My DNA Results Are In!
I received my Ancestry DNA results a few days ago. I have been doing genealogy for many years, but the DNA thing is still new to me. I am still figuring out which matches belong on my paternal side and which are from my maternal lines. As I mentioned in a previous post, I have had my mom, her mom, and 2 of my mom’s sisters tested.
As I predicted, there were no dramatic surprises in my DNA. My parents and grandparents are all still the people I grew up knowing. My DNA says that I am 40% Germanic Europe. The only surprise to me here was that the number wasn’t higher. Almost all of my ancestors are from Germany/Prussia/Poland on my mother’s side and on my father’s paternal side. My father’s mother, at least on paper, is 100% Norwegian. That is reflected in my 25% Norwegian DNA. There were also some minor percentages of DNA from the Baltics, the UK, and Russia/Eastern Europe. Again, no surprises in this mix.
The one area of my DNA that WAS a surprise was the 19% Swedish. My mother and her mother each have a tiny percentage of Swedish DNA, but clearly the larger percentage I have comes to me from my father’s side. As of yet, I have no close relatives that have tested on that side so I have no one to compare to. The region outlined in the Swedish geographic area on Ancestry does overlap a bit with Norway, so it’s possible that some of that DNA is from my grandmother on my father’s side. Even still, I am – at least by the numbers – genetically more Scandinavian than I am German.
I know that Ancestry regularly updates their regional DNA based on new testers, so I expect that result will vary in the future. For now, it is just another puzzle piece to add into the mix. I hope that my paper trail will eventually help me puzzle out some new ancestors and push the tree farther back on my paternal side.
P.S. – If you are a Kroening or a Thorson cousin and you have had your DNA done, let me know if you are showing any unexpected results!
WitzEnd Family History 