I need help tracing my Ancestry!?

Question

This may be a bit of a long shot but I am seeking help on tracing my ancestry. I am Scottish, female - pale and freckly with grey eyes and dark brown/nearly black hair. My surname MacKinnon is largely associated with Skye and Mull on the west coast of Scotland. I am curious to find out if I display characteristics of a particular race/clan/tribe lol (from anywhere in the world) or whatever and if so where they originate from etc.

Dark hair and grey eyes is not so abundantly found as with blue eyes so any information that can be offered would be very much appreciated!! Thanks!!

Answer 1

"Tracing your Tree " is a very hot subject. I would read up on "tracing your ancestry" then speak to all living relatives...The story will unfold.

Answer 2

I am in the process of tracing my ancestry to try and determine who my mother's biological father is.  

My first step was to look at ancestry.com, which is a great resource for tracing back a family tree.  If your family is recently immigrated, it is harder because the records begin at the ship records (my great grandparents on my dad's side came to the U.S. from Croatia and Poland, so i have their arrival records), census information, and death information.  On death certificates, its common to have the mother's maiden name.  Trace that last name as well, determine her ancestors, and so on.  Death records, birth records, military records, census records, marriage records, divorce records, etc. are all very helpful.  (Ancestry.com charges a fee to access the information, but it is well worth it- its so cool to see a great great grandparent's marriage certificate and actually SEE their signature!)  

Use your parents as a resource- ask them their grandparents' names (dont forget maiden names!) and ask your grandparents for THEIR grandparents' names, and it makes it easier to trace knowing as much info as possible directly from relatives.  (Because going back farther, you will have to determine who is a direct relative and who is distant.)  It's a very fun process, because ancestry is like solving a puzzle.  

Have fun and good luck!

Answer 3

Nah, you are descended from Gaels which would make you a Celt.  Everything you described about yourself suggests this.

Answer 4

I'll be interested to see what answers you get, because I'd like to know my ancestry too.

Unfortunately my birth certificate is a fake, and I have no idea where I really come from.

Answer 5

you could start with talking to your birth parents or grandparents if they are still around.  Try to get the name of the city or town where they think their earliest family member came from.  Then try anstery .com...If they are from Scottland....try: http://www.scotlandspeoplehub.gov.uk/ind...

The church of laderday saints are helpful (mormans), I have used their records before on projects. But most of their records are on microfilm or microfiche's and you will need somewhere to view them at.  Also most of their records are in Salt Lake, UT...so there might be a small shipping fee to borrow the material.  Go to a local morman church and they are very helpful and can provide you with a directory/ catalog of their stiuf.

If you find a city name.....contact the city via email if they are over seas.  Look into the cities death records, marriage license, newspaper archives, land grants, wills, etc...  The national archives of the UK and Scotland are good too.  Also, if you can get a year when they arrived in the US (if your in the US)...Elise Island immigration in NYC has records too.

Answer 6

Contact your local Morman church. They have some of, if not the best ancestry records in the world. No, I am not a Morman promoting their religion!

Answer 7

try going to tribalpages.com, there are many Mackinnons listed there and it's a free site, as for the skin color hair color etc.could indicate that somewhere down the line you are not full blooded Scottish. As for myself I'm half german and the other half is a mixtuire of Scottish, Irish , Swedish and Spanish, but my skin, hair. eyes and freckles make me look like I just walked out of a Scottish pub

Answer 8

If you go to nationalgeographic .com, for $100, they will tell you what tribe, clan and haplogroup you belong to, for the last 500 years...

All you have to do, is order a kit, and put a cotton swab on the inside of your cheek to collect some DNA...and send it back to them!