Comparing estimates

 

FTDNA. myOrigins (v3) for BAJ. 

While awaiting the results on my Big Y700 test through FTDNA, I've also loaded my parents' autosomal DNA raw data from Ancestry on to FTDNA's platform. Primarily this is to seek more matches on either side, but an added benefit is seeing how their estimated ancestral origins compare with those on Ancestry and MyHeritage. We're still waiting on the promised update from MyHeritage, mentioned back in July but still not released. 

In the meantime, the map above shows the percentages from my Mom's results.

• Central Europe 35%
• Scandinavia 17%
• England, Wales, Scotland 13%
• Iberian Peninsula 16%
• Italian Peninsula 11%
• Americas (AmerIndian - Central & Southern Mexico) 7%
• Americas (AmerIndian - Northern Mexico) <1%
• East Slavic <1%
• Western Siberia <1%

Comparing the above with the latest from Ancestry, if we combine England, Wales & Scotland with Central Europe (48%), this aligns with AncestryDNA's latest update for my Mom with England & Northwestern Europe, combined with Scotland and Ireland (48%). If the Iberian and Italian are combined (27%), that's not too far off the latest result for Spain (33%) on Ancestry. The 7-8% Americas is somewhat close to the latest result from Ancestry for Indigenous Americas - Mexico (12%). MyHeritage has her Italian + Iberian (5.2 and 1.7%), much smaller than Mesoamerican + Andean (19.1%).  

My Dad's results show up as 100% England, Wales, Scotland, with <1% Druze. I wonder if the Druze result is an artifact from a more ancient line of the family, maybe a Crusader-era remnant. It's interesting to compare this with MyHeritage (below) and with the latest from Ancestry (Oct 2024). MyHeritage gives my Dad a .9% trace from Central Asia and oddly 6.9% Iberian. 

FTDNA. myOrigins (v3) for KDJ.

MyHeritage. Estimates for KDJ (pre-update v2).

Happy Friday

 

Winslow Homer. Fresh Eggs. 1874.

It's Friday after Thanksgiving and the house is slowly waking up. Turkey broth is cooking from yesterday's feast and the dog is hovering around the kitchen for samples. Today we're picking up the Christmas tree and watching more college basketball, hoping for better results than the past couple of days.

With the calendar flip to December coming up on Sunday, we're entering the closeout of 2024. I'll have year-end recap post toward the end of the month. I am hoping to make more family history progress leading up to the holiday break. I have plans for work and personal travel through the first half of 2025 including a trip to Rootstech in early March.

Casting a wide net

 

Winslow Homer. Hauling in the nets. 1887.

As I've transferred autosomal DNA results to MyHeritage to look for matches, I've also uploaded test results to FamilyTreeDNA. I've already found some matches who tested there and were not visible on Ancestry or MyHeritage. The hope is that by casting a wide net for DNA matches, I'll locate the right set of matches who will help resolve the mystery on identifying the parents of my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget, or figuring out the connection with the Pennsylvania O'Briens.

More work to do here as I sift through the finds that have already started to appear.  

Start of a Y journey

 

Source: FamilyTreeDNA. Migration map for R-U152.

As noted in my last post, my 2018 Geno 2.0 Y DNA result showed a paternal haplogroup of R-U152. Using FamilyTreeDNA's migration map, this haplogroup traces back to an area north of Florence in Tuscany, about 2600 BCE. I'm curious to see what the new test will show more recently than this ancient branch from 4600 years ago.

Going Big(Y)

FamilyTreeDNA currently has a Black Friday/Thanksgiving sale on their products, including the Big Y-700 DNA test. After looking at this for a few years, I've decided to take the plunge on yet another DNA test.

I've tried a number of DNA tests since 2008, originally taking the Ancestry Y DNA and mtDNA tests, then later the Ancestry autosomal DNA test, and National Geographic's short-lived Geno 2.0 test. My 2008 Ancestry Y test gave me a haplogroup R1b, and mtDNA haplogroup A. The 2018 Geno 2.0 test had more refined haplogroups for both, returning a result for R-U152 on the Y DNA, and A2d on the mtDNA side. I'm interested to see how these change when my big Y and mtDNA results arrive sometime in 2025.

I am also curious to see how this test and the information received afterward compares with other test results I administer for myself and others in the family. I'm interested in the possibility of gifting a test to another on my Dad's side of the tree.