How do I know what my heritage is from my facial features?

Question

How do I know what my heritage is from my facial features?

Answer 1

That is rather difficult to answer.  It's true that certain facial features point to origins from a certain area, such as red-haired people could have some Scottish heritage.  But the best thing to do is speak to your family about where your ancestors were from.

Answer 2

You don't.  Plain and simple.

Appearance is a matter of opinion, and stereotypes... might as well just flip a coin, and pick what you want.

Much easier to do the other route, which is research your ancestry, and verify where your ancestors are from.  If you are adopted, or have some reason that this is not possible, you can do DNA testing (which has some drawbacks).  

http://rwguide.rootsweb.ancestry.com/

Answer 3

Genealogist don't consider facial features, pigmentation etc as important when determining ancestry.  It is only done by tracing ancestors, starting with yourself, and working back one generation at a time, documenting as you go.

Anytime you wish to do this, there are lots of good people on this board that can give you some great tips and advice.  Just ask.

Answer 4

You don't, not really. While a Chinese and an Arab may appear different, no one can say for certain what one's ancestry is based on appearance.

You need to do research, through your local library or Mormon site, utilizing ancestry dot com or heritagequest dot com or even spring for a DNA test from sites such as familytreedna dot com.

Answer 5

Beyond the basic race - Black, White or Asian - you can't be sure.

If, for example, you go to a "Chieftains" concert, you can look around and see a lot of people in the audience have the long, narrow head, freckles, red or reddish brown hair and thin nose of the Irish. The similarities show up when you have a couple of hundred examples all concentrated in a hall, listening to the penny whistle and fiddle music.

But, there are lots of Irish who don't have those facial features.