Italians and Ancestry DNA

[afecad]

This is my Grandfather's family gathering in 1936, he had nine siblings, one died the age of 8, several had offspring and many show up on the DNA sites that I can connect the dots to, but usually 2nd or 3rd cousins, beyond that the list grows and 23andme will show the connection as shared 2nd or 3rd GGP.

https://www.daladophotography.com/Thoma ... -trzcNWX/A

This is only one side of my Italian family, the other side (my GGM) also shows relatives, but it's hard to know which side because many people do not list names or family trees (which they allow you to do) and makes connecting the dots easier. DNA data is accurate unless it's corrupted, but people's data, names and etc are prone to higher errors and inaccuracies, much like Ancestry.com showing "Potential Matches" in your tree, that might or might not be accurate.

Also expect 23andme to split out the Greek/Balkan and etc. as a separate %. Ancestry shows me much higher % of Italian vs 23andme, as well some of the other DNA testing I did showed Northern Italian DNA only, while another showed a mix and 23andme closer to factual recent data. I know my Grandfather's family name derives from Pisa which is in Tuscany, so maybe these sites are going back farther prior to migration into other regions?

[afecad]

Just to show you what to expect on 23andme.

Below is a Third Cousin who lives in Italy,

23andme match.PNG

23andme DNA.PNG

Thing I do not know is which 2nd GGP's the connection is? Is it my Grandfather's Paternal or Maternal side, because the user's last name is not in my list nor do they list a tree. I do know my 2nd GGP's had siblings who stayed in Italy.

I have many 3rd cousins which show the same data of relation, as it goes on 4th and 5th, there is no way to tell unless they post information on their ancestors.

A 4th cousin of mine did say they are from Isca sullo Jonio, but now live in the US and posted their parents names, the Mother's surname is the same as my GGM...easy to connect the dots and we share 3rd GGPs who never left Italy.

4th Cousin Isca.PNG

Thing is, I only have 229 relatives on 23andme on my Mother's side out of 1500 relatives, so my Father's side (not Italian) has more data. The more people that do DNA the better, but as I noted some of my family think they will be cloned or have their data used against them, valid concerns but once they are gone that's it...

[afecad]

Also forgot to note, with respect to 23andme DNA relatives. IF you don't have a living parent who also tested, you won't be able to separate DNA results by Mother's side/Father's side, they will all be grouped together.

My Mother did 23andme, so it allows me to see what relatives I'm connected through her and it made the rest default to my Father who was never tested, but if she tries the same thing it only shows them grouped since both of her parents are deceased and were never tested.

In this case, last names or listed data of family names, locations and etc. are extremely important!

[MarcuccioV]

You could test your mtDNA haplogroup then.

My MtDNA haplogroup (the Italian side) is U3b.

[darkerhorse]

Do both genders carry MtDNA?

[MarcuccioV]

Do both genders carry MtDNA?

it is carried by the female line (X-chromosome) ONLY. Therefore, only females can pass it on to sons (ie: I could not, only my Y can go forward). So only the last male (son) in a line can have it (from the X-chromosome of his mother). Fathers can only pass on their Y-chromosome to their sons (they CAN pass the X to their daughters)...

[darkerhorse]

So, both genders have it, but only females pass it on?

[MarcuccioV]

So, both genders have it, but only females pass it on?

See my edit of the above. Fathers can pass it to daughters ONLY.

[MarcuccioV]

But I think the maternal haplogroup dominates (you may want to research it further)...

[MarcuccioV]

I guess it IS only mothers that can pass the MtDNA on... (Correction of prec)...

[darkerhorse]

So, MtDNA represents only one of many family lines.

[MarcuccioV]

Yes, same with Y-DNA. It covers the outer branches (top & bottom) only. Nothing in the middle.

[darkerhorse]

Of course, the Y-DNA is of obvious interest because it follows the surname in most cases.

[afecad]

So, MtDNA represents only one of many family lines.

mtDNA = your mother>mother's mother and so on.

You receive mtDNA from your mother, but it's not passed on. So if your Father's mother was Italian, you won't see it only your Mother's maternal line will show via mtDNA. Autosomal is the only test that shows the DNA that was inherited (22 pairs of chromosomes). Autosomal will also give you different results between the DNA testing companies, nothing on mine is consistent in terms of % or region.

If your Mother is not even of Italian heritage, mtDNA won't tell you much of anything with respect to Italian heritage, you will have to rely on Autosomal to gain some clues, Y-DNA would only apply to your Father's paternal line and not his mother. Haplogroups are also not useful as they go back thousands of years and really cannot tie you to a specific region as people migrated and they show the migrations from Africa into Europe. My maternal haplogroup is H1 which is quite common in Europe with a high % in Spain and Portugal, but that's going back 8,000+ years if not more.

[afecad]

Of course, the Y-DNA is of obvious interest because it follows the surname in most cases.

Y-DNA is passed from father to son, virtually unchanged except often there are mutations, though slow. 23andme will give you a predicted paternal haplogroup, but only FTNDA's Y-DNA testing (which I have done) will give you the confirmed paternal haplogroup which goes down to subclade levels and shows other matches.

So yes, it will show surname matches going back hundreds of years with great accuracy. There are many surname groups on FTDNA, one of which I joined showed matches with the same paternal haplogroup trying to trace back ancestors. Thing is, unless there is a good paper trail much of it is based on assumption if that said ancestor is really your direct relation or another distant.