More British than a Brit...

The results are in...

I was so excited to find out that Ancestry.com recently updated my DNA results! No real surprises… my DNA is 100% European and almost all of my DNA matches the Great Britain area. In fact I have a higher percentage of DNA traced to Great Britain than the typical person born in Great Britain!  According to the information on Ancestry.com most people native to Great Britain has between 41%-100% of their DNA matching the region. The typical native has about 60%. My DNA, on the other hand, is 86% with a range of 65%-100% of my DNA matching. If you need a refresher, Great Britain is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

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 Before I go further, let me explain how the DNA results are reached….

Ancestry.com determines what region the DNA matches by comparing the customer’s DNA to the to the ‘AncestryDNA reference panel’. This ‘panel’ consists of 3,000 DNA samples from 26 global regions. Before becoming part of the ‘panel’ the individual’s genealogy was extensively researched and documented to prove that their family is native to the region and has lived there for hundreds of years.  To determine the region matches, a separate analysis is done with 40 randomly selected portions of the DNA. Each of the 40 analyses gives an independent estimate of ethnicity. These 40 results are then averaged. So… for my Great Britain results the 40 estimates ranged from 65%-100% match with the average of the 40 being 89%. Got it? 

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The next highest percentage of DNA match is to European West 

This region is made up mostly of Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxemburg and Liechtenstein. But also found in other regions including England. I know I have ancestors from this region so it fits with my research. Both my Westfall and Flesher lines have been traced to this region. Some say James Jarrett was from France and my 6th great grandmother, a Gagnet, was most like from France. By the way, I asked the French teacher at my school about this name…. not pronounced ‘gag-net’ haha. More like ‘gan-yeah’ much nicer, huh?

To round things out I have small amounts of DNA from other regions:

• 2% Ireland (range of 0%-10%)
• 2% Scandinavia (range of 0%-9%)
• <1% Iberian Peninsula (range of 0%-5%) 

Ireland and Scandinavia fit into my research. The Iberian Peninsula, which is primarily found in Spain and Portugal, is a mystery to me. DNA in this area may also be found in France, Morocco, Algeria and Italy. Hmmm. I know that there is a large concentration of Castos in parts of Italy. There is also a legend that the first Castos in this country were from Spain. Other than Casto I have no clue as to where this little bit of DNA came from! Intriguing to say the least!