Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Since there is very little chance that I am Greek, let alone Albanian and Turkish, I just tell people I am part Italian when I tell them the DNA results or that I am most likely Italian. It still frustrates me that I don't know Europe South country I am. I am also Iberian so that cancels out Spain and Portugal.
Which brings me to another point. I am 41% European and I thought most of my European would be Spanish. However I am mostly Europe South and British combine with some Spanish. I didn't know my Spanish would be so low and other European ancestries would be so high. In fact I didn't even know I had any other European in me besides Spanish.
The ethnicity report from DNA tests is very much an estimate. It's fairly accurate on a continental level, but within Europe, neighboring regions share so much DNA, it's very normal for ancestry from one part of Europe to show up under a neighboring region. So getting even 16% in Europe South doesn't necessarily mean you have ancestry from that area. Given that you are Puerto Rican and Peruvian and you know you have Iberian ancestry, while you could also have Italian or Greek ancestry, it's very possible you're just getting results in Europe South because it's a region which neighbors the Iberian Peninsula. It's really best not to take the ethnicity report too literally.
https://www.ancestry.com/cs/dna-help...gional-overlap - This chart shows just how mixed Europeans are - note how the average native of the Iberian region is only about 52% Iberian and gets about 21% in Europe South.
The only reliable way to find out if you have any Italian or Greek ancestry is to research your family tree. I really would not recommend telling people you are Italian, or defining yourself that way until you have researched your tree and confirmed it.
I took the Ancestry DNA test and I found out I am 16% Europe South.
Europe South includes Northern and Southern Italy as well as Sicily and Greece with some of Albania and Turkey.
I would love to claim Italian heritage and there is nothing more I would like to do than wear a sweater that says "Italia" and rep Italy 100 percent, and this of course is fitting since I live in New Jersey.
However I really want to make sure I am Italian. I am Puerto Rican and Peruvian. I read about the Royal Decree of Graces in 1815 which ensured immigration from European countries to suppress African slaves to revolt like what was happening in neighboring countries by giving these Europeans free land and economic incentives to live in Puerto Rico. Some of the countries included were Great Britain (I am also British by the way, a whopping 7 percent), Ireland, Italy, France, and Portugal. Greeks were not included, as far as I recall. And this makes sense since Greeks had to make an allegiance to the Spanish Crown and the Church, which I will get to later on.
There are also millions of Peruvians of Italian descent and most are mixed.
By contrast, I read there were only 50,000 Greeks that arrived to Latin America and many if not most settled in Argentina and Brazil.
My family is also Roman Catholic and Greeks, as well as Turks and Albanians are mostly non-Catholic whereas most Italians. This is also why I do not suppose Greeks would come to Puerto Rico under the Royal Decree of Graces where they had to plead allegiance to the Church, because most are Orthodox Christian and not Roman Catholics.
Since there is very little chance that I am Greek, let alone Albanian and Turkish, I just tell people I am part Italian when I tell them the DNA results or that I am most likely Italian. It still frustrates me that I don't know Europe South country I am. I am also Iberian so that cancels out Spain and Portugal.
Which brings me to another point. I am 41% European and I thought most of my European would be Spanish. However I am mostly Europe South and British combine with some Spanish. I didn't know my Spanish would be so low and other European ancestries would be so high. In fact I didn't even know I had any other European in me besides Spanish.
You're dead wrong. Greeks are mostly Catholic - just not ROMAN Catholic. They are Greek Orthodox/Eastern Orthodox. Still Catholic, they split off over the decision to force priests to be celibate, iconography, and some other silly religious nonsense.
But why the heck do you care about 16% of your heritage? If you like Italian stuff, do/buy/eat/wear Italian stuff. If you like Greek stuff, do that.
I'm 1/8th Native American. That's only like 12.5%. My ancestors of NA extraction had been "passing" since a little before the Cherokee Removal (which also swept up a bunch of other tribes, we have reason to believe our ancestors were actually Seminole rather than Cherokee). Ran off to Canada, converted to Catholicism, learned French, and started telling people they were "French Canadian".
So, hiding it in the first place for over 100 years, and second not raised to the culture at all, and thirdly by the time it gets down that far there's a good chance there's no actual (whatever ethnicity) in your genome at all. Because while you get half your genes from each parent, you don't necessarily get specific gene sets. If your parent is half Greek, say, you might not get a single "greek" gene - every one of the genes from that parent could very well come from the non-Greek half.
I don't get why people are so obsessed with these gene tests. Firstly they're not that terribly accurate, they are making a LOT of guesses - and secondly lots of different populations share genes. One lab may assess a particular cluster of genes as coming from Ireland while another may attribute the same cluster, or many of the genes within that cluster, to Scandinavia, Norway, or Sweden - which of course makes sense given who was going a-Viking and who they were raiding most often, LOL!
Unless you are brought up in the heritage, claiming to be ANYTHING on the basis of a gene test is sort of silly.
You're dead wrong. Greeks are mostly Catholic - just not ROMAN Catholic. They are Greek Orthodox/Eastern Orthodox. Still Catholic, they split off over the decision to force priests to be celibate, iconography, and some other silly religious nonsense.
But why the heck do you care about 16% of your heritage? If you like Italian stuff, do/buy/eat/wear Italian stuff. If you like Greek stuff, do that.
I'm 1/8th Native American. That's only like 12.5%. My ancestors of NA extraction had been "passing" since a little before the Cherokee Removal (which also swept up a bunch of other tribes, we have reason to believe our ancestors were actually Seminole rather than Cherokee). Ran off to Canada, converted to Catholicism, learned French, and started telling people they were "French Canadian".
So, hiding it in the first place for over 100 years, and second not raised to the culture at all, and thirdly by the time it gets down that far there's a good chance there's no actual (whatever ethnicity) in your genome at all. Because while you get half your genes from each parent, you don't necessarily get specific gene sets. If your parent is half Greek, say, you might not get a single "greek" gene - every one of the genes from that parent could very well come from the non-Greek half.
I don't get why people are so obsessed with these gene tests. Firstly they're not that terribly accurate, they are making a LOT of guesses - and secondly lots of different populations share genes. One lab may assess a particular cluster of genes as coming from Ireland while another may attribute the same cluster, or many of the genes within that cluster, to Scandinavia, Norway, or Sweden - which of course makes sense given who was going a-Viking and who they were raiding most often, LOL!
Unless you are brought up in the heritage, claiming to be ANYTHING on the basis of a gene test is sort of silly.
Some would argue that Orthodox Christianity isn't Catholicism. They split after Orthodox Christians didn't believe in the pope.
Some would argue that Orthodox Christianity isn't Catholicism. They split after Orthodox Christians didn't believe in the pope.
Some would be silly then. They are arguably the more "authentic" version of Catholicism on top of it all. And the Pope thing was only part of it. Lots more issues leading up to the split. Also, THEY say they are the "One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic church established by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission" - and who am *I* (or you) to gainsay their self-identification?
Lapsed ROMAN Catholic here. I don't really have a dog in this fight since I'm an atheist and I think they are ALL silly cults. An awful lot of xtians out there don't think Catholics are xtians, so Roman Catholics thinking they are the extra-special-version of xtianity and the only REAL Catholics isn't anything beyond the pale in the battle for your soul.
Last edited by Pyewackette; 08-06-2018 at 09:23 PM..
You're dead wrong. Greeks are mostly Catholic - just not ROMAN Catholic. They are Greek Orthodox/Eastern Orthodox. Still Catholic, they split off over the decision to force priests to be celibate, iconography, and some other silly religious nonsense.
But why the heck do you care about 16% of your heritage? If you like Italian stuff, do/buy/eat/wear Italian stuff. If you like Greek stuff, do that.
I'm 1/8th Native American. That's only like 12.5%. My ancestors of NA extraction had been "passing" since a little before the Cherokee Removal (which also swept up a bunch of other tribes, we have reason to believe our ancestors were actually Seminole rather than Cherokee). Ran off to Canada, converted to Catholicism, learned French, and started telling people they were "French Canadian".
So, hiding it in the first place for over 100 years, and second not raised to the culture at all, and thirdly by the time it gets down that far there's a good chance there's no actual (whatever ethnicity) in your genome at all. Because while you get half your genes from each parent, you don't necessarily get specific gene sets. If your parent is half Greek, say, you might not get a single "greek" gene - every one of the genes from that parent could very well come from the non-Greek half.
I don't get why people are so obsessed with these gene tests. Firstly they're not that terribly accurate, they are making a LOT of guesses - and secondly lots of different populations share genes. One lab may assess a particular cluster of genes as coming from Ireland while another may attribute the same cluster, or many of the genes within that cluster, to Scandinavia, Norway, or Sweden - which of course makes sense given who was going a-Viking and who they were raiding most often, LOL!
Unless you are brought up in the heritage, claiming to be ANYTHING on the basis of a gene test is sort of silly.
Good points. Someone's cultural identity is certainly not defined by any DNA testing, certainly not those advertising on TV. They are nothing more than educated guesses, and shouldn't be taken literally. Ethnicity and DNA and 2 different concepts, I'm not most people are equipped to fully understand those DNA results.
OP, do you think those Italians living in NJ would consider you as one of them even if you showed them your DNA break down?
Good points. Someone's cultural identity is certainly not defined by any DNA testing, certainly not those advertising on TV. They are nothing more than educated guesses, and shouldn't be taken literally. Ethnicity and DNA and 2 different concepts, I'm not most people are equipped to fully understand those DNA results.
OP, do you think those Italians living in NJ would consider you as one of them even if you showed them your DNA break down?
No but I don't care I have Italian, Puerto Rican, and black--the perfect tristate area mix.
Most African Americans won't consider me black since I am only partially black.
Heck, even some Peruvians and Puerto Ricans don't even fully me as their own but it doesn't really matter.
The Medeterranian is a big pond and most groups that live on it trade all around it...That includes Husbands and Wives. It would be hardly surprising for a Spanish Sailor to marry a Sicilian Woman.
My Nonna used to tell me a story growing up that her family (which side?) originally came from Spain and that their surname had changed to become more Italian sounding over generations. They were from Salerno and Sicily. I have traced the Salerno side but only back to mid 19th Century. Mom's cousin spent his retirement years in Sicily doing research. Neither of us found anyone from Spain. Cousin's research went back to 1600's.
My younger daughter's highest percentage (31%) was Italian, 13% Irish (my Dad), 4% Iberian. We were very surprised at this. Grandma was right? My husband does not have any Italian, Irish, or Spanish ancestors. His is German, Scandinavian and Lithuanian. Her results from her Dad were pretty much evenly spread out.
My older daughter got a lower percentage of Italian, greater percentage of Irish, and no Spanish at all from my side. Was that because she got less Italian than her sister? I have heard of "chatter" with DNA but I would think that 4% is too high to just be chatter.
I need to have mine done to see what I get.
Edit: Spanish Sailor? You then can get into the realm of "illegitimacy". That has happened on my Dad's side.
Last edited by Jo48; 08-07-2018 at 08:42 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
