Ancestry updates ethnicity estimates

[peter]

Today AncestryDNA launched its largest update to date which will match its DNA customers to more than 3,000 places and populations around the world. The breadth of this update now gives every AncestryDNA user around the world the opportunity to rediscover their results—this time with increased precision and a more detailed understanding of the DNA that makes each of us unique.

In support of this increased specificity, AncestryDNA has enhanced the experience to make it easier for you to gain deeper insights, explore the places you’re from, and better understand your results, including the following updated terminology:

• Ancestral regions: the percentages outlined in what was formerly known as your “Ethnicity Estimate” will now be called “ancestral regions.” These features show places your ancestors likely lived roughly 1,000 years ago.
• Ancestral journeys: customers will now see “ancestral journeys”—formerly known as “Communities”—in their results. This feature shows where your relatives likely lived and moved in the past 300 years.
• Subregions: subregions provide added granularity to users’ results with smaller, more specific areas within a region. We’re proud to announce 54 new subregions in Europe as part of this year’s update.
• Ethnic groups: “ethnic groups” reflect communities of people who share common cultural characteristics, such as language, religion, customs, traditions, and often national origin.

With more individuals incorporated into our ancestral regions reference panels and improved DNA science, AncestryDNA is proud to offer 24 new ancestral regions across Europe (5), West Asia (3), South & South East Asia (8), and Africa (8). Accounting for 5 retired regions, this update expands our total regions from 88 to 107 to provide more specificity for our customers.

You can learn more about the update and enhanced user experience HERE.

Note: the update shows as July 2024

 

[canadianbeth]

I discovered this yesterday. All the DNA matches I have to date are in or from England, back at least three centuries.

Out of curiosity, I looked to see how numbers have changed since I began keeping track in 2021. Irish has gone from 2% to 0% twice and is now 3%. Scotland went from 25% to 21% and is now 14%. The Scandinavian countries in total were 12, 8, and 17. Now I just have Denmark at 7% and Netherlands at 3%. I read the comments about how Scotland and Denmark are there.

The 3% for the Netherlands are listed as Maternal; however, when I click on the 1 story, the names given are Paternal.
Ireland is all 3% Paternal but matches' Journeys are all Maternal.

Under Ancestral regions I have 7% Denmark; my niece has 0, and my nephew's daughter has 0.

 

[peter]

This is the comparison that Ancestry provide between this set of figures and my previous estimates:


The chart below shows my brother's figures - quite different from mine, but that's because we didn't inherit equals amounts of DNA from our grandparents:

 

[canadianbeth]

I have three marked as "New" - Denmark, the Netherlands, and the Channel Islands, (part of the 73% England). Three people listed in that subset - my niece J, my nephew's daughter H, and an unknown with the same cousinship possibility as the nephew's daughter. Both J and H are both sides; the unknown is paternal.

 

[JimP]

Like Peter, My England & Northwestern Europe had 3% split off as Cornwall. My 4% Sweden was split 50-50 between Sweden and Denmark, and my 3% Norway was split into 0% Norway 1% Iceland.
My 16% Scotland dropped to 3%; Germanic Europe and France appeared for the first time at 11% and 7%, and there were small reductions in Wales and Ireland. My Welsh had new subgroups: Northern Wales and Western Wales.

Cornwall is a bit unexpected: my only documented Cornish ancestor is 8th-great-grandfather Abraham Spiller, who arrived in Maine sometime before 1674; but he is on the "wrong" side according to Ancestry's parental breakdown.

The French as well is a bit of a mystery, again with the only French ancestors being Henry Jaques and (possibly) Edward Bumpus (sometimes referred to as Edouard Bompasse) both Great Migration immigrants.

Everything else, however, is roughly in line with expectations, and the Northern Wales subgroup does give me hope that, despite a misspelling of a Welsh place in the census, my hunch that an ancestor moved from Carnavon to Haverfordwest may be correct and bears further research.