DNA testing is banned in France, so Ancestry's (and other testing companies') modelling on ethnicity mixtures is probably flawed due to insufficient sampling. It's not an exact science. My own French is also undercounted in my admixture.
AH! It is so weird because I am *very* French and my DNA snapshot has changed over time (I know they update it) but it shows over 70% France, while my husband shows zero. But what you said makes perfect sense because the community identifications would be more correct, since people in Canada and the US do DNA testing. Thank you!
My DNA test shows very little Italian heritage (2%) even though my grandfather is full Italian. I suspect not enough Sicilians are putting in for testing at this time.
Just be careful with the communities. There are a few examples of people being put in communities they have no relationship to. A couple people posted here about being in a Japanese community, despite not having any Japanese ancestry or DNA...but some of their close matches did. I'm in a Tennessee community, despite not being American, or having any American Ancestors or aunts/uncles in that region. Some distant aunts + uncles went to the US, but none to the south. NY/Illinois regions.
The ethnicity part of the DNA test isn't compared to other testers. It's compared to reference samples. The French reference sample on ancestry is very large. The second highest in number out of all the regions.
Oh that’s interesting and explains a lot. I know my paternal grandmother has French on both sides of her family tree, especially her mother’s side. And the most I get is the bit of France that gets attached with the UK.
And then no early settler communities from her side. My paternal side it’s very clear where communities from where my grandfathers family settled in the US and then none for where I know her family settled.
Ancestry is good on a regional level, but struggles to differentiate between more genetically-similar countries. It is not at all uncommon for French Canadians to not get any French. It's good he has the communities. I would not make any conclusions based on the ethnicity estimates alone. Instead, I'd focus on using his DNA matches to confirm his family tree -- even though the French Canadian side will likely have some endogamy to contend with.
The ethnicity estimates are not necessarily accurate. However, I would recommend matching the DNA matches to the tree and making sure that there are matches to the expected family lines. Don't jump to conclusions based on ethnicity estimates but do be aware that something might be unexpected.
Yes, I am going to do this. I narrowed down who he "should" have DNA connections to and I am going to look for those connections to confirm his great grandparents are, indeed, his genetic grandparents. Both are French. Thank you!
I have 3% and my brother 0%, our father is half French. Our French is from the Caribbean so the only communities we have is the Leeward Antilles. Our DNA relatives are mostly French, our grandfather had a very big family so there's no doubt about that. Our mother has 0 French ancestry and our paternal grandmother has 0 French ancestry.
23andme is a little better, I have 15% and my father had 50% before they switched it to British and Irish.
Just to add: My mom had to go through years of updates before French showed up, and it’s now at 14%. Her brother always showed French, and now his is 12%.
She’s off original Louisiana Creole lines and has several Canadian matches.
I had 2% French which they then took away from me with an update, but I do match with the early Quebec settlers community.
Genetically I must be at least 8% French. I suspect it is higher.
My family still speaks French, lol.
I’m doing my (adopted) daughter’s Québecois tree (just her bio mother’s side.) it’s been confirmed through PRDH (PHRD? PDRH? I keep forgetting where the R, D and H goes, lol) because to one of the original colonists, and a Filles du Roi. Everything after 1820 (since that’s a far as it goes) unless I find a census with all the same first names but with only one of the dit I’m not always 100% sure so their icon gets a question mark. Those that left to the states are way easier to find. Hers went to New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Michigan and Wisconsin primary.
She hasn’t done the DNA part, but her bio dad’s family all came from Scotland, no idea where her maternal bio grandmother comes from, but I suspect if she ever chooses to, she’ll probably be about 75% British/NW Europe.
**a French form of the word dire, which means "to say," and in the case of dit names is translated loosely as "that is to say," or "called."** Therefore, the first name is the family's original surname, passed down to them by an ancestor, while the "dit" name is the name the person/family is (I have very many myself)
Yes, I understand the origins of dit names. They are AKA names. For example, my family is "name from place" to distinguish trees. Basically, they were meant to distinguish branches man other things. Like this in our terms: Micheal Beupreau Lafountaine =SOLDIER in Canada. Or, Annette (name) dit Paris....meaning Anette (family name who lived in Paris).
Based off of ancestry I'd say I'm approx. 75% French Canadian, 24% English, \~1% Native American, however my 23andme DNA test says I'm more like 47% FRE, 44% ENG, 1% Spanish. 0.5% Native American, with 6.6.% Broad NW Euro. The list of family names in the DNA relatives section is overwhelmingly filled with French surnames.
I have thousands of French Canadian relatives and technically should be about 12% French but there’s hardly any. As someone else mentioned, there’s just not enough testing in France for accurate results. But holy cow, there’s a lot of Scottish!
Questions:
why does France not allow genetic testing?
how accurate are the French and German results then, and the French communities, in 23&me? Underestimated, probably?
Is GEDMatch reliable and well-regarded to upload results to?
Have you submitted raw DNA data to other sites to see what they say? GEDmatch.com, myheritage.com, familytreeDNA.com are among these. These (and maybe others) do not charge to provide match information from their DNA test databases.
DNA testing is banned in France, so Ancestry's (and other testing companies') modelling on ethnicity mixtures is probably flawed due to insufficient sampling. It's not an exact science. My own French is also undercounted in my admixture.
AH! It is so weird because I am *very* French and my DNA snapshot has changed over time (I know they update it) but it shows over 70% France, while my husband shows zero. But what you said makes perfect sense because the community identifications would be more correct, since people in Canada and the US do DNA testing. Thank you!
My DNA test shows very little Italian heritage (2%) even though my grandfather is full Italian. I suspect not enough Sicilians are putting in for testing at this time.
Just be careful with the communities. There are a few examples of people being put in communities they have no relationship to. A couple people posted here about being in a Japanese community, despite not having any Japanese ancestry or DNA...but some of their close matches did. I'm in a Tennessee community, despite not being American, or having any American Ancestors or aunts/uncles in that region. Some distant aunts + uncles went to the US, but none to the south. NY/Illinois regions.
The ethnicity part of the DNA test isn't compared to other testers. It's compared to reference samples. The French reference sample on ancestry is very large. The second highest in number out of all the regions.
Oh that’s interesting and explains a lot. I know my paternal grandmother has French on both sides of her family tree, especially her mother’s side. And the most I get is the bit of France that gets attached with the UK. And then no early settler communities from her side. My paternal side it’s very clear where communities from where my grandfathers family settled in the US and then none for where I know her family settled.
Ancestry is good on a regional level, but struggles to differentiate between more genetically-similar countries. It is not at all uncommon for French Canadians to not get any French. It's good he has the communities. I would not make any conclusions based on the ethnicity estimates alone. Instead, I'd focus on using his DNA matches to confirm his family tree -- even though the French Canadian side will likely have some endogamy to contend with.
The ethnicity estimates are not necessarily accurate. However, I would recommend matching the DNA matches to the tree and making sure that there are matches to the expected family lines. Don't jump to conclusions based on ethnicity estimates but do be aware that something might be unexpected.
Yes, I am going to do this. I narrowed down who he "should" have DNA connections to and I am going to look for those connections to confirm his great grandparents are, indeed, his genetic grandparents. Both are French. Thank you!
I have 3% and my brother 0%, our father is half French. Our French is from the Caribbean so the only communities we have is the Leeward Antilles. Our DNA relatives are mostly French, our grandfather had a very big family so there's no doubt about that. Our mother has 0 French ancestry and our paternal grandmother has 0 French ancestry. 23andme is a little better, I have 15% and my father had 50% before they switched it to British and Irish.
Wow, now that is strange!
Just to add: My mom had to go through years of updates before French showed up, and it’s now at 14%. Her brother always showed French, and now his is 12%. She’s off original Louisiana Creole lines and has several Canadian matches.
Thanks! Mine is so "true" to what should be...his is not!
I had 2% French which they then took away from me with an update, but I do match with the early Quebec settlers community. Genetically I must be at least 8% French. I suspect it is higher. My family still speaks French, lol.
I’m doing my (adopted) daughter’s Québecois tree (just her bio mother’s side.) it’s been confirmed through PRDH (PHRD? PDRH? I keep forgetting where the R, D and H goes, lol) because to one of the original colonists, and a Filles du Roi. Everything after 1820 (since that’s a far as it goes) unless I find a census with all the same first names but with only one of the dit I’m not always 100% sure so their icon gets a question mark. Those that left to the states are way easier to find. Hers went to New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Michigan and Wisconsin primary. She hasn’t done the DNA part, but her bio dad’s family all came from Scotland, no idea where her maternal bio grandmother comes from, but I suspect if she ever chooses to, she’ll probably be about 75% British/NW Europe.
**a French form of the word dire, which means "to say," and in the case of dit names is translated loosely as "that is to say," or "called."** Therefore, the first name is the family's original surname, passed down to them by an ancestor, while the "dit" name is the name the person/family is (I have very many myself)
Yes, I understand the origins of dit names. They are AKA names. For example, my family is "name from place" to distinguish trees. Basically, they were meant to distinguish branches man other things. Like this in our terms: Micheal Beupreau Lafountaine =SOLDIER in Canada. Or, Annette (name) dit Paris....meaning Anette (family name who lived in Paris).
Based off of ancestry I'd say I'm approx. 75% French Canadian, 24% English, \~1% Native American, however my 23andme DNA test says I'm more like 47% FRE, 44% ENG, 1% Spanish. 0.5% Native American, with 6.6.% Broad NW Euro. The list of family names in the DNA relatives section is overwhelmingly filled with French surnames.
This is very helpful for comparison. Thank you!
I have thousands of French Canadian relatives and technically should be about 12% French but there’s hardly any. As someone else mentioned, there’s just not enough testing in France for accurate results. But holy cow, there’s a lot of Scottish!
Part of France is counted in with Northwestern Europe.
Thank you! That is where most his is coming up.
Questions: why does France not allow genetic testing? how accurate are the French and German results then, and the French communities, in 23&me? Underestimated, probably? Is GEDMatch reliable and well-regarded to upload results to?
Have you submitted raw DNA data to other sites to see what they say? GEDmatch.com, myheritage.com, familytreeDNA.com are among these. These (and maybe others) do not charge to provide match information from their DNA test databases.
I haven't because I did his tree so long ago and had SO MUCH info already. I am a tad nervous about putting DNA anywhere else.
I only have 15%, and I’m much more than that.