I JUST TOOK A DNA TEST, TURNS OUT….
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- ATLANTA, GA
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A hundred %…..mixed up! Ha ha! I really just wanted to say that! But for real…I have been wanting to take a DNA test for a very long time and I finally did it! Before I get to the results let me just say that most of the women in my family have been really into researching our heritage since it’s a big mystery with so many missing pieces. In my younger years I was always a tiny bit jealous when someone could say, “I’m 100% Colombian” or even “I’m 50% Italian & 50% Puerto Rican.”
Simply because I thought it was such an easy answer for them. I always felt like i never fit in enough to any group. Whenever someone asked me what my heritage was the easiest answer was Spanish, French and Scotch-Irish. On my Dad’s side my heritage is Belgian-French and a little German. On my mother’s side is Spanish (Spain, Colombia & Panama) and Scottish-Irish. I grew up with the Spanish side and even speak Spanish but I’ve always wanted to learn more of my other heritages.
"Clarior hinc honos." or "Henceforth forward the honour shall grow ever brighter.
JavaScript is currently disabled in this browser. Reactivate it to view this content.my heritage dna was so much fun!
Having such a mixed background I finally decided to take my own DNA test. I chose to go with the MyHeritage DNA Test specifically because that is the website I use to build our family tree. While I was working on our tree I got some matches with several other people that had my great-grandmothers family and I made contact with several of them who had also done their DNA test. We all really wanted to see if we were a match.
60.4% ENGLISH, SCOTTISH, IRISH
This was definitely my most shocking result especially because the percentage was so high. When you click on English it also contains the smaller groups including Scottish and Irish. I knew my ancestors were from Loch Lomond, Scotland…..specifically Clan Buchanan. Buchanan is actually my Mother’s maiden name. This piece of my ancestry is from my mother’s father’s side. Their ancestors come from the Scottish Highlands and being a huge Outlander fan I’m proud to have Scottish roots. I’m also extremely anxious to learn more about my Scottish heritage!
I’ve always felt a connection to that region of the world so Scotland and Ireland are top ranking in my travel bucket list. I also totally believe in feeling connections to the past and to certain places and now I know why. I also recently joined Clan Buchanan as an official member. In case you didn’t know most Scottish clans are still in existence and a lot of them have clan sites. You can actually join your clan and attend Scottish events and Highland games with your fellow clan members! I’m really looking forward to exploring this part of my culture now! I guess I need to invest in an actual Clan Buchanan Tartan now….CLAR INNES!
20.3% NORTH AND WESTERN EUROPEAN
This I already knew. If you click on it….the map shows France, Belgium, Germany, etc. My heritage on my Dad’s side is Belgian-French from a town that is right on the border of France and Belgium in what it now Luxembourg. This is where I get my French maiden name from. Although I wish the site broke it down a little bit more because its such a broad region.
Still to be quite honest, I didn’t expect such a high percentage from this region. I do also plan on still doing Ancestry.com as well just to compare the two because I believe Ancestry.com breaks the regions down even further. One thing I also love about the MyHeritage site is that I have built my family tree over the last few years. I was able to trace my paternal lineage back to the 1600’s to some of the original “LaFontaine’s”. My LaFontaine ancestors came from Rulles, Luxembourg, Belgium and Étalle, Arrondissement de Virton, Luxembourg, Belgium. I was able to find out they went from Belgium/Luxembourg to Quebec, Canada then to Belgium and France before migrating back to the United States.
12.8% IBERIAN & 6.5% CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
These last two is I knew as well but I thought the percentage would be slightly higher. On my mom’s maternal side we are the second generation in the United States. My grandma came here in the 1940’s from Panama and her mother from Colombia but with mostly European descent from Spain. The craziest part about this test is that My Spanish/Latin American is the smallest ethnicity. This is the culture I felt closest to growing up as I was immersed in a spanish-speaking household my entire young adult life. I still embrace this part of my culture wholeheartedly though!
why i chose my heritage dna
When I picked my DNA test I chose MyHeritage DNA because I’ve been using that site for a few years already now and results are quicker. With other DNA test sites its about 6-8 weeks and MyHeritage will have your results ready in about 3-4 weeks. I actually received my test the last week of October, sent it back in on November 3rd and received my results November 29th! I can’t promise yours will be that quick but it was a lot faster than I expected! The test process was also very easy. Just follow the instructions for the mouth swab as directed, put them in the liquid and break the swap tips off. Seal the vials and send them back in and just wait for your results!
I do plan to eventually try the Ancestry DNA test as well simply because the majority of my family did theirs and they used ancestry so I want to cross reference and see how we match up. I would also like to see how those results compare to the MyHeritage results. All in all I’m extremely happy I did this test…..shocked but more than satisfied and I 100% recommend taking one yourself or give one as a gift to someone! DNA tests make a great gift as they really give you a fun insight into the past!
JavaScript is currently disabled in this browser. Reactivate it to view this content.Outfit details
Of course I have to also give you the outfit deets as usual. Doesn’t my outfit have a bit of a scottish feel? I also love this cute pom pom beret hat which is also similar to the Scottish pom pom hats! Plus you can’t go wrong with plaid/tartan around Christmas time anyway! This cute tartan mini is from Express and pairs perfectly with heels or OTK Boots. I’m wearing size 00 for reference and it fits perfect!
Want to read more Genealogy related posts? Check out Heart of the Family!
Erica
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It sounds so interresting! And your skirt suits very well to the topic! Have a great Sunday!
Thank you Nancy!
My dad has done a lot of reseach into our ancestry and this might be a fun gift for him!
http://www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com
yes I love it! I’m sure you Dad would love something like this if he’s into genealogy!
so cool! My bf and I did this with our friends last year and it was so cool to see the results!
First, I have to say how stinking adorable your outfit is! I love the green plaid skirt and your dotty tights. Second, aren’t DNA results the most fascinating things? I recently did DNA testing through 23 and Me and while I knew that I was mostly Northern European (like 98.5% or something like that), there were some tiny little bits and pieces that surprised me. For example, I have found that my DNA is very closely related to the Ashkenazi Jews who were a nomadic Jewish tribe in Northern Europe. I never identified as Jewish, but I very well may have Jewish genes. Which I found to be really kind of cool. There was even a tiny bit (a fraction of a percent) that was tracing to Asia. Very interesting indeed. Thanks so much for sharing your results and for linking up with me and Monica at Your Own Twist. Wishing you all the best in 2020!
Shelbee
http://www.shelbeeontheedge.com
I’ve always wanted to do one of these!!!
This is all very interesting, Erica! Your outfit is really cute. I love the whole look on you. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Joyce!!!!!!!!!
Remember that DNA ethnicities are just estimates. My DNA results match my paper trail fairly well. However, my husband has many German ancestors with many DNA matches to support the paper trail. However, his latest DNA estimates say ZERO Germanic Europe!
Yes I totally agree……My paper trail matches everything except the english part because my ancestors were from scotland…..but then i found out that the DNA is almost identical and they also intermixed as well in that area plus the tests only show “scottish/irish” when they detect “ancient celt” dna markers but scotland was not just celts ……so I know these are really just estimates I go more by the paper trail too 🙂