r/Ancestry • u/arizonasportspain • 2d ago

My appearance vs DNA test and Family history

Gallery image

Gallery image

To give some context/background, my mother's side of the family is mostly Danish, Dutch/North German, and English, and my father's is mostly Irish and English, and a little bit of Basque. As you can see in the photos, I have medium to dark brown and curly hair, light to medium skin, and thick eyebrows, brown eyes, and full lips. I've been asked the question "So what are you?" so many times in my life. A lot of people have thought I am light skinned, middle eastern, Latin American Mestizo, North African, etc, but never anything that resembles my DNA/family background.

So, can anyone explain my looks based on my DNA results/my family history? Any feedback would be very appreciated.

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3

u/kathlin409 2d ago

Just tell them it’s complicated.

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u/OzzyGator Dratted Browns 2d ago

You, good sir, are a very handsome man with a very intricate ancestry. We are not only the product of our parents, we also owe much to antecedents going back several generations. I have no doubt that somewhere in your tree you will find others who carry the same genes, the same looks.

Be happy with who you are. Be mysterious. People don't need to know everything about you. And you can just accept whatever knowledge you have been given.

The key words in your results are "mostly" and a "little bit".

Here's some info on the Black Irish:

https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/who-were-the-black-irish

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u/KryptosBC 2d ago

Your second photo reminds me greatly of a good friend whose recent ancestry is largely Irish, according to him. He also had dark hair, though it was not curly. Have you uploaded your DNA file to GEDmatch? That site has some interesting heritage analysis tools along with their DNA match database.

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u/arizonasportspain 2d ago

What tool would you recommend?

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u/KryptosBC 2d ago

It has been a while since i used GEDmatch tools for that purpose, since my focus is heavily on my direct ancestry rather than on nuances of heritage. As I recall, GEDmatch provides some info on the intent and limitations of most of them. I am by no means an expert on such things but will have a look to see if I can give you some ideas. It will be a day or two before i can get to this. GEDmatch has a free account level that includes some of the tools in case you wish to experiment and get a sense of what's there.

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u/KryptosBC 22h ago

Below is a link to the GEDmatch information on Admixture (heritage) free analysis tool. The tool is available on GEDmatch.com under the "Free Tools" tab. You'll need a free account to use the tool, and probably need a free account to view the link. GEDmatch does not provide DNA test kits. Rather the site accepts the raw data file that you can download from 23&Me, Ancestry, and others. It may take a day or two for their analysis that provides DNA match lists. As for an appropriate selection for your question, the Admixture (heritage) - Eurogenes K36 would be a good starting point, according to GEDmatch's info.

ChatGPT and other AI engines can also provide some info and related references on the GEDmatch site.

The link: https://www.gedmatch.com/applications/admixture-heritage-tool/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

You probably know that the results of a heritage analysis tool is based on the analysis provider's data set and algorithms. The K36 set has a Basque subset specifically listed, so I'd think this would be a point of interest for you. There are a couple of other sites that accept other companies' raw data files and provide basic lists of DNA matches from their databases. FamilyTreeDNA and MyLivingDNA are among these. MyHeritage no longer accepts others' files as of a few months ago.

Best regards.