Real basic question re HVR1 matches

[Dicamptodon69]

I looked but did not find what I was seeking.

So my wife did hers and a list of countries, matches, match totals & percentages came back. Does this represent matches at some level to her based on present populations as I assume or does it tell her anything about ancestral roots?

In another report it indicates origins being 97% European and 3% Sephardic Jewish. Ethnic makeup does at least break the European down to %ages in British Isles, West, East & Southern Europe.

I guess it is the 2nd group of data that points to wearing the leiderhosen and all that good stuff, yes? Thanks for any help. Mike

[dna]

[----] Does this represent matches at some level to her based on present populations as I assume or does it tell her anything about ancestral roots [----]

Neither.

It just tells her (and you ) where her matches think they came from.

Are you sure that it was the HVR1 test? FTDNA for quite some time sells only the HVR1&HVR1 test (mtDNA Plus), and the mtDNA full sequence test (mtFull Sequence).


Mr. W.

[Jim Barrett]

Are you sure that it was the HVR1 test? FTDNA for quite some time sells only the HVR1&HVR1 test (mtDNA Plus), and the mtDNA full sequence test (mtFull Sequence). Mr. W.

I assume you meant HVR1&HVR2 test (mtDNA Plus).

[dna]

Thank you. Yes, I meant HVR1&HVR2. Unfortunately, it is too late to edit my post.


Mr. W.

[KATM]

I looked but did not find what I was seeking.

So my wife did hers and a list of countries, matches, match totals & percentages came back. Does this represent matches at some level to her based on present populations as I assume or does it tell her anything about ancestral roots?

In another report it indicates origins being 97% European and 3% Sephardic Jewish. Ethnic makeup does at least break the European down to %ages in British Isles, West, East & Southern Europe.

I guess it is the 2nd group of data that points to wearing the leiderhosen and all that good stuff, yes? Thanks for any help. Mike

For your wife's mtDNA test, see FTDNA's Learning Center pages to explain what the mtDNA results and pages show in her account:

• Maternal Lineage Tests - this is an overview; on this page, under the heading "Accessing Your mtDNA Information," are links to pages explaining the different sections.
• For example, "Ancestral Origins" in that list goes to the "mtDNA – Ancestral Origins Page," which explains the "list of countries, matches, match totals & percentages" you see. For "Country," the explanation is: "This is the maternal country of origin as reported by the individual customer." So "country of origin" is not something FTDNA can deduce from the mtDNA, but rather is whatever the match believes is the country of origin for the earliest known maternal line ancestor that they have been able to find.

When you refer to "in another report," it seems that your wife has already taken the Family Finder test, or one similar to it at another company (Ancestry, 23andMe, etc.) to get the ethnicity estimate . Those types of tests are using autosomal DNA (atDNA). For ethnicity estimates, the companies use reference populations from various places, and try to match your DNA to them.

This is different than mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which is less useful for genealogy purposes, although it can be used for specific situations.

[Dicamptodon69]

Thanks

To you both. I will peruse the learning center, nice to know where to begin. She has almost no interest in this so I do the looking. Have had mine done further in the Haplogroup i-38 group which beyond saying some of our dna was located in the Lichtenstein Cave in Germany goes way over my head rather quickly. My reference to the dancing Leiderhosen fellow was merely a jest. Have read several people have sent their dna in to a variety of groups and gotten rather different results back as to origins. I'll keep looking for my lost Neanderthal cousin...

So a quick look at how to read the results says she should have a column 'your matches'. This is not present in her report, just the other 4 columns. Wonder what I am missing here?

[KATM]

So a quick look at how to read the results says she should have a column 'your matches'. This is not present in her report, just the other 4 columns. Wonder what I am missing here?

It looks like FTDNA needs to update the "mtDNA – Ancestral Origins Page." I don't recall what the "Your Matches" column may have contained in the past, but I don't see it either in Ancestral Origins currently.