How did your DNA results come out ?

Posted by Foundation_Wrong@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 97 comments

I got my DNA results today and it’s absolutely boring! I’m 94% South English and 4% Swedish Danish. My Dads family are all from the midlands and my Mums are from Sussex with that 4% Viking. It’s what I’d always thought, but I was hoping for something else.

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harrietmjones@reddit

I grew up with just my maternal side but as far as anyone’s aware, they’re through and through Welsh, apart from one of my great-grandmothers who was from Guernsey) and my bio-dad was Welsh. Anyway, not too shocking but I’m: • 73% Welsh • 19% Irish • 4% Norwegian • 4% English and Northwestern European Learned I’m genuinely part Irish on my paternal side (rather than the results just saying this), with some unknown relatives until now living in different parts of Ireland. It’s interesting that there’s no mention of the out and out partial French ancestry that I’ve got through my great-grandmother (though my mum took her DNA test and got 1% Spanish through that side). https://preview.redd.it/0r4u4bn8lxsc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f5cdf64cbf16b7ddc8fd908a4debaf679611688b

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

Less than 3% they don’t list

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harrietmjones@reddit

My mum’s 1% showed up strangely then, if this is the case. 🤔 https://preview.redd.it/ugy90m60oxsc1.jpeg?width=723&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=00ce8fd4836379d8389215730a4f697c95bd280b

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

Different test companies?

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harrietmjones@reddit

We both did Ancestry DNA. Maybe?

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dvb70@reddit

Mine was entirely British isles. Mostly English, then Scottish, Welsh and Irish. It exactly matches up to what I know of my families history. On the other hand my partner discovered something like 17% Danish/Swedish in theirs that they have no idea about. Their family story was they had some French and German in there somewhere which seems to have ended up not being true.

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

Danish, Swedish are from Vikings and the time of King Canute! Norwegian like my husband is absolutely the Vikings.

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dvb70@reddit

This was something like 17% so I think that indicates something more recent than through viking ancestors.

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

Most of the Scandinavian genes in people on the UK is from the Vikings. There were a lot of them and they took over a lot of territory. The genes stay in the population, if your family stay in the same areas they always have like mine they don’t get so mixed. My Scandinavian genes come from my Sussex and Surrey based maternal family. A coastal area. My paternal family are from the midlands, far from the coasts.

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dvb70@reddit

What percentages do you have out of interest? People I have seen with DNA results indicating Viking heritage seem to be normally in say the 4-5% range. I don't think I have seen someone with it as high as 17% which is what my partner has and is suggesting to me they might have a more recent Nordic ancestor.

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

I was mistaken, the 17% is Scotland lowland and Irish. Norwegian is 4%

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imminentmailing463@reddit

Never done mine for the exact same reason. Maybe I'd have a few percentages of something else, but I'm sure it would be overwhelmingly Irish, Scottish and English. I remember hearing once that my grandad's mother was half German, and that's as exotic as it gets in our family.

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VardaElentari86@reddit

Same. I don't see the point of paying to find out that I'm 99% Scottish and Irish with maybe a dollop of something random.

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

It’s fascinating to see in depth though.

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LXPeanut@reddit

It told me I was British. A bit English, a bit Scottish, a bit Welsh and a tiny sprinkling of Irish. The specific places were what I already knew about my family history. The bit that's missing is my dad's mum's family who weren't British (which was the bit I wanted to know more about). As time goes on and they add more information I'm starting to see a few interesting things but at first it just confirmed what I'd found out from genealogy already and missed the bit I actually wanted to find out more on.

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

We found the same, confirmation, but new things and people are apparently added all the time. It’s fascinating

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Shriven@reddit

I found out I was donor conceived and had 11 half siblings...

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

Was that a shock?

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Shriven@reddit

Just a little bit... My dad died, my mum told me years later when I turned 33 , that he wasn't my biological father and handed me a test. She doesn't know who the donor was, but yeah it turns out there's at least 11 of us all with the same donor. I know who the donor is now and that's wild - he's blocked us all but hes kind of a big deal in British film and tv - not a celebrity or anything. It sucks tbh.

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

We were listening to a pod cast on BBC Sounds, it was very interesting. It did episodes on the various outcomes and how it affects people.

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Shriven@reddit

You look like me on Spotify is a very good one too, the lady behind it is lovely and was there when I met my first half sibling.

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TheHalfwayBeast@reddit

Viking wasn't something you *are*, it's something you *did*. You became a Viking when you went a-viking. That's like saying I'm 4% Cotton Mill Worker or 25% Architect.

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

I know that but it’s a definition that gets in the way of a brief conversation.

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Dear-Skill-2246@reddit

33% Italian, 23% Portuguese, 10% British, 9% African, 9% South American and other bits that I can be bothered to add. Curious because I’m born in Brazil but adopted after birth and grew up in Italia, came back home somehow lol

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

Brazil is a tremendously diverse melting pot, the Portuguese had a large world wide empire before most others and so many ended up in Brazil, obviously we are talking slaves for many ethnicity.

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SchizoMitzo@reddit

I've never really understood the point of a DNA test because how it all depends how far back the DNA result goes right? Does it go back 2 generations, 5 generations, 10 generations? Because ultimately we're all 100% African. My parents -> parents -> parents -> parents -> parents -> parents -> parents -> parents -> etc etc were African, and so was everyone else's. I guess it's cool to think about though. I wonder if my lineage ever had someone of importance in it like an emperor, king, queen or even a pharaoh. That would be pretty cool.

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

It’s all explained when you access it on line

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Bantabury97@reddit

Can't remember the percentages but majority Scottish and English with a dash of Norwegian and Irish.

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

The Vikings!

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No_Direction_4566@reddit

Mine came back as 48% Swedish and 40% Welsh and assorted others. I live in Norfolk and haven’t ever lived out of east anglia so no idea what’s going on. Best bit - I can pass as Mediterranean as I have olive skin and dark hair and eyes..

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

Welsh are often dark

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Brief_Reserve1789@reddit

Your DNA results will come out via a zip file. In a leak, to a publicly available database along with your personal information as has already happened in this industry.

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

So ?

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heliskinki@reddit

I'm adopted and traced my birth mother. I wouldn't have been giving my DNA to a private enterprise for any other reason. Family trees are easy enough to work out via available records.

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

Yes but it’s ease of access and having it all in one place

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Rough_Code9943@reddit

It's a very yank thing to claim you're X% Y What is weird is how they can narrow it down to "South England" Who knew that those weirdos had a genetic defect? Explains a lot

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

Every part of the world has genetic markers that show up in our DNA because that’s were the most of the people with them come from originally. It’s fascinating how many traits are being discovered to have a genetic code that we can discover. The traits and physical characteristics were very true to me and my family.

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Tony_Blair_MP@reddit

What were you hoping for instead?

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

Something a bit more mixed ? My husband is Welsh, Norwegian, Scottish in that order. Neither of us were surprised.

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Zak_Rahman@reddit

I share 60% of my genes with bananas. And indeed, if I shed my skin and put it on the floor you will slip on me, and I go really well with ice-cream.

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

Lol

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Moogle-Mail@reddit

I don't understand why anyone bothers with the DNA sites. You are are literally selling your DNA and paying for the privilege of doing so.

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gregsScotchEggs@reddit

For the website to say: you’re English. Like, duh

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JameSdEke@reddit

Haven’t done it myself but some people are genuinely curious, don’t care about that and find the results interesting.

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nocreative@reddit

For some of us it's to prove that one of our parents lied about their affair.

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nick9000@reddit

Because it's interesting. I found a person in the USA quite closely connected to me.

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

I know, I have always been fascinated by history and I am happy to share and learn.

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schmerg-uk@reddit

Seems like a pretty expensive (both in cash and in terms of the data you're giving away) way to find out you're white...

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

But I might have been more interesting, and science is amazing

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Fungled@reddit

Plus places like 23andMe have proven to have a pretty “liberal”, shall we say, attitude to securing that data that you paid to give to them

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MomentoVivere88@reddit

55% Scottish with 2 region specific identifiers (1 showed where my Maternal Grandfathers mystery Dad was from) and 45% Irish with 1 region specific mark which makes a lot of sense. I used Ancestry 2 years ago. Back then was 2%Welsh, 51% Irish and 47% Scottish. Thinks change with more people doing it. I will say anything under 3% take with a pinch of salt. Remember genetic ethnicity is pot luck. I'm actually 25% English ancestry but didn't inherit any dna ethnicity from my Father on his paternal side.

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HoraceorDoris@reddit

Mine came out pretty much the same as yours, with 1% Scottish thrown in for good measure. I am quite swarthy and look Mediterranean but nope!

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WerewolfNo890@reddit

What would you expect, what is the point too? Giving my DNA to a massive corporation who will probably sell it or lose it also doesn't seem overly appealing.

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

I don’t mind that

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WerewolfNo890@reddit

Is everyone related to you also fine with it? Because you share a lot of DNA with them too.

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dvb70@reddit

What is the objection? One of the big things to come out of this is cold cases being solved by familial DNA. Is that a bad thing? There is also great medicinal potential from massive DNA databases. But hey maybe there is a valid objection argument I am not really considering?

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

My children are very interested

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Fungled@reddit

What were you hoping for, OP? I assume you know your rough family history, not much need to do a test to work that out. Or were you hoping for that 0.1% Wookie DNA (totally ignoring the margin of error) so you could feel special?

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dvb70@reddit

Some people do find out stuff they did not know. Often family stories of origins turn out to be incorrect like my partner thinking they had French and German ancestry but the only non UK stuff to show up was Nordic at quite a high percentage. Personally I think its interesting to get this glimpse into your families past and potentially find out stuff you never knew.

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JBEqualizer@reddit

>I assume you know your rough family history Lots of people won't have a clue about their family history. Anyone who was brought up with an absent father is going to be missing at least half of that information and many people who were brought up in foster care, or who were adopted at an early age won't know much, if anything about where their family is from. Just because you were born in a particular place doesn't mean that's where your family are from.

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Fungled@reddit

That can be true, yeah. But the chance that someone has hidden exotic genetic heritage is still grossly unlikely. It wasn’t until extremely recent history that most people had even the chance to travel much further than their neighbouring communities. So people find out that, yeah, their genetic heritage is their immediate national surroundings, and significant well known historical invasions. So UK is predictably the British nations, some Viking (particularly in the north) and some northern French in the south. Sprinkling of other north Western European nations. Why anyone would be surprised by this bemuses me

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

Lol no I was hoping for a bit more variety. It’s also positive proof that a certain person was the father of another!

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TMSQR@reddit

I have heterozygous LDLR gene mutation which causes familial hypercholesterolaemia. This is what led to my heart attack.

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yorkspirate@reddit

Not guilty your honour

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ExtensionJoke5541@reddit

50% Northern Wales, 50% Herdwick.

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skybluepink77@reddit

Baa!

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ExtensionJoke5541@reddit

Oh you tease.

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skybluepink77@reddit

;)

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another_online_idiot@reddit

I'm quite a mongrel mix. I am 57% England/NW Europe; 13% Germanic Europe; 13% Scotland; 9% Sweden/Denmark; 5% Wales and 3% Norway.

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SchizoMitzo@reddit

"mongrel" lol

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

That is interesting

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Bicolore@reddit

I wasn't the father.

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Independent_Range171@reddit

You saved a fortune

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Zachyybaby@reddit

Don’t worry about the “communities” results, it’s the matches where the fun lies.

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

Lots of fourth and fifth cousins

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Zachyybaby@reddit

Nobody else in your family done their DNA yet then? (Crosses fingers).

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

Lol

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TC_FPV@reddit

What is the other 2%?

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

Should be 96

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rammscot@reddit

I can’t remember exact figures but I think mine was 64% British and 36% Norwegian. Quite literally boring too as I knew my great grandfather was Norwegian but hoped there’d be something exciting. There was not.

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QueenieQueeferson@reddit

I was born in England. I'm 87% European (60% Irish, 21% Scandinavian, 6% Magyar), 11% Asian and 2% Middle Eastern.

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

That’s interesting

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MorningToast@reddit

I was born in Lesotho and I'm white, one of my parents is loosely English (2nd generation) and the other one was from the Netherlands, my nan was Ukrainian and one of my grandfathers was adopted and quite brown. I can't imagine what my results would look like 😄. My wife and I joke that it'll just come back 98% German. We made some absolutely beautiful children ❤️

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ofthenorth@reddit

Haven’t done my DNA, but have done my family tree and can reach back to 1600 or so, I am also English from Yorkshire, Shropshire and Northumberland. Zero things of interest. The only thing I found of any level of interest is that one of my descendants died in North Riding lunatic asylum.

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

No, one of your ancestors died in the lunatic asylum

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ofthenorth@reddit

Correct, unless I am a time lord.

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nicknockrr@reddit

I’m somehow 54% slug. I suspect it’s on my fathers side

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Omnissiah40K@reddit

The Swindon lot

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

😂

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MrTobleroneLover19@reddit

> it’s absolutely boring There's a 3 day course on making your DNA less boring, It's only £2000

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Odd_Jellyfish_1053@reddit

Saw a DNA test in a store other day cost under a tenner , saw this and thought it quite cheap then looked at it properly , said on box £99 lab fee to be paid so put it back pretty sure I have DNA but not spending ,£100 quid to find out what kind xx

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

Well I’ve answered all the questions about taste and looks etc. I do have the traits etc so it’s reassuring to know it’s accurate.

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SixtyN42@reddit

I'm 100% HIM-alayan

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FakeNathanDrake@reddit

57% Scottish, 35% Irish, 7% Welsh, 4% English/NW Europe. Broadly seems to tie in with what I've found by tracing things back other than the Welsh bit, not a clue where that comes in (so maybe someone was a mad shagger back in the day).

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BeardedBaldMan@reddit

I did it a few years ago and so it wasn't as specific as it is now, but it made it pretty clear my ancestors had spent pretty much forever on the Welsh border.

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Foundation_Wrong@reddit (OP)

I live in Wales and lived in Hereford.

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