AncestryDNA Results

Back in May I wrote about sending off the sample to AncestryDNA for their autosomal DNA test. My test results arrived late last week, and I am still scratching my head over the results. In 2008, I took Y-DNA and mtDNA tests through Ancestry. Given the earlier tests, I was not surprised to see my genetic ethnicity primarily from the British Isles. I was surprised to see my Mexican side as a small blip, and a previously unknown percentage from Eastern Europe.

Screenshot taken from AncestryDNA results

Eastern European? Where did that come from?
Well this is weird. 14% Eastern European? That doesn't show up in my research so far. Now I do have some brick walls, and on my Gumpy's Allman line I can only reliably trace back to my 3xgreat-grandfather William Allman, so perhaps the mystery Eastern European branch comes from this line. Or maybe this line comes from my 3xgreat-grandmother Mary Ann Hise/Haise. Another possibility is the line of Mary Alice Cain Read on my Mom's side. I have been unable to find her parents in Kentucky in the 1880 Census, so I have a whole branch that is a complete mystery at the moment.

I do have some German lines, but perhaps these Germans were actually Eastern European immigrants to Germany. Intriguing. 

7% Uncertain? Maybe Ancestry needs more Mexican-Americans to take the DNA test.
I'd be shocked if the 7% uncertain percentage was not connected to the Mexican heritage on my Granny's side. Both of my Granny's parents, Plutarco Vasquez Campuzano and Manuela Portillo, were born in Sonora, Mexico. I assume that their DNA percentages had some percentage of European ancestry, but Manuela's mother's side certainly had some indigenous American percentage based on my mtDNA results.

My Mom has expressed an interest in DNA testing. We'll talk it over this week while she and my Dad are visiting, but maybe another data point would help shed light on this 7% and on the Eastern European percentage.

I am also a little surprised the test did not have some percentage of Southern European from Spanish blood via Mexico or Basque descended from the Vasquez line, but maybe this is part of the 7% uncertain.

Jones, O'Brien, Armstrong, Davis, Read, Thornhill = 79% British Isles
The concentration from Ireland & the United Kingdom was about what I had guessed given the predominance of surnames in my family from this area, my O'Brien line from County Clare, Ireland and Oyler lines from Kent, England, and connection to the Grinstead and Key families in colonial Virginia in the early 1600s.

I am hopeful that this test will identify others of similar ancestry and help break through some of the brick walls I have, especially on my Jones line. I would love to be able to break past mid 1700s North Carolina and identify where the Jones family originated from.

Just the beginning
As with the tests I took in 2008, this new information has only fueled my interest in learning more. I'm still at the beginning of this aspect of my research, and I realize technology and an increase in the number of test results will help identify some breakthroughs in the future. For now I have a new perspective on my genetic ethnicity, and look forward to expanding that view as this research evolves.