Wednesday, September 12, 2018

New AncestryDNA Ethnicity Results/ Iberian Problem Bites Again

The new AncestryDNA results are a mixed bag. My cousin Darryl Kapple's results have improved. I stated in previous post that his AncestryDNA estimate completely missed the DNA he would have received from his Irish great-grandmother Helen Mullen, who was born in Ireland. He had no Irish admixture, whereas I did plus I was placed in the Connacht specific group. He now has 17% Irish/Scots Irish.


Playing Musical Iberian
Where do we sit now? 

The new estimate for my mother and I is less accurate, as far as the Iberian prediction. My mother's mother Graciela Del Castillo was Nicaraguan, and was likely more than half Spanish when you figure in 13% Native American and 4% African that my mother has, and what her remaining admixture percentage would be. She was also part German, but that percentage is unknown to me since I have not identified a German ancestor so far? According what I'm seeing looking at her DNA matches I would guess she would have been at least 60% Spanish. The surnames associated with her family are Lugo, Alvarado, Lacayo, and Granizo. Previously my mother was 11% Iberian at Ancestry. She also had Italian admixture which is completely gone. Now she is 2% Spanish, and 2% Portuguese, 1% Basque. She's lost 6% of her Iberian. 

My mother would have received 50% of her DNA from her mother so does it add up? Adding up what I see to be the Nicaraguan admixture, which is Native American, Iberian, and African, I get 22%. So where is the rest? Previously she was given 12% Italian, and 11% Iberian, which seemed to related to her mother's side. The Italian is gone completely. I do see 5%, which would be Iberian, remaining. 

Where is the missing 28%? I'm guessing it's primarily now gone over to French? She had no French before. The remainder may be in Northwest Europe representing a German great-great grandparent? My mother's father was mainly Scots-Irish and German. The 10% Ireland and Scotland would seem a little bit low too. 


It seems like the more mixed a person is ethnically the harder it is to get an accurate estimate.