I've been looking forward to seeing the MyHeritage ethnicity results update for years now, and it finally came out a few days ago.
(The tools for working with DNA matches are much better at MyHeritage than at Ancestry. I really wish more people would test with them.)
As for my own update, I’d say it’s not particularly impressive for me, though it’s better for my mother and an aunt. Since I’m more ethnically mixed and farther removed from immigrant ancestors, my results tend to be less accurate than theirs.
In fact, my updated results are pretty close to earlier estimates from companies like Ancestry, FamilyTree DNA, and 23andMe. They still miss some of my grandfather’s ethnic contribution, which should account for about a quarter of my genes. He was of Austro-Hungarian ancestry, but I suspect the discrepancy is because most people testing with them are Western European. Additionally, I’m a quarter Hispanic, which isn’t as well represented either. Germanic and Eastern European should combine for around 25%, but instead they only add up to 12.7%. My Hispanic-related ethnicities should also total about 25%, but they’re listed as 16.5%. Still, the Hispanic predictions are better than the Austro-Hungarian ones representing my paternal grandfather.
My aunt’s updated ethnicity results are much more accurate. Her ancestry breaks down as 50% Austro-Hungarian, 25% Irish, 12.5% British Isles mix, and 12.5% French Canadian on paper. Her Irish percentage of 26.7% is spot on, considering her maternal grandmother was from Ireland. I figure 44.7% represents her Austro-Hungarian father—still a bit off from Rudolph Kapple’s genetic contribution but closer.
After adding up the numbers, I have to say the MyHeritage ethnicity update isn’t as bad as it initially seemed to me. If they had a larger database, which they should based on the quality of their product, the ethnicity results would be even more accurate.
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