Years ago my younger brother Derek asked me, “What are we?”
He was curious about our ethnic makeup as so many people are. All those years ago I did a quick calculation based on the research I had done and drew up this little map for him. Over time I have learned more about my heritage and can now update that set of data to reflect my most current understanding of our tree.
Based on this new chart, our ethnicity percentages – from our tree – are:
- 34.4% – English
- 12.5% – Mixed British Isles
- 12.5 % – French Canadian
- 12.5% – Scottish
- 9.4% – Danish
- 6.3% – Italian Jewish (I don’t think this is really a thing, but I’m not sure yet what to call this portion of my tree…see here.)
- 6.3% – Spanish
- 3.1% – French
- 3.1% – Welsh
I know that totals 100.1% – I rounded.
Based on how Ancestry DNA lumps things together, these percentages should look like this on my Ancestry DNA ethnicity estimates:
- 62.5% – Great Britain (English, Mixed British Isles, Scottish, Welsh)
- 15.6% – Europe West (French Canadian, French)
- 9.4% – Scandinavian
- 6.3% – Some mixture of European Jewish & Italy, Greece
- 6.3% – Iberian Peninsula (Spanish)
But here’s the thing about DNA. We don’t inherit exactly half of what our parents inherited. We inherit a unique combination of half of what they inherited. So while the percentages based on my tree look one way, the actual DNA I inherited is an entirely different matter. I have four siblings. Each of us inherited different combinations of our parent’s DNA – half from each parent, but a unique and random half.
My DNA results are in. I will share them tomorrow. They are fascinating. The portion I am most curious about happens to be the potion that is brand new to me – the Jewish ancestry of John Costello. What combination of DNA did he pass on to me? 12.5% of me comes from him. Based on what I know, he could have given me DNA from these three regions – Iberian Peninsula, European Jewish, and Italy, Greece. Because the Jewish portion is a brand new – weeks old – discovery, I wonder if I inherited any of it? If so, how much?
Care to take a guess?
Tune in for my DNA reveal tomorrow.