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The short of it is that it's very hard to tell the difference between the DNA of Northern Europeans (and Europeans in general). This isn't necessarily the fault of the testing companies, just a limitation of both the data in the DNA, our current understanding of regional markers, and the current technology.
European populations heavily intermixed. Scandinavian DNA is particularly hard to differentiate due the large scale way the Viking spreads (not just looting and stealing, but migrations and settlement). Also remember the history of much of the European areas were very fluid. If you see a set of markers that is predominately in Britain, did it start there, or did it come from Scandinavia, maybe Continental Europe like France or Germany etc.
Continental Europe is also very hard to differentiate between themselves. Many regions simple have a modern border... a line drawn in a map. The historical populations didn't have those limitations, they intermixed back and forth.
These DNA tests are most accurate at the continental level.
It's also important to remember that your DNA tested in this is your autosomal DNA. You inherit half from each parent, they from their parents, and so on. That means that half of a person's DNA is not passed down each generation. That also means that mostly the half that is passed down is random. Further this means that the child of two parents might contain more of a specific region correlated DNA than their parents (say two parents had 25% Scandinavian, if they pass 20% to their child each, that child will have 40% Scandinavian). Multiply that by every single generation back in your tree and you can imagine that smaller amounts of DNA can randomly get amplified, other parts shrink, and some parts completely lost.
So definitely don't look at it as an equal representation of all of your ancestry in your DNA. Just the reality of the data encoded in autosomal DNA.
Most of the survivors were put to death, however. An Irish overnor estimated that about 100 survivors escaped into the countryside or were atherwise unaccounted for. I am sure those who survived the elements were probably taken in by farm families, but the number of possible survivors of the fated Spanish attack on Ireland was probably negligible in terms of making a significant genetic impact on Ireland.
Rather, the genetic linkage between Iberia and Ireland is probably through trade and movement across the Atlantic littoral going all the way back to the neolithic.
I know I sound like a broken record but believe or not most Irish don't get Iberian or not as much as other nationalities. It's a myth.
That's interesting. I would bet some of my "Irish" ancestors are really Spanish.
Although there is no Spanish or Portuguese names in my ancestry, as far as I can tell.
Not likely and genetics bears this out. Not sure why people think there is a connection.
Depending on what company people test with some overestimate certain categories. If people test with multiple different dna companies they can get very different percentage.
I got my ethnicity results back today. I have only 3 ethnicities. Most of it Scandinavian - 67%.
I find this strange because all the names in my mother's side of the family, I have researched and they are all Irish and English surnames. However, my mother's family is all very light blond hair with blue eyes.
It is possible my ancestors Anglicized their names and did Scandinavian people do that very often when they came to America?
I also have a lot of Iberian heritage and there are NO French, Spanish or Italian names in my family heritage.
The combination of "Scandinavian" and "Iberian" results could indicate "Norman French" heritage. These are the people who conquered England back around 1000AD.
I got my ethnicity results back today. I have only 3 ethnicities. Most of it Scandinavian - 67%.
I find this strange because all the names in my mother's side of the family, I have researched and they are all Irish and English surnames. However, my mother's family is all very light blond hair with blue eyes.
It is possible my ancestors Anglicized their names and did Scandinavian people do that very often when they came to America?
I also have a lot of Iberian heritage and there are NO French, Spanish or Italian names in my family heritage.
As far as Britain and Ireland I've seen similar in my genealogy with Scandinavian DNA results and no known Scandinavian ancestors because it's too far back. What we know on paper is fairly recent, usually just a few hundred years back at most. The DNA tests can reach further back. Scandinavians began settling in parts of Ireland and England over a thousand years ago. Names and language get lost pretty easily over time as similar populations assimilate. Fast forward a few hundred years later and they were speaking English or Irish and using local names.
As far as Britain and Ireland I've seen similar in my genealogy with Scandinavian DNA results and no known Scandinavian ancestors because it's too far back. What we know on paper is fairly recent, usually just a few hundred years back at most. The DNA tests can reach further back. Scandinavians began settling in parts of Ireland and England over a thousand years ago. Names and language get lost pretty easily over time as similar populations assimilate. Fast forward a few hundred years later and they were speaking English or Irish and using local names.
As I've done a little more research, I've found a few German and Swiss ancestors. I think they sometimes have a lot of Scandinavian DNA. That could be where it's all coming from.
Just wanted to note I have a surname in my own line that is a variant/anglicized version of a Swedish surname - Schnebele. It was changed to Snively and/or Snavely by the Scandinavian immigrants over the years in Pennsylvania.
I am about 92 percent Northern European, with 65 percent being from the British Isles and the rest being from Scandinavia, Finland, Germany and France. There is one German surname and one French surname in my family but all the rest are English or Scottish. Seven percent from Germany/France and remaining one percent is just European in general - so that leaves 27 percent Scandinavian or Finnish. Not a single Scandinavian or Finnish surname in the lot - for many generations back, even back to the 1600s (that's when the German name popped up by the way).
Basically my DNA on a map is Viking territory - countries ringing the North Sea. I did mine on Ancestry.com and it's color coded and my entire DNA is either mid blue or dark blue. Not a single other color in it. My husband's looks like a rainbow!
And he's the one who looks like a Viking - with blonde hair and blue eyes. I've got dark brown hair and very dark eyes. But I have very light skin.
He's mostly Irish but has a lot of English in him, along with just about everything including Iberian, southern European, Jewish, and all over Africa!
So really - DNA is fascinating. You sure can't judge a book by it's cover.
They showed a map and circled the region they considered "Scandinavian". It was Norway, Sweden and Denmark (but did not include Finland).
I used a company called my heritage dna.
Finns are Slavs, not Scandinavian, although a lot of Swedes do live in Finland.
My sister did hers, and she also showed up as heavily British Isles and Scandinavian--and WE KNOW that most of our ancestors came from The Netherlands with my paternal great-greats coming from England.
Due to migration patterns, a lot of people in The Netherlands are British Isles an Scandinavian in origin, apparently. Some of my ancestors from The Netherlands have French-and-Spanish-sounding surnames.
My priest just got his done. He was born in Italy in a village where his family has been as long as anyone an remember. His came back 44 percent Italian, with the rest Middle Eastern, Western European, and Asian. He says it makes perfect sense when you look at where his family came from in Italy and the movement of people from those other places around the mountains.
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