Ancestral Origins Question

[SEREGA784]

I recently tested with FTDNA, but when I look at Ancestral Origins the countries that are listed there are not even close to my known ancestry of past one or so hundred years. I at least expected of countries nearby, but most of them are not. How is it possible.

And my second question is how or where do you get percentages of which cultures your ancestry is from.

Thank you

[GST]

You might need to provide more specific information on your results to get a helpful answer to ypurquestion - including the location you expected, the matches you found, and your haplopgroup. Not very many people have been tested in some areas so that could cause a statistical bias in the results of your matches.

[Elistariel]

Here's a very simplified answer.

1.) More than just you and your immediate family carries your particular mtDNA. 2.) People move, this includes our ancestors and their many decendants.
3.) Some members will invariably post wrong, either posting themselves or dare I say it the location of a paternal ancestor.

[Jim Barrett]

The results from which test(s)? If it was Y-DNA "Ancestral Origins" is looking at 1,000's of years ago. If it was mtDNA "Ancestral Origins" is looking at 10's of 1,000's of years ago.

[lgmayka]

First, most of FTDNA's tests only examine one particular lineage, not your entire ancestry. This is actually a benefit, because it means that FTDNA's results are of potential use for genealogical purposes, and apply to specific humans, not a vague collective.

In particular, yDNA tests investigate your patrilineage--your father's father's father[...], all the way back to Noah. mtDNA tests investigate your matrilineage--your mother's mother's mother[...], all the way back to Eve.

Second, FTDNA offers various levels of resolution. In general, if you want to be sure that your matches are related to you within a genealogical timeframe (the last 500 years), you need to test the full 67 markers for yDNA, or the full mitochondrial sequence for mtDNA.

Nevertheless, lesser tests can yield interesting and useful information, at least in some cases. Have you created a Ysearch or MitoSearch entry for your results, so that you can point to them easily and we can comment on them?

[rucksack]

Ancestral Origins at FTDNA will bring you to RAO or "Recent Ancestral Origins".

This has nothing to do with ancient Y or mtDNA.

This is self reported ancestry by FTDNA customers.

Here is what the Y pages say:

Recent Ancestral Origins

Welcome to the RECENT ANCESTRAL ORIGINS (RAO) database. This section displays the countries of origin reported by the people whom you match or nearly match from both our research and customer databases. Your list of matches represents the range of places in which relatives of your ancestors lived. Exact matches show people who are the closest to you genetically. Some matches, especially the more distant mismatches, are related to you before the time of surnames.

The chart displays:

* Each country from which you have matches
* The number of people you match for each country and comment combination
* Any additional information your matches provided about their origins
* The total number of people you match from that country
* The total number of people who have reported this as their country of origin
* The percent of the people we have tested from this country who match you.

Please note if the number of people reporting a particular country is too small, no percentage will be calculated and N/A will appear instead.

* Percentages above 2% are considered significant indicators of your family

The mtDNA has this:

mtDNA Recent Ancestral Origins

Welcome to the mtDNA ANCESTRAL ORIGINS database! This section displays the countries of origin reported by the people whom you match from both our research and customer databases. Your list of matches represents the range of places in which relatives of your ancestors may have lived. Current scientific research considers differences in positions 309 and 315 in the HVR2 region to be genealogically insignificant, so they are ignored in High Resolution and Full Sequence match comparisons.

For information purposes, the Recent Ancestral Origins search also displays results that are matches from both the research database and Family Tree DNA customers. Entries from the research database typically include only base pairs 16001 to 16400, while our tests include the full spectrum of HVR-1 which is 16001 to 16569, so both near and exact matches are listed below.

The chart displays:

* Each country from which you have matches
* The number of people you match for each country and comment combination
* Any additional information your matches provided about their origins
* The total number of people you match from that country
* The total number of people who have reported this as their country of origin
* The percent of the people we have tested from this country who match you

How to read this chart:

The following is an example of how to correctly interpret your matches below:

You match 2 person out of 6,214 people from England, this is < 0.1% of the population tested from England.

[SEREGA784]

here is my id 4RY4G or R1a and H. and I expected some of matched results to be at least eastern european, but most are not even close, because as long as i know all my family was from only two countries (russia or belarus) . thank you.

[rucksack]

^ I strongly suggest that you join this project:

http://www.familytreedna.com/public/R1aY-Haplogroup/default.aspx

The "closest" are in Russia and Finland. But not very close.

[nikkicivetti]

Ancestral origins reply

As we go back from generation to generation, you may be surprised at the movement your ancestors made from region to region. After all, we all have African genes from our paternal/maternal Adam and Eve, as well as Middle Eastern for the movement through there. I am of fourth generation Italian ancestry and probably longer, but I was not surprised to see possible connections to Spain, France, Scandinavia, and Germany. Even the Viking connection didnt surprise me. Remember that most of our Great Great Great Grandmother's either married or partook in a quick meeting with the Barbarians, Visigoths, Huns, Mongols, etc etc who sacked the European, African, and other coasts.

[SEREGA784]

No one answered my second question.

And my second question is how or where do you get percentages of which cultures your ancestry is from.

can it be done with ftdna results.

[darroll]

That's one reason that you should pay the $15.00 to the
National Geographic.

[SEREGA784]

That's one reason that you should pay the $15.00 to the
National Geographic.

already did that

[PDHOTLEN]

RE my ncestral rigins charts

I don't think my ancestral origins charts are updated very often. My Y-DNA chart hasn't budged for ages. As for my mtDNA chart, it hasn't been updated for HVR1+HVR2 lately. I have two FTDNA matches, but that chart only shows one. (I have two more at SMGF).

My R1a1 chart looks more or less like I would expect. But the HVR1 chart (female) has matches scattered over a wide area in Europe. But that includes databases that don't show my 16519C mutation.

[rucksack]

They really are updated each and every day.

If you have a haplotype that is more rare, they just don't show up as often, because they are rare.

If you had a mtDNA result of H* or a Y-DNA result that is W.A.M.H. you'd get new results almost every day, and at least once a week.

[PDHOTLEN]

They really are updated each and every day.

If you have a haplotype that is more rare, they just don't show up as often, because they are rare.

If you had a mtDNA result of H* or a Y-DNA result that is W.A.M.H. you'd get new results almost every day, and at least once a week.

Thanks for the reassuring words!