Ancestry update 13 September 2018

[rancelli]

Was just curious if your Italian percentages went up or down. I’m very happy with my results personally. I went from 36% to 54%. Not a lot of people are very happy on Ancestry’s FB page with the current updates.

[mjclayton1]

I got the Ancestry update well over a month ago - maybe two (to the jealously of many on the Forums!). Anyway, my Italian definitely went up. Well, I should say that it got more specific. I had no Italian initially, instead showing 20% Europe South, mixed in with 8% Europe East, 6% Europe West, 6% Iberian and 3% Middle East, etc.

Anyway, after the update I was given 18% Italian and 2% Turkey and the Caucasus, so this seems to effectively speak to the 20% Europe South number. As a point of clarification, I have an NPE in my mom's line (unknown maternal grandfather), hence, the "surprise" Italian result for me. I had no clue my entire life (nor did my mother, I think).

I'm still trying to find out who my mother's father was, but it's been an extremely difficult (and frustrating) undertaking. My mother was conceived in Hamilton, ON, Canada - not exactly a hot-bed of Italian communities, one would think. That said, there was an active local Italian population there in my grandmother's neighborhood. Many people had emigrated from Racalmuto, Sicily. My DNA matches all point to Saponara, Messina, Sicily, not the Agrigento region, but still not all that far off. For several years in the mid-1930's the Italians there (In Hamilton) used to have a festival in July. My mother was born in late March, so I've "concluded" that, more likely than not, she was conceived around that time. Plenty of other Italians would've attended the festival.

All that being said, I'm also looking forward to the 23andme update. I'm on the V4 chip, so I might have to wait awhile for that. I'm 13.4% Italian there, plus 8.4% Broadly Southern European. I imagine those numbers will adjust, too.

[debbiemfitalian]

Below is my original results. You may have seen my post, as I was shocked at the 20% Scandinavian result. I even called Ancestry and spoke with a very helpful rep. She discussed all the viking invasions, which I was familiar with, but since I had read that Ancestry developed tests that used more current ancestral DNA, I did not expect it to go back 1,000 years!

My maternal grandmother was first generation Italian American, her parents Italian immigrants, so I expected a some Italian. I understand that the Iberian Peninsula and the Europe South and West, which include Italy, come into play here. But no specific Italian.

52% Ireland/Scotland/Wales
20% Scandinavian
12% Iberian Peninsula
6% Great Britain

Low Confidence Region
4% Europe South
4% Europe West

So, then I get my new results:

80% Ireland/Scotland
20% England, Wales and Northwestern Europe (which doesn't include Italy)

What ??!! I realize Italians can have many other regions mixed in from so many invasions. But we are talking about my grandmother! Not 6 generations ago. She was 100% Italian (so to speak).

Yes I have read about the randomness of obtaining your DNA. But how can I not have one ounce of Italian DNA. That doesn't make sense to me. My revised results are vastly different from my original ones. So, not feeling very happy with them, and a little skeptical again of how accurate they are.

Debbie

[mjclayton1]

Ciao, Debbie-

Your argument about the (potential) inaccuracy of these tests is compelling. I haven't read your other post, but if you haven't done so already I would suggest testing at several other companies (uploading raw DNA, if possible). Maybe those results will be more satisfactory/in line with your expectations.

Good luck - and keep us posted!

Mark

[NickAndreola]

New 23 & Me results in. Mine were tweaked just a little bit. No major shifts.

British & Irish 41.3% (Maternal)
United Kingdom

Balkan 34.7% (Paternal)
Albania

Italian 5.4% (Paternal)
Italy

French & German 2.0% (Maternal)
Iberian 1.8%
Broadly Southern European 7.9%
Broadly Northwestern European 4.7%
Broadly European 1.9%
Western Asian & North African 0.2%
Broadly Western Asian & North African 0.2%

[debbiemfitalian]

Ciao Mark !

Thanks for your reply, yes my intention is to submit to other companies. I am also trying to get my brother to test. From what I have read, most people seem to have only slight variations between results from the various companies. So, we shall see if the results will be similar, or if they will detect at least a little Italian ! And I make such a good sauce !!

[slbridges]

Hello All!

I am new to this forum but wanted to comment on the Ancestry DNA update. My results changed pretty drastically with the update. My maternal great grandparents (Anania) immigrated from Italy and my grandfather was born in the US. My original results showed 42% Europe South with only Italy highlighted. My updated results came back as 2% Italian, 2% Greece and 4% Turkey and the Caucasus. That means that 42% went down to 8% total and only 2% Italian! This does not give me much confidence in either result.

I am curious about DNA Land and GEDMatch- could someone please elaborate on this?

Surnames: Anania, Vallenlonga, Piscioneri, ( potentially Geracitano, Cavallaro)
Calounia Italy

[mjclayton1]

Ciao Mark !

Thanks for your reply, yes my intention is to submit to other companies. I am also trying to get my brother to test. From what I have read, most people seem to have only slight variations between results from the various companies. So, we shall see if the results will be similar, or if they will detect at least a little Italian ! And I make such a good sauce !!

Debbie: As to my prior comment in this string about my original DNA test thru 23andme giving me 13.4% Italian and also 8.4% "Broadly Southern European", my sister recently got her 23andme test results and she, too, had similar numbers: 13.7% Italian and 4.9% Southern European. Point being, these numbers are pretty consistent and would therefore lead me to suggest to you that I have at least a degree of confidence in 23andme's processes.

BTW, I was tested on their V4 chip whereas my sister was tested on the V5 chip. It remains to be seen whether my results will differ if and when 23andme offers updated results for existing customers on the V5 chip.

[BrownEyedGirl]

My new estimates at Ancestry.com reflect my ancestry more accurately based upon known history and research on both sides of my family.

The new results showed -

44 percent Italian (Molise & Campania and Northern Italy)
34 percent Irish (Connacht & Ulster)
18 percent French (Alsace-Lorraine & Flanders)
4 percent Bulkan (Albania)

I think the tiny percent of Bulkan is from Molise since a group of Albanian refugees came to that very area beginning in the 15th Century (if my memory serves me), fleeing from the Ottoman invasion of their country.

I'm still trying to find a paper trail for the Northern Italian DNA. My mother has a significant percentage. My beloved grandfather mentioned having a family from Milan, and DNALand has my mother's Northern Italian in Bergamo, Lombardy. (Same region.)

The remainder is from my paternal side and completely accurate. My paternal grandfather's father was from Galway, Connacht, Western Ireland. His mother was from County Down, Ulster, Northern Ireland. And my paternal grandmother's family was from Northern France (specially Lorraine) and Flanders/Southern Netherlands.

I know many people are complaining about the new estimates. I'm very pleased with mine. They're more "comfortable" than the original.

[rafaelot021]

Below is my original results. You may have seen my post, as I was shocked at the 20% Scandinavian result. I even called Ancestry and spoke with a very helpful rep. She discussed all the viking invasions, which I was familiar with, but since I had read that Ancestry developed tests that used more current ancestral DNA, I did not expect it to go back 1,000 years!

My maternal grandmother was first generation Italian American, her parents Italian immigrants, so I expected a some Italian. I understand that the Iberian Peninsula and the Europe South and West, which include Italy, come into play here. But no specific Italian.

52% Ireland/Scotland/Wales
20% Scandinavian
12% Iberian Peninsula
6% Great Britain

Low Confidence Region
4% Europe South
4% Europe West

So, then I get my new results:

80% Ireland/Scotland
20% England, Wales and Northwestern Europe solution surendettement (which doesn't include Italy)

What ??!! I realize Italians can have many other regions mixed in from so many invasions. But we are talking about my grandmother! Not 6 generations ago. She was 100% Italian (so to speak).

Yes I have read about the randomness of obtaining your DNA. But how can I not have one ounce of Italian DNA. That doesn't make sense to me. My revised results are vastly different from my original ones. So, not feeling very happy with them, and a little skeptical again of how accurate they are.

Debbie

It looks easy to find some european ancestor but if it's not the case! I think it would be very difficult!
Thanks!

[R78]

My Italian percentage went down dramatically in the Ancestry update, from 27% Europe South to 5% Italy. My mother’s result went down from 49% to 31%. As I have one full Italian grandparent (maternal grandmother) the original result seemed to make sense, especially for my mother – it seems unlikely she would have only 31% of her mother’s DNA. On DNA.land, I have just over 30% combination of Souther European, Sardinian and Ashkenazi/Levantine, which I thought was a good match to the original Ancestry Europe South percentage. I think the Ancestry update is a bit messed up for Italian DNA.