Interpreting 23andme ancestry composition

[Nordstrom]

31% French & German with no specific locations identified?

Are there any implications for this in terms of recent relatives? This person has one parent of Western Asian origin (which is accounted for and very specific in the composition report) and another parent who was British (report says 20% British).

Any help much appreciated!

Bumping this should anyone have any insights?

I don't understand your question, but:

23 and me and the other ancestry DNA are looking at general populations, they do not sequence your DNA they look for markers or not markers, Myles Power does a really good explanation

The 'country' markers don't really exist. EG the Alsace region has been French and German and changed hands a few times. Yugoslavia doesn't exist anymore it can only tell you if you have genes in common with people from that area,

Most of Northern Europe is fairly mixed white, there are some genes that appear to be linked to a certain area, this is why the test can show if you have Viking ancestors, if you have a gene that only appears in Scandinavia and a few other places which were inhabited by Vikings you can assume you have a Viking ancestor.

Similarly if you have a gene that is common in Indigenous Americans, and in some cases a particular tribe but virtually unknown of outside that population then you probably have that ancestry,

White people in the US / Australia / South Africa / NZ will get results linking them to Europe

Whilst it's a nice thing to find out it is only going to give you a general idea.

Thanks for your detailed response.

To clarify my question - could 31% mean there may have been a French/German relative within reasonably recent generations from across those regions, or is likely to reflect historical invasions/migration to Britain?

Is the 23andme ancestry timeline any help? It usually shows a selection of regions along with how many generations ago (up to about 8 generations I think) your last ancestor from each place lived. But if a group of not very exogamous people all migrated at the same sort of time and it can show as being one recent ancestor from that region rather than several who actually left hundreds of years ago.

You can download the raw data and upload it to other sites such as MyHeritage (£35 ish?) or familytreedna or, for free, gedmatch and compare the regions. They all map it slightly differently and have different databases. Family names are usually quite revealing too, see if the paper trail matches the dna results. Might end up with more questions than answers though!

So you are saying the result came back 50% West Asian, which you'd expect, because one parent is Asian. Then the other 50% is a mix of English at 20% and French/German at 30%.

To clarify my question - could 31% mean there may have been a French/German relative within reasonably recent generations from across those regions, or is likely to reflect historical invasions/migration to Britain?

It is possible that one grandparent is the French/German connection accounting for the whole 30%.

Have you gone back using birth and marriage certificates? Does this conflict with the DNA suggestions?

Thanks @Ylfa , I will have a look at those things.

@WinterIsGone

So you are saying the result came back 50% West Asian, which you'd expect, because one parent is Asian. Then the other 50% is a mix of English at 20% and French/German at 30%.

To clarify my question - could 31% mean there may have been a French/German relative within reasonably recent generations from across those regions, or is likely to reflect historical invasions/migration to Britain?

It is possible that one grandparent is the French/German connection accounting for the whole 30%.

Have you gone back using birth and marriage certificates? Does this conflict with the DNA suggestions?

@WinterIsGone yes you've got it right. Afaik both grandparents on the British side were just that...

However we had only ever met one of them as the other died before our time.

30% is more likely a greatgrandparent not a grandparent. 23andme tells you more. In my case I had 25% of something not expected and it said it was like a great grandparent or great great grandparent who was born around 1870. But don’t get too hung up on this, as pp have said borders in Europe have changed a lot in the last 200 years. Half of Europe was Austria-Hungary 100 years ago!

You also have to bear in mind that the analysis varies depending on which company you are using, and can be quite different. I am >30% Jewish on one site, and 25% on another. This all comes from my Jewish grandmother.

The best thing to do is to trace the family tree, as it might be the F/G comes from much further back.

You also have to bear in mind that the analysis varies depending on which company you are using, and can be quite different.

This ^

There is a youtube film of a Canadian TV presenter and her identical twin sister doing a DNA test, they get slightly different results (should be identical) but putting in extra details gave a clearer picture.

Another thought on the French / German is the channel Islands, they are British but descended from Norman French, as are many in England.

I agree with prior posters, the British parent is likely half German/French and half British ethnicity. So probably got a bit of the French/German from both their parents (the grandparents) as you’ve said historically their parents were both British. This can go for many generations,,,,ie a half French and half British person has a child with another half French and half British person, the resultant child while second generation born in Britain is still half French DNA wise just like his/her parents. Say this child then meets a half British and half German person, and the resultant child is half British and half French/German despite being 3rd generation born in Britain....

There were a lot of refugees in WWI and WWII that came and settled in the U.K. and then had children who then grew up British but having 100% DNA of French/Germans. Many orphans too who were adopted by British families back in the day when adoption was often kept a family secret.