Is there a DNA test to find out your heritage?

Question

My family told me what my heritage is: 50% German, 25% Belgian, 12.5% English, 12.5% Irish.

Is there a DNA test that would tell me exactly what my heritage is? I think it is so interesting!

How specific could it tell: Could it for instance be as specific as saying you are part Dutch or would it just say European or something?

Do you think there could be hidden ethnicities in our DNA? Maybe I am part American Indian or part Jewish.

Where can I get a DNA test like that?

Answer 1

Ya just look it up there is many ancestral percentage tests,some as cheap as $200.But the more expensive ones may be higher quality.

Answer 2

There are tests.  Several tests.  One traces your Y-line (through your mother and her mother etc) back to the theoretical "daughters of Eve" from which most humans are supposedly descended.  A Y-DNA test will tell you which daughter of Eve you descend from.  Most Europeans descend from seven such women or 'clan mothers'.  Google 'seven daughters of eve' or buy the book for more information.  The other main test is the X-DNA test of the male line, but again, they can't really narrow down your origins that well.  Those who get most use out of it are descendants of black slaves who can get fairly close to their tribe of origin in Africa, but for most white Europeans, its not really worth the aggro.  I certainly wouldn't waste my money on it, though I wouldn't say no if someone got me it as a gift.  The more people that take the tests and register themselves online, the more chance they have of finding a DNA match with someone else, so if you think you might be in need of some bone marrow one day, why not?  Just don't expect the results to be especially enlightening, though you might get a shock if your supposed "mother of Eve" isn't the one that most of your nationality share or that you were expecting.  Mine would probably be Ursula or Helena (some 41% of Europeans have Helena as their clan chief).  I'm not really that desperate to find out though.  A firm known as "Oxford Ancestors" are the leaders in this field. Google them.

Answer 3

No way will it tell you all your heritage.

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

Y & Mitochondrial are a minute part of your total DNA.  Most of your DNA is autosomal.

Y & Mitochondrial are used in genealogy to match people's family trees as they go back in a straight line, virtually unchanged.

However, if you get back to your 6xgreat grandparents, barring any duplicates, you are directly descended from 510 individuals.  It pyramids.  Of those 510 you get your mitochondrial DNA form only 8 and if you are male, you get your Y DNA from only 8.  You get your autosomal DNA from all 510.  

Autosomal is what determines your appearances, height, bone structure, pigmentation etc.  Genealogy DNA testing companies are working to use autosomal.  You get it 50-50 from both parents coming down from all your ancestors.  Therefore, it is quite a bit more complicated. It is the only DNA that relates a female to her father or anyone to the spouses and their families in their direct Y & Mitochondrial lines.

Also, as far as determining your heritage or ethnicities the results are not specific.  It will give you informaiton such as Northern European, East Asian etc.   You have to understand there are no pure nationalities or pure races and ethnicities.  The same DNA crosses national and racial borders.

DNA tests are a good supplement in genealogy but the best way to know your heritage is to dig in and do research startiing with yourself and go back one generation at a time. Anytime you wish to do that, there are lots of good people on this board that can give you some great tips and advice.  Just ask.

Also, any percentages or fractions you feel you are will change as you go back.  Your great grandfather that came from Germany might have had great great grandparents from France, Poland, Bohemia etc.   It is just a matter of how far back you can go.  Remember a lot of the nations in Europe did not exist until the last melennium.  Some countries in Eastern Europe did not exist until the 20th century.  Germany and Italy were not nations until the latter part of the 19th century.

Answer 4

There is no test to tell you EXACTLY what you are. A DNA test can tell you ONLY DIRECT ancestry through your mother (mtDNA test) or your father (yDNA test). E.g., the mtDNA test shows your mother and her mother, but not her father, etc. Same with the yDNA test.

However, that will give you a good overview of your ancestry, since most of the time people marry someone from their own class/religion/country/etc.

I used www.familytreedna.com, one of the oldest and best. They also do DNA testing for the National Geographics Genotype Program (just google it; it traces human migration patters worldwide).