23andme and other ancestry DNA test kits

Is My Heritage a decent one?

I just saw an add saying it's half price at £35. It's for my sons birthday. He doesn't want to do any research into our history. He just wants to know if he's a Viking or not! His lass thinks I'm a Viking due to my body shape and blonde hair.
 


AncestryDNA say they have the worlds largest database with over 23 million members, 23andme has 12 million members. MyHeritage DNA is part of 23andme. I went with AncestryDNA mainly because I've been with Ancestry,com for years.
 
Did one and I'm:

84.6% North Eastern England and Southern Scotland
8.1% Greek and South Italian
4.5% Finnish
2.8% Irish, Scottish and Welsh

The Greek/Italian thing is interesting. My Dad had white skin but he just had to look at the sun and he instantly went olive brown and never burned. We used to joke and say he belonged in the med. I guess there was more truth in that than we thought!

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Becs said:
Did one and I'm:

84.6% North Eastern England and Southern Scotland
8.1% Greek and South Italian
4.5% Finnish
2.8% Irish, Scottish and Welsh

The Greek/Italian thing is interesting. My Dad had white skin but he just had to look at the sun and he instantly went olive brown and never burned. We used to joke and say he belonged in the med. I guess there was more truth in that than we thought!

​

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That's quite specific. What company was that from?
 
Wearson said:
That is what this service is, surely?
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It is for many but not if you're properly into genealogy which is all about finding the links between ancestors and verifying those links. DNA doesn't lie. Many many people have discovered who their ancestors actually were by using DNA, some even close relatives like fathers. Links that were not verifiable by other means. Adoptees have found it particularly helpful. Personally the ethnicity feature is a sideshow as far as I'm concerned, entertaining but a piece of froth on the edges of my research. I'm hoping one day it will reveal who my paternal great-great grandfather was, one of many brick walls I have in my tree. It can also put you in touch with cousins all over the world that you never knew you had.
 
rokerexile said:
It is for many but not if you're properly into genealogy which is all about finding the links between ancestors and verifying those links. DNA doesn't lie. Many many people have discovered who their ancestors actually were by using DNA, some even close relatives like fathers. Links that were not verifiable by other means. Adoptees have found it particularly helpful. Personally the ethnicity feature is a sideshow as far as I'm concerned, entertaining but a piece of froth on the edges of my research. I'm hoping one day it will reveal who my paternal great-great grandfather was, one of many brick walls I have in my tree. It can also put you in touch with cousins all over the world that you never knew you had.
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Or in some cases a brand new Dad .
 
rokerexile said:
It is for many but not if you're properly into genealogy which is all about finding the links between ancestors and verifying those links. DNA doesn't lie. Many many people have discovered who their ancestors actually were by using DNA, some even close relatives like fathers. Links that were not verifiable by other means. Adoptees have found it particularly helpful. Personally the ethnicity feature is a sideshow as far as I'm concerned, entertaining but a piece of froth on the edges of my research. I'm hoping one day it will reveal who my paternal great-great grandfather was, one of many brick walls I have in my tree. It can also put you in touch with cousins all over the world that you never knew you had.
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www.scientificamerican.com

How Accurate Are Online DNA Tests?

Geneticist and author Adam Rutherford examines the evidence
www.scientificamerican.com www.scientificamerican.com
 
rokerexile said:
It is for many but not if you're properly into genealogy which is all about finding the links between ancestors and verifying those links. DNA doesn't lie. Many many people have discovered who their ancestors actually were by using DNA, some even close relatives like fathers. Links that were not verifiable by other means. Adoptees have found it particularly helpful. Personally the ethnicity feature is a sideshow as far as I'm concerned, entertaining but a piece of froth on the edges of my research. I'm hoping one day it will reveal who my paternal great-great grandfather was, one of many brick walls I have in my tree. It can also put you in touch with cousins all over the world that you never knew you had.
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I found out who my Grandfather really was through DNA. He enlisted in the British Army in 1915 and his life was well documented from that day on, before that day I couldn't find anything, no birth certificate, no baptism, school records, nothing. It was as if he didn't exist before 1915.
He told his children he was born in London and lied about his age to become a merchant seaman and jumped ship as soon as he landed in Canada where he lived until travelling to England in 1915 to enlist. Through DNA I discovered close relatives living in the USA and Australia. I contacted the DNA relatives in America and discovered the truth. To cut a long story short my Grandfather was sold by Barnardos aged 10 to work on farms in Canada, he never ever saw his two younger sisters again. he came back to England in 1915 with the Canadian Army where he deserted, changed his name and joined the British Army.
Through DNA I discovered his true name, his parents and also he had two sister who no one knew about. It was the daughter of one of his sisters who I DNA matched with. Without DNA there was no way I could have found out about my Grandfathers previous life.
 
Wearson said:
I’m sure it’s been mentioned before, but DNA can show different results even for twins.
It’s not conclusive.
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Especially with cheap tests. It costs in the late hundreds of pounds to run tests that reliably show ethnicity. It's why academics and experts have a long running battle with the chancers running the testing services, who try to silence them by threatening to sue them, but never actually going through with it.
 
rokerexile said:
It is for many but not if you're properly into genealogy which is all about finding the links between ancestors and verifying those links. DNA doesn't lie. Many many people have discovered who their ancestors actually were by using DNA, some even close relatives like fathers. Links that were not verifiable by other means. Adoptees have found it particularly helpful. Personally the ethnicity feature is a sideshow as far as I'm concerned, entertaining but a piece of froth on the edges of my research. I'm hoping one day it will reveal who my paternal great-great grandfather was, one of many brick walls I have in my tree. It can also put you in touch with cousins all over the world that you never knew you had.
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Exactly this. The DNA link has helped me and our lass to verify lots of family connections and also dismiss some family rumours too
 

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