As part of your AncestryDNA results, you’ll get ancestral regions that show where your ancestors likely lived up to 1,000+ years ago. You’ll also see what percentage of your DNA is similar to people from those regions. These ancestral regions can be a very valuable resource; use the tips below to make the most of your ancestral regions.

*Some AncestryDNA features may require an Ancestry membership. (Learn more)

Explore each region

Explore each of your regions to uncover details for your family history research. Region insights can help you learn more about your family’s background and connect you with others who share your heritage. When you select a region, check out the:

• Maps to see where the region is located.
• Percentages to find out how much your DNA matches the region.
• List of places to discover where people with this region typically live today.
• DNA matches to see which of your genetic relatives share this region with you.
• Region stories to read about the unique people, places, and cultures of that area. New region stories are added regularly, so check back later if you don’t see any yet.

For help exploring your regions, see Ancestral Regions in AncestryDNA.

Get insights from DNA matches

Your DNA matches may be able to help you understand your ancestral regions better. They may have valuable details about these areas, answers to questions, or information about people in your shared family history from these regions. Start by connecting with matches who share the same regions, explore their family trees to expand your own, and send them a message to start a conversation.

Compare regions

With DNA compare, you can see which regions you share with your DNA matches and which are unique. This can help you find people to research with or where someone might have valuable insights to share.

For example, African Americans might find shared regions with a match who has known ties to specific African groups, helping them learn more about their possible roots.

View their trees

Once you’ve identified matches with shared regions, check out their family trees. Their tree's information can help you start your own tree, fill in gaps in your tree, and learn more.

To view a match's public tree:

1. From your list of matches, click their name or username.
2. In the middle of the page, click the Trees tab.
3. Above their tree and to the right, select Expand tree and then View full tree.

If their tree is private, send them a message and politely ask if they’ll share it with you.

Introduce yourself with a message

Send them a message to say hi, offer to help, and learn what they can share about your shared regions and the ancestors who are connected to them.

Narrow your search

Ancestral regions can give you clues about where to look for your family history and find your ancestor’s records by narrowing down where they likely lived. On Ancestry, you can use this information to search by location using the card catalog or the map at the bottom of the search page.

To focus your search even more, explore your regions by parent.

Explore your regions by parent

Knowing which regions come from each parent can help you narrow down where to search for each family line. Our regions by parent* and chromosome painter* tools can help you see which ancestral regions you inherited from each parent, even if they haven’t taken an AncestryDNA test. 

• Regions by parent* tells you which regions you inherited from each parent.
• Chromosome painter* "paints" your regions on your chromosomes to show which parent they came from and where in your DNA we found them.

*These AncestryDNA features require an Ancestry membership. (Learn more)

Share the love—AncestryDNA is better with family

With AncestryDNA, your parents, siblings, and other relatives can help unlock new details about your family history. This is because like yours, their DNA is also unique—even among your closest relatives.

For example:

• Parents and their children share about half of their DNA.
• Full siblings (except identical twins) also only share about half of their DNA.
• Aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews share about 25% of their DNA. 

So, while you might not have inherited the genes for certain ancestral regions, another biological relative could have. The more biological relatives you have who use AncestryDNA, the more everyone can learn about your family's history.

Go on an adventure

Researching your family history can spark a desire to visit the places your ancestors came from. Now that you know more about your ancestral origins, why not see them yourself? Go on an adventure and see what else you can learn! Your ancestral regions and journeys can help you plan your travels.

For unique travel experiences based on your family history and ancestral origins, check out the heritage tourism programs offered by Ancestry ProGenealogists.