Western Europe has Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, Switzerland, France, Liechtenstein, and Monaco.

·      Southern Europe has Portugal, Spain, Italy, Albania, Andorra, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Malta, Montenegro, North Macedonia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, and Vatican City.  This region is also known as The Mediterranean.

The highlighted are the parts of Europe that I have traced ancestry to.

How has DNA helped besides the ethnicity breakdowns?  It was able to break some of my German brick walls for the Kludt, Ahrendt, Reisner, and Haueisen surnames.  Actually, I’m still working on the Reisner & Haueisen families.  I looked at shared matches and locating the Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) and narrowing it to my paternal side.  However, I need to be careful as the Kludt & Reisner’s had siblings marrying each other.  This information has been covered in the blog entry entitled “Brick Walls in Family Research”.

2024 Week 2 - Origins

          Where is the family from?  Wow!  What a question!  I knew my Dad’s family was from Germany & Wales and Mom considered herself a “Heinz 57” (German, English, Scotch-Irish, and French).

         Research did prove the German on my Dad’s side and I have found the English, Scottish, & Irish as well as the French on my Mom’s.  DNA ethnicity has proven some of this and indicated new.  I took the test through Ancestry.  Have downloaded the raw data and uploaded it to other sites.  Here are the results from the various sites.

         FTDNA shows the following:

·       71% England, Wales, & Scotland

·       20% Ireland

·       6% Greece & Balkans

LivingDNA:

·       100% Great Britain & Ireland

o   29% East Anglia

o   26% Southeast England

o   10% South Central England

o   6% Northern Ireland & Southwest Scotland

o   5% Northumbria

o   5% Aberdeenshire

o   5% Northwest England

o   4% Cumbria

o   3% Ireland

o   3% South England

o   2% Central England

o   2% North Wales

·       Viking index is 40% (Eastern Europe)

MyHeritage:

·       59% Irish, Scottish & Welsh

·       26% English

·       9% Balkan

·       4% Scandinavian

·       2% Greek & South Italian

AncestryDNA:

·       51% Germanic Europe

·       23% Scotland

·       20% England & Northwestern Europe

·       3% Sweden & Denmark

·       2% Ireland

·       1% Baltics (Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania)

Maternal –

·       18% Germanic Europe

·       23% Scotland

·       7% England & Northwestern Europe

·       2% Ireland

Paternal –

·       33% Germanic Europe

·       13% England & Northwestern Europe

·       3% Sweden & Denmark

·       1% Baltics

So, it will be interesting to see where the highlighted ethnicities come into play in my family tree.

         We always thought Dad to be 75% German and 25% Welsh, so these results are interesting.  I have traced some of his ancestry to Mecklenburg-Schwerin (KLUDT & AHRENDT) and Bavaria (REISSNER & HAUEISEN) with the families immigrating to the United States around 1850.  This makes up 50% of his German Ancestry (all on his dad’s side of the family).  His mother’s side has surnames like Swinehart, Davis, Secor & Morgan.  The Swinehart’s did come from Hannover between 1776 and 1811.  The rest of the surnames have not been researched and appear to be early settlers in the USA.

         Mom’s family is a different story.  They all appear to be early settlers with many of the ancestors living in Virginia.  I know that some originated from England (STOVALL, PORTER, WALKER, ALLEINE, HATCHER, BELCHER), Ireland (DENNIS, BEVINS, NOBLET), Scotland (FRAZIER/FRAZER, FOSTER, SIMPSON, WALKER, MCNIGHT, RUTHERFORD), Germany (SHOCKEY/SCHACKE/JAGGI) and France (NOBLET, FUGATE).  These are just some of the surnames.  Some of the families went from England to Scotland to Ireland before coming to the United States (or The Colonies).

         I’m slowly re-working my family tree, reviewing research  notes and seeing if I have the documents to prove the information.  I’m currently working on my paternal grandfather’s side of the family (KLUDT, REISSNER, AHRENDT, & HAUEISEN).