Back on the West Coast

As I type this I am sitting at LAX after long flights from Indonesia, with one more flight to go. I’m glad to have escaped the edge of Typhoon Champi, one of the strongest storms of 2026, as it passed by Taipei. I’ve been in Bali, Indonesia for our annual general meeting since my last post. Photos to follow separately from this return trip to Indonesia after my first visit 13 years ago.

My journey to the Pacific included a stopover visit to the new Lucas Museum for Narrative Art about 10 days ago. The Lucas Museum is super cool and that visit also deserves its own post.

There’s a lot of catching up to do. Regular posts on DNA and family history research soon.   

Java and Bali

 

Boston Public Library. 

Maternal side Ancestry Origins update 20206

AncestryDNA update 2026 for BAJ.

Compared to last year, my Mom's AncestryDNA regions only grew by one from eighteen to nineteen, but behind the numbers there's a different story. As I can see across her sisters' DNA updates and with known cousins from this side of the tree, there are some fascinating patterns underway. It's helpful to look first at the six main macro-regions:

• England 40%
• Iberian Peninsula 35%
• Indigenous Americas - Sonoran Desert & Gulf Coast 11%
• Celtic & Gaelic 9%
• Sephardic Jews in the Eastern Mediterranean 3%
• Western Europe 3%

Some groups completely disappeared: 

• Northwestern Italy (previously 5%)
• Azores (previously 4%)

In their place, Canary Islands is 3%, Portugal went up to 3% from 1%, Madeira held steady at 2%. Spain and Northern Spain both increased, and Indigenous Americas - Mexico dropped by 1% with the new name to Sonoran Desert and Gulf Coast (Mexico and USA). Canary Islands is a fascinating new addition to the regions, and it appears to show up prominently across the known cousin results from the Mexican side of the tree. New regions also appeared for Belgium and Switzerland at 1% each.

On the England results, East Midlands and Yorkshire went up to 8%, Southeastern England dropped to 14%, and new regions were added for Northern England, West Midlands (both 7%) and Devon and Somerset 3%.

Looking at Patty and Linda's results, they have 20 and 19 regions, not too different from last year. The big shifts were with Azores swapping for Canary Islands; North Africa, Indigenous Americas - Bolivia & Peru and Yucatan dropping away; new Denmark and Belgium.

Paternal side Ancestry Origins 2026

Ancestry Origins for KDJ. Oct 2026.

As with last year, I'm separating my review of the annual AncestryDNA update into several posts. Looking at my Dad's 2026 update in comparison with last year's nine regions, his results now show 21, a dramatic difference from 2024 when the results shows just four regions. His macro-regions cover the following areas for 2026:

• England 37%
• Celtic/Gaelic 35%
• Western Europe 27%
• French Canada (New) 1%

French Canada is a surprise, and yet we have a brick wall on my Dad's maternal side in my 4th-great-grandfather Asa Putnam Smith. He was born in Nova Scotia in 1783. When I look at my Dad's current maternal line journeys in common with closest matches, I see one for Montérégie, Quebec and Northern Vermont French Settlers. Very interesting.

Within the macro-regions, there's some new areas. Switzerland, not a surprise, is new at 12%. We have several documented Swiss lines on his side of the tree. Central Scotland and Northern Ireland have been split into Ulster, Ireland and Scottish Lowlands and Central Belt. North East Scotland now appears as 2% (that's John McIntosh). Dad's 5% Belgium could be the Du Trieux line. Leinster, Ireland went up from 8% to 17%. Connacht, Ireland is new at 2%. Northwestern Italy at 1% is a bit of an odd sight in his results, but perhaps proximity of this area to Switzerland accounts for some of this connection. France and Brittany are in at 1% each.

Comparing the 2026 DNA update with prior years

My AncestryDNA 2026 update.

Ancestry's 2026 DNA release is out, and while we're still waiting on Regions by Grandparent, it's time to dive into the comparison with prior years. Last year I had 11 regions, so this year's 22 regions is pretty cool. It is helpful to see how much as improved when I look back at the 2023 and 2022 updates, the new regions might be more actionable now, especially when paired with Shared Matches of Matches and seeing the regions of known cousins.

This year Ancestry is launching SideView 2.0 with the Regions by Grandparent feature. The original SideView appeared in the 2022 update.

I am disappointed some long standing trace percentages have dropped off (Nigeria, North Africa for me, our Indigenous Andes for Bolivia & Peru, Indigenous Mexico - Yucatan). In their place, the strengthened Sephardic Jews in the Eastern Mediterranean is represented equally across the kits for my Mom and her sisters. It is nice to see Spain is back in my results again (12%, plus an additional 3% Northern Spain). Madeira and Northwestern Italy have dropped away. Switzerland is new at 6%, and that makes sense as my 4th-great-grandmother Ursula Fellme was fully Swiss, and our Lamon branch descending from Rudolph Lehman was Swiss.

Indigenous Americas - Mexico is now Sonoran Desert & Gulf Coast (Mexico & USA) at 5%. While the name is new, the percentage is about the same as prior years. I had expected to see more sub-regions in Mexico across the kits I manage. Fortunately shared matches of matches allows me to see the sub-regions of known cousins. For example, my cousin Catherine has Gulf of California (Mexico), which is not surprising, and I am hoping these appear in the Regions by Grandparent feature launching soon.