Ethnicity of Zoochatters
- Thread starter wensleydale
- Start date
My 23 and Me seems to frequently update itself, and according to one of the updates, I saw that on my father's side, I actually have a bit of ancestry from Iran, Mesopotamia (Iraq and Kuwait), and the Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia). I had no idea about this, but it is quite fascinating.
Regarding my Middle Eastern ancestry, my paternal grandmother was born in Lebanon, her mother was born in Syria, her father was born in Palestine, and her father's sister was born in Jordan.
Regarding my Middle Eastern ancestry, my paternal grandmother was born in Lebanon, her mother was born in Syria, her father was born in Palestine, and her father's sister was born in Jordan.
Your profile picture says otherwise
I did one of those National Geographic ancestry tests and it told me that I was a total honky.
Seriously though, it said I was 78% Great Britain and Ireland, 16% Scandinavia and 5% Asia Minor, with about 1% Neanderthal. Gotta say, I really thought I'd have more Neanderthal. Also thought I'd have more than two kinds of European ancestry. I also assumed that I'd have more Scandinavian ancestry, given that Norway is the only ancestry that my family retained any real knowledge of and that I'm 100% certain of having.
At some point I'd like to take a test from a different company to see if I get different results, though I'm paranoid about that data being sold. My dad took a test from another company and he got over 30% Scandinavian which is pretty fitting with my results.
@TMO, I was going to respond I just do not have a clue over my ethnicity other than knowing the color of my skin and a part history going back to the 1600's. Ancestry and ethnicity are sometimes confusingly used to mean the same thing, which they are not.
On the other hand, if you do break down your genetic code for background, I suspect you will find in a good percentage ancient DNA of other hominids in most of our codings. I would however be careful with some of the commercially available genetic tests.
In my case, being a redhead by birth, I would assume my genetics would show up some Neanderthal DNA fragments in my genetic coding. Could your Asia Minor link have to do with migration and mixing of Homo sapiens (CroMagnon) with ancient Neanderthal in Asia Minor and southern Mediterranean?
On the other hand, if you do break down your genetic code for background, I suspect you will find in a good percentage ancient DNA of other hominids in most of our codings. I would however be careful with some of the commercially available genetic tests.
In my case, being a redhead by birth, I would assume my genetics would show up some Neanderthal DNA fragments in my genetic coding. Could your Asia Minor link have to do with migration and mixing of Homo sapiens (CroMagnon) with ancient Neanderthal in Asia Minor and southern Mediterranean?
Ancestry tests can often be misleading and unreliable because of how close our DNA is to most everyone else on the planet. Homo sapien is just so crossbred (and in many parts of the world inbred) as a species that your ancient DNA really can show up as matching that of pretty much anywhere. This is why results can change so dramatically from one test to another.
~Thylo
~Thylo
I am, like others, a mix of European heritage, mainly from Ireland, Great Britain, Sweden, Norway, & Germany.
Thank you for sharing your results with us. This is fascinating stuff. I also thought I would have more neanderthal DNA that I turned out to have. Which company did your dad use if you don't mind my asking?
Right now, I am especially fascinated by the possibility of of there being some Armenian ancestry. I remember when I was younger my paternal grandmother did bring up the possibility of having some Russian ancestry, but being that the the main countries in the Caucasus were a part of the Soviet Union at the time, she may have meant Armenian, Azerbaijani, and/or Georgian. During the time of the Ottoman Empire there was a sizeable Armenian population in Palestine, but unfortunately many of them fell victim to genocide in the 1910s thereabouts, many Armenians in the Ottoman Empire did flee to the United States to escape persecution. The largest populations of Armenian Americans are in California, particularly the Greater Los Angeles Area and the Fresno Area, especially the former. The first place my great grandparents immigrated to when they came to the United States was Los Angeles, which happens to be where my father was born. My first crush in elementary school was actually an Armenian girl. An apartment complex I used to live in in my hometown was actually walking distance from an Armenian church. My 23 and Me ancestry results in Western Asia show being strongest in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Jordan. Zooming into my map where darker coloration shows stronger level of ancestry, I am actually surprised that it is slightly stronger/darker east of the Jordan River than it is west of the Jordan River. About possible Iranian heritage which did show up on my 23andMe results, I will say that the northern part of the country towards the Caspian Sea does border Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia. In fact there is an Iranian province called East Azerbaijan which also happens to be where the prominent Miocene fossil site Maragheh is located. Several fossil bovid, giraffid, rhinoceratid, equid, hyenid, and mustelid taxa have been excavated at Maragheh. Pardon my further digression, but Maragheh is probably my favorite fossil site. A little history lesson, the parts of Iran that bordered the Caspian Sea were a part of the Russian Empire before the Russian/Bolshevik Revolution, whereas the rest of the country was under the British Empire's Sphere of Influence, though never colonized by the British. About possible Iraqi/Mesopotamian ancestry, I wonder if that might be Kurdish, because the lands occupied by Kurds have included not just northern Iraq and Iran, but also into northern Syria and southeastern Turkey. Again, researching and studying our genealogy is fascinating stuff! At times, it certainly feels like detective work...
Last edited:
I used National Genographic, but that test is no longer available. I actually did recently get a 23 & Me test and my results should be available within a few days. They were marked down a lot for Prime Day so I went for it. It offers health information, which is how I justify the cost, but I admit I'm more interested in seeing whether my ancestry data differs from what the NG test told me.
Salt Merchant
Well-Known Member
I'm a mix of Minang, Javanese, and Sundanese
Update: To the chagrin of the previous two generations the legendary Micmac Grandfather has been disproven through testing. I kind of suspected that would be the case.
48% Irish - both paternal grandparents were born in Sligo, Ireland.
42% Scottish - on my maternal grandfather’s side the Carson’s left Scotland for Canada in the 1860’s. Their son left Canada for Maine in the 1890’s. Scots on my maternal grandmother’s side via Halifax as well.
7% Norwegian - beats me. I suppose Norwegian ancestry is not too uncommon in Ireland, Scotland, and northern England.
3% English - thought this would be higher. On my maternal grandmother’s side the majority of the ancestors were English (and one Dutchman). Some have been in New England (New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts) since the 1600’s. One branch was in New York until 1783 and following the rebellion relocated to New Brunswick until the family started moving back into Maine in the late 1800’s. I expected a larger dose of England in there. I guess it’s a bit of a ballpark figure.
48% Irish - both paternal grandparents were born in Sligo, Ireland.
42% Scottish - on my maternal grandfather’s side the Carson’s left Scotland for Canada in the 1860’s. Their son left Canada for Maine in the 1890’s. Scots on my maternal grandmother’s side via Halifax as well.
7% Norwegian - beats me. I suppose Norwegian ancestry is not too uncommon in Ireland, Scotland, and northern England.
3% English - thought this would be higher. On my maternal grandmother’s side the majority of the ancestors were English (and one Dutchman). Some have been in New England (New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts) since the 1600’s. One branch was in New York until 1783 and following the rebellion relocated to New Brunswick until the family started moving back into Maine in the late 1800’s. I expected a larger dose of England in there. I guess it’s a bit of a ballpark figure.
Identity politics huh, how petty...
I'm Turkish, but according to my mom her paternal grandmother is Armenian making me 1/8th Armenian. Apparently my mom's paternal grand mother was harbored by a Turkish family during the attack on her people. My mom told this to me as a secret because we have relatives and family friends who would probably deny the Armenian genocide. I also recall hearing some stuff about my mom's maternal relatives moved to Anatolia from what we today know as Georgia.
I'm Turkish, but according to my mom her paternal grandmother is Armenian making me 1/8th Armenian. Apparently my mom's paternal grand mother was harbored by a Turkish family during the attack on her people. My mom told this to me as a secret because we have relatives and family friends who would probably deny the Armenian genocide. I also recall hearing some stuff about my mom's maternal relatives moved to Anatolia from what we today know as Georgia.
Got my 23&Me results! This one detects some German ancestry, which the NatGeo test didn't show for me even though my mom has always been confident about it. So I guess that has been confirmed. 23&Me also narrows down results to specific regions, so it's cool to get some extra details there.
This time, I'm 53% British and Irish, 21.4% Scandinavian, 12.5% French and German (but when I narrow down by region, it's ONLY Germany) and 12.2% Broadly Northwestern European. There's also 0.7% Trace Ancestry that includes Levantine (which I guess is almost the same as Asia Minor with the NatGeo test) Southern East African and Broadly Sub-Saharan African. Also, 0.2% Unassigned.
My mom got a kit too so I'm waiting for her to send in her spit and see how her test results compare. So far the only close relative I have on 23&Me is a first cousin on my dad's side. Cousin is 100% Northwestern European, no German, so it seems that all of the German ancestry and the trace ancestry does come from my mom's side.
This time, I'm 53% British and Irish, 21.4% Scandinavian, 12.5% French and German (but when I narrow down by region, it's ONLY Germany) and 12.2% Broadly Northwestern European. There's also 0.7% Trace Ancestry that includes Levantine (which I guess is almost the same as Asia Minor with the NatGeo test) Southern East African and Broadly Sub-Saharan African. Also, 0.2% Unassigned.
My mom got a kit too so I'm waiting for her to send in her spit and see how her test results compare. So far the only close relative I have on 23&Me is a first cousin on my dad's side. Cousin is 100% Northwestern European, no German, so it seems that all of the German ancestry and the trace ancestry does come from my mom's side.
I'm a Chinese-Indonesian for the most part.
I was amazed at the diversity of skin tones and facial features evident in Colombia when I first visited. The three-way mix between indigenous / European / African leads to some interesting outcomes.
Intererestingly, my son comes from a rural area of Colombia which saw pretty much zero racial mixing and so would likely be pure African - he certainly looks like there has been no mixing.
My daughter is from an urban area and has lighter skin, but still very strong African features (particularly the broad nose, curly hair and body shape) and so likely has had some European mixing in her racial heritage.
We refer to our kids as Afro-Latino - there is quite a strong culture even here in Australia of people of African descent who are from Latin American countries - we have Afro-Latino festivals celebrating that culture.
As for myself - my father's side of the family emigrated from Germany (town of origin is actually just across the border in what is now Poland - but they were German speaking Lutherans) to rural South Australia in the 1840's - they remained purely Lutheran until my father married my mother - he was the first from his family to marry a non-Lutheran!
My mother's side of the family emigrated from England to Sydney around the same era - early 1840's ... so I am largely 50% German and 50% English - although I'm sure DNA testing would show a lot more complexity than that!
Tri-Racial, 1/2 South Asian, 1/4 Middle Eastern, 1/4 White/caucasian
Broken down, this is roughly 1/2 Indian, 1/4 Iraqi, and 1/8ish English, 1/8ish Norwegian and broader scandinavian. I probably need to get a genealogy test one day, but this is just what my grandparents tell me.
Broken down, this is roughly 1/2 Indian, 1/4 Iraqi, and 1/8ish English, 1/8ish Norwegian and broader scandinavian. I probably need to get a genealogy test one day, but this is just what my grandparents tell me.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Yes, definitely Colombia (and Venezuela too) is very interesting in terms of its racial and cultural diversity and I think it resembles Brazil in some ways in terms of the African racial and cultural influences (though I think the African influence in Brazil is probably far stronger).
Afro-Colombian communities can be found throughout the country but do tend to be concentrated highest along the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of the country, does your wife come from the Atlántico or Cauca department by any chance?
The population densities of the indigenous civilizations who inhabited Pre-Hispanic Colombia like the Tayrona and Muisica were not so high as those of the Meso-American civilizations of Mexico / Guatemala or the Inca and pre-Inca civilizations of the high Andean regions like Peru and Bolivia (though there are still numerous indigenous tribes in Colombia like the Kogi, Embera and Choco groups).
This means that the "mestizaje" mixing between Spaniards and indigenous peoples was markedly less in Colombia than elsewhere in Latin America and so many Colombians in rural and urban areas are of predominately European (largely Iberian, French or German) descent.
Also worth mentioning that there is quite a lot of people of Arabic ancestry (Armenians too) in Colombia (but also in wider Latin America too) of predominately Levantine extraction whose ancestors immigrated from Syria, Lebanon and Palestine in the past 100 years.
Last edited:
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Not sure if it is identity politics in this thread or rather just people discussing their ethnic makeup.
Talking about ethnic background can't really be called identity politics as such if it doesn't carry ideological underpinnings of some form of political ideology or stance.
Yes, I can imagine that might be controversial to talk about given the ongoing rhetoric against and denial of the Armenian genocide (and that of the Kurds too) which is a shame IMO it is certainly very interesting family history.
I remember reading that there were a lot of Armenian orphans that were harboured by Turkish families and it wasn't too uncommon a phenomenon during the genocide.
Last edited: