My Origins results

[defcrow]

Hi

I'm a little confused with these results, and where my 19% of Southern European came from, as neither of my parents have this! The paper trail on my mothers side is English, apart from a probable French Huguenot in the early to mid 1700's. On my Father's side the paper trail is again English, apart from his maternal grandfather's line which is unknown. I presume he is probably Jewish, as my paternal grandmother's percentages show 37% Ashkenazi, and 12% Eastern European. Any advice or ideas welcome.

Mine

Scandinavia 35%
Western & central Europe 29%
Southern Europe 19%
British Isles 18%

Mothers

Western & Central Europe 68%
Scandinavian 26&
British Isles 6%

Fathers

Scandinavia 34%
Western & Central Europe 31%
British Isles 31%
Ashkenazi Diaspora 18%

Thanks

James

[1798]

Hi

I'm a little confused with these results, and where my 19% of Southern European came from, as neither of my parents have this! The paper trail on my mothers side is English, apart from a probable French Huguenot in the early to mid 1700's. On my Father's side the paper trail is again English, apart from his maternal grandfather's line which is unknown. I presume he is probably Jewish, as my paternal grandmother's percentages show 37% Ashkenazi, and 12% Eastern European. Any advice or ideas welcome.

Mine

Scandinavia 35%
Western & central Europe 29%
Southern Europe 19%
British Isles 18%

Mothers

Western & Central Europe 68%
Scandinavian 26&
British Isles 6%

Fathers

Scandinavia 34%
Western & Central Europe 31%
British Isles 31%
Ashkenazi Diaspora 18%

Thanks

James

Southern Europe

"The Southern Europe cluster is a distinct European cluster. It is situated in the southwest of Europe from Spain to Greece. Its people are a mix of the first hunter-gatherers to reach Europe and later migrations from Western Eurasia. There were two waves into the area: first the farmers of the Middle East and later the Roman Empire.

A long history of traveling merchants and seafarers shaped this group. The great empires of Rome and Greece brought it to distant lands. They also brought a second wave of Western Eurasian influence into the cluster. Its modern geography speaks to the history of those who moved, either willingly or in chains, under the Roman Empire. Because of this, the cluster’s signature is strongest in the western part of the Mediterranean. It is particularly strong on the isolated island of Sardinia. It reaches upwards to the British Islands, as well as east into modern Turkey.

They have the same genetic origin as those who reached north to what is now Sweden. While the culture survived there, the genetic signature was largely replaced by later migrations."

[josh w.]

Hi

I'm a little confused with these results, and where my 19% of Southern European came from, as neither of my parents have this! The paper trail on my mothers side is English, apart from a probable French Huguenot in the early to mid 1700's. On my Father's side the paper trail is again English, apart from his maternal grandfather's line which is unknown. I presume he is probably Jewish, as my paternal grandmother's percentages show 37% Ashkenazi, and 12% Eastern European. Any advice or ideas welcome.

Mine

Scandinavia 35%
Western & central Europe 29%
Southern Europe 19%
British Isles 18%

Mothers

Western & Central Europe 68%
Scandinavian 26&
British Isles 6%

Fathers

Scandinavia 34%
Western & Central Europe 31%
British Isles 31%
Ashkenazi Diaspora 18%

Thanks

James

Ashkenazis have a rather large Southern European component since that is the first region to which they migrated after leaving the Levant. It usually does not show up at My Origins but is present at Gedmatch tests such as Dodecad or Eurogenes (It may take some days to upload at Gedmatch). Sephardic Jews show a Southern European component at My Origins. Another possibility would be your French ancestors.

[defcrow]

Many thanks for the replies

James

[mixedkid]

French influence

I agree with Josh about the possible French influence in all of this. My mother comes up with a strong southern European influence on her FTDNA test results. Some of her British ancestors actually had French Huguenot ancestors themselves, and those in turn had both Italian and Spanish ancestors -- as well as French ancestors from the south of France (where Greek, Italian [Roman]and Basque DNA could come into play).