Question of the Day - Thursday January 18, 2024

[MonaLyssa33]

Do you know you know where your ancestors were originally from? If so, where?

I haven't taken any DNA tests but my parents and brother have. I know for a fact that my great, great grandparents were from Norway and Sweden on my mom's side. My last name is German so I have German ancestry on my dad's side. Norwegian, Swedish and German are the primary three, but there are some other countries that aren't as dominant.

 

[Willowy]

My brother has done several DNA tests, and they all say slightly different things, lol. But mostly British Isles, a little German, some random stuff thrown in (Morocco?!?). One thing they all agree on is that we have no Scandinavian heritage.

Before the DNA tests I never knew what the "old country" was for any of my ancestors though, we don't have any family cultural practices or lore.

 

[vansX2]

My Paternal side is English and German. My Maternal side is Luxembourg German and Wurrtenberg German.

 

[susanm9006]

My ancestry is pretty mixed. I have done Ancestry DNA and have been working on my family tree for many years. On my mom’s side, her parents immigrated from Sicily in the mid 1920’s. On my dad’s side I have ancestors who came over on the Mayflower, others who were early settlers from Germany, Scotland and Norway, plus African former slaves and Native Americans

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I’ve not done any DNA tests either.

3 of my grandparents were first generation American. Their parents came from Italy and Poland. My Polish grandmother was about 1/4 Greek (maybe less, I’m not sure

My other grandparent was a 2nd generation American. His grandparents were German but lived in Russia. It sounds like in a German settlement or something.

I have found what towns in Italy my great-grandparents were born. I know what city my greatgrandma was employed in as a maid in Poland. I’m not sure if that was where her family was though.

I wish I could know more. So many questions could have been answered easily a couple decades ago. When my mom was in school she did a long, in-depth interview and project about one of her grandparents and the teacher threw it away instead of returning it when she was finished grading it! My grandma was still livid decades later!

 

[vansX2]

I’ve not done any DNA tests either.

3 of my grandparents were first generation American. Their parents came from Italy and Poland. My Polish grandmother was about 1/4 Greek (maybe less, I’m not sure

My other grandparent was a 2nd generation American. His grandparents were German but lived in Russia. It sounds like in a German settlement or something.

I have found what towns in Italy my great-grandparents were born. I know what city my greatgrandma was employed in as a maid in Poland. I’m not sure if that was where her family was though.

I wish I could know more. So many questions could have been answered easily a couple decades ago. When my mom was in school she did a long, in-depth interview and project about one of her grandparents and the teacher threw it away instead of returning it when she was finished grading it! My grandma was still livid decades later!

I know the solution on how to find those answers. I found out so many answers by joining Ancestry. I'm still uncovering relatives generations back.

 

[denice]

I haven't taken any of the DNA tests. I know there is German, Norwegian and Irish in the mix. There is supposed to be some Cherokee in the mix but I am originally from Kansas and everyone in that part of the country believes there is Cherokee in the background. I did have someone at work ask me if I had Cherokee in my background. He was Cherokee, he had family members on ancestral lands in North Carolina. He said I looked like his grandmother so maybe there is Cherokee in the mix.

 

[misty8723]

I have done DNA testing with Ancestry and 23 and Me. I mainly did it looking for a potential half brother (long story) or any other potential half siblings. But I haven't found any. The DNA tests confirmed much of what I already knew, Maternal predominately France and Paternal predominantely England & NW Europe (Germany). I have traced my ancestry back quite a ways, its a fun hobby, Ive been working on it since the 1970s. Much easier these days with the internet.

 

[Jem]

My paternal Grandfather's side is Scottish.
My paternal Grandmother's side is Scottish and French.
My maternal Grandfather's side is Irish with a touch of English.
My maternal Grandmother's side is French.

But here's the cool stuff...and I'm not saying it's all GOOD...but it's still cool.
On the paternal gf Scott side...we have pirates in our ancestry
On the paternal gm Scott side...we have nobility and even have a family tartan/crest
On the paternal gf Irish side...we have travelers (gypsies) and highway/train robbers. Some who were caught were shipped off to Australia.
On the maternal gm side...it was my ancestors that "founded" or "built up" one of the parts of town where I grew up. It is also on that side that I am related to the Dionne quintuplets.
Something that has not been verified is that we also have African in our blood line.
I've wanted to research further into the piracy, African and Gypsy lines, but just haven't had the time to do so.

 

[nurseangel]

Normandy, France, but they migrated to England. I know my mom's relatives are American Indian, but I didn't have a trace in my DNA. My aunt bought me the Ancestry test for Christmas. It did show a small amount of African American and my BFF said, "Welcome to the family!"

My brother's DNA is all or almost all European. I learned this isn't uncommon in siblings.

 

[Winchester]

My maternal ancestors came to the United States on the Royal Judith from Germany to England to the US in the 1700s. I have an Ancestry book compiled of everybody from the Royal Judith down to our son. It's fascinating. My paternal ancestors were also from Germany. My great-grandfather supposedly married a Cherokee woman, so we have a bit of Native American there as well.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I know the solution on how to find those answers. I found out so many answers by joining Ancestry. I'm still uncovering relatives generations back.

That’s where I found the town names in Italy. I do know my great-grandmother’s entry is wrong and it’s missing a sibling. Someday I’ll have the time to justify the expense.

 

[margecat]

I've taken a few DNA tests. I'm a wide mix of backgrounds. I'm mostly German, Swedish, Polish, Ukrainian and Russian,English, but there's a mix of small amounts of Italian, Spanish, Mexican, Peruvian, Colombian, Chinese, Japanese, Indian (India), Vietnamese, Mongolian. The funny thing is, on one test, I'm 5% Indian, but only 4.9% English. My Mom was from England. However, the British Army often had native mistresses while in India, so the Indian makes sense, but only 4.9% English????

 

[Mia6]

Lithuania
Yugoslavia
Germany
England

never had a DNA

 

[kashmir64]

Paternal is German and English
Maternal is Native American
However...all Homo Sapiens Sapiens came from Africa and evolved from there. So there's that.

 

[Lari]

I have done a DNA test which insists we have some Scandinavian that we can't figure out. It didn't seem like there was enough south eastern Europe either.

I know I do have Slovak, Croatian, and some Irish in me. Other things are up in the air (there's a debate on German vs Polish because of changing borders, for example).

Before DNA testing someone on my paternal grandma's side of the family traced a line all the way back to the mid 1700s when an Italian dude immigrated to Croatia. I thought it was the coolest thing.

 

[maggiedemi]

Germany and Canada. My last name is German with Americanized spelling.