So long Scandinavia
So... Ancestry.com has changed its ethnicity estimates recently... which changed my results pretty drastically.
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Whereas before I was
28% Scandinavian,
24% Ireland / Scotland / Wales,
22% Great Britain,
16% Europe West,
4% European Jewish and a bunch of small percentages....
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NOW, I'm
86% England, Wales and NW Europe,
7% Ireland / Scotland,
4% Germanic Europe and
3% Norway.
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So I'm happier with this as it seems to reflect better what I know about my geneology. I suppose I couldn't really figure out the large Scandinavian percentage of my previous estimate, other than vikings from way back.
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So, why the dramatic difference? I checked the FAQ and have a few things to copy here from it:
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The previous region of Scandinavia is now reported as Norway and / or Sweden.
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Europe West is now reported as Germanic Europe and / or France.
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These new regions reflect new data and improved methods for DNA analysis that were not available until recently.
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Why did some of my percentages change so drastically?
It’s one thing to see your results for a region change by a few percentage points, but if you’re reading this, you probably saw a change of 10-20% or even more. That can be a little unsettling. Here are a few of the reasons behind these big changes.
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In this update, “closely related” ethnicities have been better resolved.
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The DNA of people from closely related regions can be very similar, making it more challenging to tell them apart. Since we can now look at DNA in longer segments than we did in the past, we are better able to identify differences in DNA in closely related regions. For example, we’re now better at distinguishing between what used to be our Great Britain and Europe West regions. In our updated estimate, many people with ancestors from England will see their percentages for England, Wales & Northwestern Europe (which replaces Great Britain) go up. Or your new estimate may include new regions or percentages that have been assigned to another region.
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An ethnicity you had has been split into smaller regions.
In this case you will have lost one ethnicity and gained others. For example, in the update Scandinavia was split into Norway and Sweden. People who had Scandinavia before will see it replaced with other regions, including Sweden and Norway.
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Each person gets 50% of their DNA from Mom and 50% from Dad. But that means 50% of each parent’s DNA also gets left behind. Also, what gets passed down and what gets left behind is completely random. So you may not have inherited enough of the genetic markers associated with a particular region-though that doesn't mean that region isn't part of your past.