How can I determine all of my nationalities?

Question

Hi. My mother is completely pure 100% Polish. My father...I honestly have no idea. How can I determine his nationalities and geneology to help find my own family tree?

Answer 1

Try the following:

You should start by asking all your living relatives about family history.  Then, armed with that information, you can go to your public library and check to see if it has a genealogy department.  Most do nowadays; also, don't forget to check at community colleges, universities, etc.  Our public library has both www.ancestry.com and www.heritagequest.com free for anyone to use (no library card required).

Another place to check out is any of the Mormon's Family History Centers.  They allow people to search for their family history (and, NO, they don't try to convert you).

A third option is one of the following websites:

http://www.searchforancestors.com/...

http://www.censusrecords.net/?o_xid=2739...

http://www.usgenweb.com/

http://www.census.gov/

http://www.rootsweb.com/

http://www.ukgenweb.com/

http://www.archives.gov/

http://www.familysearch.org/

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/...

http://www.cyndislist.com/

http://www.geni.com/

Cyndi's has the most links to genealogy websites, whether ship's passenger lists, ancestors from Africa, ancestors from the Philippines, where ever and whatever.

Of course, you may be successful by googling: "john doe, born 1620, plimouth, massachusetts" as an example.

Good luck and have fun!

Check out this article on five great free genealogy websites:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article...

Then there is the DNA test; if you decide you want to REALLY know where your ancestors came from opt for the DNA test. Besides all the mistakes that officials commonly make, from 10% to 20% of birth certificates list the father wrong; that is, mama was doing the hanky-panky and someone else was the REAL father. That won't show up on the internet or in books; it WILL show up in DNA.

I used www.familytreedna.com which works with the National Geographics Genotype Program.

But, remember, there is no such thing as "100% pure". ALL people are mixed. In his book, "Mapping Human History: Discovering the Past Through Our Genes" Mr. Steve Olson makes the claim that EVERYONE ALIVE ON EARTH TODAY is descended from Nefertiti (an Egyptian), Confucius (a Chinese) and Julius Caesar (an Italian, but formerly called Rome).

Answer 2

Do you know who your father is?  Provide more details.

Answer 3

your nationality is the country

YOU were born in

not your parents

Answer 4

well if i was you i would try to do a genealogy try to figure out the origin of your fathers last name and that would really help

Answer 5

See Edit below.                                                                                                                            

Your nationality is the country of which you are a citizen and absolutely nothing else.  The only way you would have more than one is if you have dual citizenship.

Nationality is not the same thing as race, ethnicity or ancestral heritage.

The only way to know your ancestral heritage is to trace it starting with yourself and working back one generation at a time.  Anytime you wish to do this, there are lots of good people on this board that can give you some great tips and advice.

There are DNA tests but they will not tell you all of your origins.  

Y DNA is passed from father to son only.

Mitochondrial DNA is passed from mother to both sons and daughters but only the daughters pass it on to their children.

Most of your DNA is autosomal and you get it 50-50 from both parents coming down from all your ancestors.  Y & Mitochondrial are used in genealogy as they go back in a direct line virtually unchanged.  Right now, they are not using autosomal as it is far more complicated.

If you go back to your 6xgreatgrandparents, barring any duplicates, you are directly descended from 510 individuals.  Of those 510 individuals, you get your mitochondrial DNA from 8 and since you are a male you get your Y DNA from 8, but you get your autosomal DNA from all 510.  

However, if you manage to match yourself with other family trees with your Y DNA it will probably open up information about marriages of your direct Y DNA ancestors and their families.  

They are not specific to national, racial of ethnic origins but will tell you something like Northern European etc.

Edit  Your father's birth certificates should show you the name of his parents.  If your grandparents are living, find out if they have their birth certificates.  If they are deceased, their death certificates, should not only show where they were born but the names and places of birth of both parents includiing the mother's maiden name.  Each state in the U.S. has its own laws about who, when and where a person can obtain vital records on another.  So we can't give you specific info on that without knowing more.

Answer 6

Assuming your father is living... personal information about him would be private.  You need to either ask where he (his parents) were born, OR find documents with that information.

Without knowing your location. I can't tell you where that information would be.

ANY genealogy is really simple, and based on locating records. And no, your ancestry is not based on last names, but specific individuals.