Your results are based on the data we have and the methods we use to compare your results to that data. Because we're always collecting more data and our methods are constantly improving, your results may change over time.

Your percentages for a region could change. Some new regions could appear. Some old regions, especially low-percentage regions, could disappear. Or you might not see much change at all.

You could see new regions.

When AncestryDNA launched in 2012, we compared your DNA against a reference panel that represented 22 possible regions. We now have 302.

You could see old regions become new ones.

For example, in our latest update, we’ve replaced our Indigenous Americas–Mexico region with 14 new regions that cover the same area but offer much greater precision and specificity. 

You could see new percentages—higher or lower.

Updates to our reference panel and our region assignment algorithm enable AncestryDNA to identify new regions and improve our ability to determine how likely it is that your DNA is associated with a region. These improvements mean that your percentages for a region could go up or down.

You could see regions drop off your results.

Because what Ancestry knows about the relationships between regions and DNA has improved, some regions may disappear from your results. This may be particularly true of regions with a low percentage on your earlier results.

To calculate your ancestral regions results, we compare your DNA to a reference panel using our latest science. In this update we’ve grown our reference panel to over 295,000 samples and updated the science we use to analyze your DNA.

A larger reference panel provides a clearer “fingerprint.”

Our reference panel is made up of DNA from people with long family histories in a single region or group. The patterns in these peoples’ DNA are representative of the populations and regions they come from. It’s like a genetic “fingerprint” we can use to identify a region and assign it a percentage. As we get more samples, those fingerprints come into clearer focus, and we’re better able to tell them apart. That can mean more precision and changes to your results. Keep in mind, though, that some regions and populations have been so mixed for so long that there may never be a single fingerprint for them.

A new way to read  those “fingerprints.”

An “algorithm” is what we call the steps and science we use to compare your DNA to the 302 different populations in our reference panel and calculate your ancestral regions. We’ve updated these steps a number of times since we launched AncestryDNA. Our new algorithm directly compares your DNA sequence to the DNA sequence of the individuals in our reference panel to find which populations you most closely match. This direct comparison can pick up on more subtle variations in DNA patterns than we were able to detect with our previous algorithm. And those patterns can point us to more specific regions of origin and allow us to add more regions to your results. 

Don't worry, your DNA hasn't changed. What has changed is how much we know about DNA, the amount of available data, and how we can look at it for clues to your past. You're still you.

Your inheritance results come from your DNA. Using our proprietary SideView technology, we can distinguish the DNA you inherited from each of your biological parents and then analyze the ancestral origins on each set of DNA separately. Because this update expands the number and diversity of populations we compare your DNA to during this process, your inheritance results might also change. You may see new regions or changes in percentages with this update.

Additionally, subscribers processed with our updated SideView 2.0 will be able to see their regions organized by the grandparental level and may see some changes to their by parent results. 
 

Your ancestral origins include results based on two different scientific processes: the ancestral region reference panel and algorithm, and our Genetic Communities technology.

The ancestral region reference panel is made up of people whose families have long-standing, documented roots in a specific area. Our region assignment algorithm directly compares your DNA to this reference panel to determine your possible origins. 

Our Genetic Communities technology identifies ancestral journeys, which are groups of AncestryDNA members who likely share recent ancestors from the same region or culture. These journeys show where your relatives may have lived and moved more recently.

DNA analysis is a cutting-edge science. Your results could change further as scientific methods advance and we get more data.
 

You can find the date your ancestral regions were last updated below your list of regions. Here's how:

1. Go to Origins.
2. Below your regions, look for the "Updated . . . " date. That's when your ancestral regions were last updated. 
    

Note: Other features, such as ancestral journeys, traits, and matches, might be updated more often and may have changed since that date.
 

You can access and download the previous version of your origins results using the "View previous results and FAQs" link under your results for 90 days after an update takes place. Older results are not available. (Read more about Updates to AncestryDNA Regions.)

Regions and journeys are based on different scientific processes and have different requirements for developing reliable assignment methods. We tend to think of regions as  "source populations" that combine to form journeys. Journeys may have formed in the same place as the source populations, but they can also form later as the result of populations moving and merging together. Depending on the composition of populations that formed the Journey, and how long ago it formed, Journeys may also be suitable for eventually developing into regions.

Because of the differences in how they’re built and the separate technologies used to create them, we can sometimes make regions more specific than journeys in a given area. Region results can also be more sensitive to low amounts of genetic data, giving you clues  where a journey may not. We like to think of regions and journeys as complementary tools that work together to give you a fuller picture of your DNA origins, rather than as competing results.

Before releasing a new reference panel, we thoroughly test it to make sure it produces precise and reliable results. During development, we run our algorithm on many DNA samples,  including some that were left out of the reference panel to use as "test" and "validation" sets. We also check how well the model performs using a select set of members’ samples whose high-quality family trees point back to one region of origin. These samples help us see how results will change with the new update and whether those changes make sense given what we know about their family history. If our model doesn’t perform as expected, we make adjustments to our reference panel and to the model itself to help correct this.

Even with this extensive testing, some patterns aren’t clear until the update is available to everyone. Your feedback helps us identify patterns, collect new insights, and continue improving our regions in future updates.

If you’re interested in more details about how we develop and test our reference panels, you can read more in our white paper.
 

The process of developing and adding new regions in each update is iterative. Our goal is to represent every person's ancestral origins as fairly and precisely as possible. To do that, we review our existing regions and look for areas that may be underrepresented or less specific than we’d like.

Next, we explore the data available from the more than 29 million people in our DNA database. By studying patterns in their DNA and their families' origins, we can identify opportunities to divide existing regions that may be too broad or to add entirely new regions in areas with limited representation.

For some parts of the world, we may not yet have enough samples to build new, reliable, and precise regions. In these cases, it can take time for enough people from those places to participate so we can develop new regions. We also use publicly available data sets and private partnerships to access additional samples from people around the world. These additional samples also help us develop new regions and continue improving regions over time.
 

In recent updates, we’ve focused on bringing our regions into a more recent genealogical time period to make them more useful for family history research. Instead of pointing to origins from the past 1000+ years, we have focused our regions on reflecting the origins of people in the last 500-1000 years. This can mean that people from populations who previously saw many regions reflected in their results may now see those results consolidated into fewer regions or a single region. In contrast, ancestral journeys continue to point to places and communities relevant to your family in the past 300 years.

These “date ranges” are just estimates. The exact connection back to any of these populations depends on each individual test-taker’s personal history and also the history of the population overall.
 

To see how your results evolved and compare them with your updated breakdown, you can access and download your previous estimate directly on AncestryDNA.

For up to 90 days after an update takes place, you can view and download your prior results. Simply go to your regions results page, scroll down below your list of regions, and select the link labeled “View previous results and FAQs” located near your updated date.

When comparing your old and new results, keep in mind that former regions do not map on a direct one-to-one basis with the new regions. Because of this improved scientific precision, broader categories from previous estimates have frequently been split into multiple, highly specific regional groups. Entirely new regions will be labeled with a “New” badge. Regions that have been divided into 2 or more regions will be labeled with a “Split into” badge, and the related regions listed underneath
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Low-percentage trace regions from past updates may drop off if they represented background genetic noise, with those DNA segments being reattributed to a closer neighboring region.
 

Because DNA inheritance is random, your results won't match a family member's exactly. (Read more about inheritance patterns.)
 

It’s one thing to see your results for a region change by a few percentage points, but if you’re reading this, you probably saw a change of 10-20% or even more. That can be unsettling. Here are a few of the reasons behind these big changes.

Better resolution of closely related regions

The DNA of people from closely related regions can be very similar, making it more challenging to tell them apart. With more samples in our reference panel and our improved region assignment algorithm, we can better identify differences in DNA of closely related regions. For example, in this update, adjustments to our reference panel and our assignment algorithm allowed us to better distinguish Belgium and Switzerland from other regions in western and southern Germany.

A region you had has been split into smaller regions.

In this case, you will have lost one region and gained others. For example, in this update we disaggregated our old region Mainland Southeast Asia into multiple different regions including Cambodia, Iu Mien, Hmong, and Tai peoples. 

Here are some reasons why a region you think you should have might be missing from your results:

It could be the genetic influence of neighboring populations.

Some populations look very similar to others. For example, the genetic profiles of many European countries that share borders can look very similar because people from those countries have intermingled so much over time. West Africa is another area where we find lots of overlap between countries.

It could be that the result is on the edges of our predicted range.

You may not share enough DNA with the members of our reference panel for us to see this region in your DNA.

It could be the way genetic inheritance works.

Each person gets 50% of their DNA from Mom and 50% from Dad. But that means 50% of each parent’s DNA gets left behind. Also, what gets passed down and left behind is completely random. So you may not have inherited enough of the genetic markers that are more common to a particular region—though that doesn't mean that region isn't part of your past. (Read more about genetic inheritance.)

It could be because science is still a work in progress.

Identifying ancestral origins using your DNA is based on data that’s still being collected and cutting-edge science that’s still developing. You can expect changes and improvements as our scientists gather more data and develop new ways of analyzing your DNA.

It could be because regions do not follow modern political boundaries.

Changes in country boundaries and historical movements of people often leads to regions not fitting exact modern country borders. For example, people from Austria may see many Central and Eastern European regions like Eastern Czechia, Western Carpathian Basin, or Bavaria & Western Austria because of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. And some of our regions, like Southern Bantu Peoples, don’t follow country boundaries at all.

Here are some things to consider if your results don’t match what you know about your family tree:

You may not have inherited the DNA that we associate with a region.

Parents pass half of their DNA down to their children, but which DNA gets passed down and which doesn’t is completely random. That’s why even siblings can have different results. So even if you have a Swedish ancestor somewhere in your family tree, whether or not you get “Swedish” DNA passed down to you is partly a matter of chance. (Understanding Inheritance.)

Your family tree includes lots of people your genetic tree doesn’t.

With each generation, your odds of inheriting DNA from any individual in your family tree decrease. So, your family tree is actually full of people who might not show up in your DNA test results—but they’re still family. This is especially true the farther back you go in the tree!

Neighbors can look a lot alike.

We create part of your origins results by comparing your DNA to people in our ancestral regions reference panel, which divides the world into 302 overlapping regions. Those comparisons are based on statistical probabilities—no single perfect representative of French, Korean, or Egyptian DNA exists. Because these are probabilities, and because regions overlap, sometimes your DNA might look like a closer match to a nearby region in our reference panel than the one where your direct ancestors lived.

Genes don’t follow modern political boundaries.

The boundaries of many countries looked very different 100 years ago, and even more so the further back in time you go. So even though your ancestors may be from a given country, their genes may be more similar to people from neighboring regions. For example, the Frisians live in the Netherlands and northern Germany, but they have ties to the Anglo-Saxons in England. And it shouldn’t be a surprise if someone from northern Italy had DNA that looked like it came from France.

Grandma may have been less French than you realized.

We often think of our ancestors as having come from one place. However, like lots of people today, many of our ancestors had mixed backgrounds. So, if a great-grandparent who was born and raised in France was only 50% French, they had much less “French” DNA to pass down.

Some places are complicated.

Some places, like Nigeria, are home to many different peoples and populations. Other places, like parts of Europe, have had porous borders and people have married with people from surrounding regions. Both situations can make identifying populations or telling one group apart from another difficult. That’s why identifying ancestral origins is an ongoing challenge—a challenge AncestryDNA scientists are meeting by gathering more data and spending more hours on research.
 

The ancestral regions in AncestryDNA are based on available data. So what happens when we don't have much data about a region? You’ll likely get results from one or several neighboring regions. 

Two more things to keep in mind. First, some populations do not differ enough at a genetic level to emerge as separate groups. Second, countries change over time, and boundaries on a map today do not necessarily represent genetic boundaries, so there may be population groups or countries that never fall into a single region.

We’ve added a nesting structure for ancestral regions. With the addition of so many new regions, and the possibility that you’ll miss seeing those lower-percentage regions, we’ve grouped our highly specific regions under larger, more stable "macro-regions" defined by geography or population (e.g., "West Africa" or "Celtic & Gaelic"). This structure aims to enhance clarity, comprehension, and stability of results year-over-year. Nesting your regions under macro-regions makes them easier to scan and more relatable, while preserving core identities.

The macro-regions are designed to group your results in order to enhance clarity, comprehension, and relatability. The macro-regions are not a by-product of our analysis of your DNA and do not have an associated reference panel. For that reason, we haven’t assigned them a percentage. Instead, you can see what percent of your DNA we assigned to each of your more specific ancestral regions that are represented in our reference panel.

If you don't have a strong genetic link to a journey, or if we haven't identified one yet that links to your family’s past, it won't appear among your results.

Ancestral journeys are based on your matches with other members in the AncestryDNA database. If family members have different journeys, it’s because everyone has their own distinct set of matches. Family members will have different sets of matches because of the way DNA is passed from parent to child. Since you inherit half of your DNA from each of your parents, and which DNA you inherit is random, members of the same family will not have identical sets of matches. Similarly, because siblings inherit different DNA from their parents, they may also have different journeys.

Instead of comparing and then assigning sections of your DNA to a particular region, we look at your DNA matches to determine which ancestral journeys you have strong DNA ties to. DNA matches vary a lot in how much DNA they share. Some share a lot, some very little. However, it’s the interrelationship of lots of matches that make you part of a journey.

The result is an assignment that doesn’t tell you how much of your DNA comes from a particular journey but can provide much greater detail in other ways, such as geography and time.
 

Your “Regions by Parent” and “by Grandparent” results are based on our analysis of your DNA using SideView technology. This technology separates your DNA into the portions you inherited from each parent and grandparent. Then, our ancestral regions algorithm analyzes each portion separately to identify which regions came from which parent. Because your DNA is analyzed independently from your parents’/grandparents’ DNA, your results may look different from theirs. 

There are a few reasons why this can happen:

• Detectable regions: You may have inherited small amounts of DNA from each parent/grandparent for a region that wasn’t detectable in their results, but when those small amounts were combined in your DNA, they reached a detectable level that shows up in your results.
   
• DNA inheritance patterns: You inherit half of each parent’s DNA, but not necessarily half of each of their regions. Your parents may have regions they didn’t pass down to you, or they may have much higher percentages of certain regions than you do. The same patterns apply to your grandparents, from whom you inherited an even smaller amount of DNA.
   

• Similar neighboring regions: Some neighboring regions share very similar DNA patterns, which can make them hard to tell apart. Because your DNA and your parents’/grandparents’ DNA are analyzed separately, regions with similar DNA patterns can be identified differently in each person’s results. This happens because each person has a unique DNA mix, and our algorithm determines the pattern of region assignments that best fits their DNA profile.

   

• Percentage ranges: Each region in your results includes a percentage that represents the most likely amount of your DNA from that region. To determine that amount, we compare your DNA to the DNA of people in our reference panel and test many possible combinations of regions to see which ones best fit your overall DNA makeup. The percentages you see in your results reflect the combination of regions with the highest likelihood of being correct. However, because other combinations could also fit your DNA reasonably well, we include the results from these other combinations as a range of possible percentages for each region.

  For example, your results might show 10% for a region, but the range could be 5–10%. The 10% reflects the most likely estimate within that range. 

   

• Range overlaps: Sometimes percentages in your results can look surprising or unlikely when compared to parents’/grandparents’ results, but when you compare the ranges, they may still overlap. For example, your results might show 10% for a region, while your dad’s show 0% and your mom’s show 5%. Because you can only inherit what your parents have, a difference like this can be confusing, and you might wonder, “How could mine be higher than theirs combined?” Often, the explanation lies within the ranges. If both you and your mom have a range of 5–10% for that region, it’s likely your mom’s percentage is actually closer to 10% and yours is closer to 5%. This would make you and your parents’ results consistent with how DNA is passed down.
   

Your chromosome painter results are generated by our ancestral regions algorithm, which analyzes your DNA in small pieces to determine which population each piece is most likely related to. To do this, we divide your DNA into 1,001 small pieces and compare each one to our reference panel to identify which population it’s most similar to. That population helps us determine the region your DNA most likely comes from.

Sometimes, an entire chromosome may appear as a single region instead of a mix. This can happen because of how our assignment algorithm balances precision and consistency as it analyzes each chromosome. Here are a few reasons why you might see this pattern: 

• How the algorithm works: As it analyzes each chromosome, the algorithm compares each piece of DNA to our reference panel and identifies the population it’s most likely related to. Sometimes the top two regions share many overlapping genetic patterns, making them very similar in likelihood. When that happens, because the difference between the most likely and second-most-likely populations is usually very small, the algorithm tends to keep the same region label assigned to neighboring sections of DNA rather than switching to a new one. 
  
  For example, if one piece of DNA is equally likely to be French or Spanish, and all the other pieces of DNA before and after it have been labeled French, then the algorithm is likely to pick French to avoid unnecessary switching. This helps keep your results smooth and consistent across chromosomes.

   

• Why we smooth: This smoothing behavior reduces frequent or random switching between similar regions, which could otherwise make your results look patchy or inconsistent. Even if one piece could fit another region almost as well, the algorithm may keep the same region label across nearby sections to show a clearer overall pattern. Without this smoothing, your results might show dozens of tiny, back-and-forth switches, making the chromosome painter view look fragmented, “noisy,” and harder to interpret. 
   
• What that means for your results: In some cases, if a piece of DNA is labeled with the wrong region (for example, when the second-most-likely region is actually correct), the algorithm may continue labeling the neighboring pieces the same way until stronger evidence suggests a switch. While this can sometimes extend a region too far, this behavior helps improve overall precision by avoiding small, unnecessary switches between very similar regions.

Overall,  this process leads to more precise results. It reduces random variations ("noise") and  highlights the strongest, most consistent ancestral patterns ("signal") in your DNA.

We’ll continue refining our Chromosome painter and methods to make your results even more precise in future updates.
 

The region assignment algorithm assigns a region to every one of the 1,001 sections of DNA we analyse. For most customers, despite the precision of the algorithm and the smoothing steps we apply, some number of windows are assigned to regions not otherwise present in their results, resulting in a few regions with very small percentage values. Most of these reflect noise rather than genuine ancestral origins, and reporting all of them would obscure a customer's results rather than enrich them. We therefore report only regions that reach a minimum share of a customer's DNA, and we redistribute the remaining percentages among the regions we do report, so that the reported percentages total 100%. However, because we do this on the results in aggregate and do not track how any specific DNA window has been redistributed, we label these windows as “Unassigned” in the Chromosome painter.

The region assignment algorithm produces a probability for every region, so for most customers a large number of regions receive some very small value. Most of these reflect noise rather than genuine ancestry, and reporting all of them would obscure a customer's results rather than enrich them. We therefore report only regions that reach a minimum share of a customer's DNA, and we redistribute the remainder among the regions we do report, so that the reported percentages total 100%.

There are a few reasons why you may have regions in your results that your parents don't.

• Detectable regions: You may have inherited small amounts of DNA from each parent for a region that wasn’t detectable in either of their results, but when those small amounts were combined in your DNA, they reached a detectable level that shows up in your results.

   

• Similar neighboring regions: Some neighboring regions share very similar DNA patterns, which can make them hard to tell apart. Because your DNA and your parents’ DNA are analyzed separately, regions with similar DNA patterns can be identified differently in each person’s results. This happens because each person has a unique DNA mix, and our algorithm determines the pattern of region assignments that best fits their DNA profile.
   
• Percentage ranges: Each region in your results includes a percentage that represents the most likely amount of your DNA from that region. To determine that amount, we compare your DNA to the DNA of people in our reference panel and test many possible combinations of regions to see which ones best fit your overall DNA makeup. The percentages you see in your results reflect the combination of regions with the highest likelihood of being correct. However, because other combinations could also fit your DNA reasonably well, we include the results from these other combinations as a range of possible percentages for each region. If your percentage for a region is low, check the range to see if it includes 0%. If it does, you may not have a genetic connection to that region.
   

In general, low-percentage regions (below about 5%) are more likely to reflect difficult-to-assign pieces of DNA. Unless you have other evidence to support a connection to that region, regions below 5% assignment are more likely to be "noise" (i.e., miss-assigned segments of DNA), and less likely to be a true "signal."
 

It can certainly be confusing to see a region where you have documented family history replaced by a neighboring country or area in your AncestryDNA results. There are several scientific reasons why this happens.

• Human genetics do not strictly follow modern political borders. Country boundaries on a map today often look very different from the historical regions where your ancestors lived hundreds of years ago. Historical migration, trade, shifting empires, and intermarriage created broad areas of shared genetic heritage across neighboring regions.

   

• Populations in neighboring countries frequently share very similar DNA patterns. Our region assignment algorithm evaluates your DNA against an expanded global reference panel representing 302 regions. Because genetic profiles from adjacent areas can look so alike, the statistical probabilities between neighboring reference panels can be extremely close. As a result, a stretch of DNA inherited from an ancestor in one country may closely align with a neighboring reference group.
   
• Reference panel data availability plays an important role. To establish a distinct regional category, our science team requires a robust set of reference samples with deep roots in that exact area. If sufficient reference data for a specific modern country is not yet available, your DNA will reflect the closest neighboring region instead.
   

Finally, it helps to remember that ancestral regions measure deep population origins going back 500 years or more, whereas family trees and paper trails typically document more recent history. For recent family lines over the last 300 years, ancestral journeys inside can connect you directly to specific locations and migration paths through shared match networks.
 

To explain how this happens, it helps to look at how our region assignment algorithm uses a two-tier approach to find the populations your DNA is most similar to.

In the first tier, our algorithm evaluates your DNA at a macro level to assign each section to a broad continental area or super-population, such as Africa, Europe, or Asia. Once that broad top tier is selected, the second tier evaluates that DNA exclusively against the specific region reference panels within that chosen super-population.

When populations carry complex genetic signatures that share ancient historical markers with other bordering groups or are near continental borders, the top-tier model can occasionally make an error. For example, if the top tier accidentally routes a segment of DNA into the European super-population instead of the West Asian super-population, the second-tier model is restricted to choosing among European regions. In that scenario, it selects the closest available option within Europe.

This top-tier misclassification is what drives these types of unexpected discrepancies.

 

If you are of African descent, your results will show a new level of detail in the region names and locations. Using information from our African Ethnic Groups, we’re able to provide even greater detail about the ethnolinguistic groups your DNA connects you to. We’ve increased to 50 regions across the continent, and provide connection to 93 ethnic groups. The update phases out or heavily reduces broad, continental "catch-all" categories and replaces them with  highly specific ethnolinguistic groups, like Hausa & Fulani Peoples, Mali—Mandé Peoples, Southern Benin—Yoruba Peoples.

 

If you have North, Central or South American origins, you’ll see a new level of regional and cultural specificity in your results. Broader national and regional categories—such as Mexico, Yucatan, or Central America—have been broken down into highly precise, state-level and culturally informed regions names, such as Centro-Oriente Highlands (Mexico), Mayan Highlands (Guatemala), Orinoco Delta (Venezuela). Alongside this granularity, Hispanic customers will observe a large amount of their Spanish origins represented as the Canary Islands, highlighting the large role Isleños played in the Spanish settlement of the Americas.

In our 2026 update, we delivered 41 new regions in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh. These new regions offer an unprecedented level of specificity in people’s results, in some cases as specific as certain cultural and ethnic groups. We were able to develop these ancestral regions by making concerted efforts to increase the representation of these groups in our reference panel by using our large database of Ancestry customers. As a result, most people of South Asian descent will see a new breakdown, pointing them to one or more of these regions in India. 

The update significantly improves our distinction between European French descent and French-Canadian lineages. Those with roots in French-speaking Canada will likely see their results consolidate into the dedicated Quebec or Acadia regions. At the same time, those with more recent roots in France will likely see a gain in their assignment to our France region, along with possible assignment to neighboring regions like Belgium, Spain, or Southeastern England.

In recent updates, we’ve focused on bringing our regions into a more recent genealogical time period to make them more useful for family history research. As part of that effort, we’ve added two new regions representing people from French-speaking Canada: Acadia and Quebec.

Many people in the United States of America and Canada with family roots to early French settlers may now see these French Canadian regions appear more prominently in their results, replacing the broader France region.

We hope this guides you to the places and records that best support your family history research 

The update adds two new Jewish regions primarily covering parts of Iraq and Iran: Eastern Mizrahi and Western Mizrahi. Additionally,  because we have improved our resolution for deep Iberian and Mediterranean origins, customers from Latin America may see some reduction in their assignment to the Sephardic Jews in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

 

Like many of our other regions, the reference panel we use for our Sephardic, Mizrahi, and Ashkenazi Jewish regions were built using samples from Ancestry members. Specifically, these members’ DNA results and family tree information linked them to these geographically and ethnically specific communities.

Our Jewish regions do not represent the shared history of all Jewish groups. Importantly, having these regions in your results does not prove or disprove whether you belong to this ethnic group. Identifying with or being a member of an ethnic or cultural group involves much more than genetics. 

What it means to be Jewish is complex, and being Jewish can mean different things to different people. It can be a matter of religion. Being Jewish can also be a matter of heritage and culture. The AncestryDNA test explores less than 1% of DNA that varies among humans to estimate the populations your ancestors came from. 

In our 2025 update, we divided the Ashkenazi Jewish region into two new regions: one representing people with roots in Central & Southeastern Europe (including Germany, Austria, Romania, Bulgaria), and another representing those with roots in Eastern Europe & Russia (including Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia).

Because of the long history of endogamy (people having children with others in the same group) and migration across these areas, the DNA of Ashkenazi Jewish populations from these regions is very similar. Even though these two regions have different names, there’s still a lot of overlap in the areas they cover, especially in places like western Poland and Ukraine.

As a result, people with origins from these parts of Europe may see one or both of these regions in their results. These assignments reflect shared DNA patterns, not necessarily a personal, cultural, or religious connection. 
 

In this update, our new algorithm and improved reference panel mean we can now better distinguish English and German descent. In past updates, as we add new regions in Germany and the surrounding area, we saw some people with roots to more western parts of Germany have their results shift to neighboring regions, such as the Netherlands or Southeastern England & Northwestern Europe. Our current update has corrected these patterns, and so many people with origins in western Germany may see their assignments to German regions increase, while assignments to English regions decrease.

Our updated algorithm has been able to positively shift results for people of Scottish descent into specific local Scottish regions, like North East Scotland, Hebrides & Western Highlands, and Scottish Lowlands & Central Belt. At the same time, the shared histories of Scotland and Ireland means that we regularly see some amount of both Irish and Scottish descent showing up in both populations. In this update, we have added a new region in Northern Ireland, which covers much of Ulster. By adding this new region we have improved the localization and specificity of these results, better reflecting the true history of migration between Ulster, Ireland, and Southwestern Scotland.

IOur updated reference panel divides Ireland into five separate regions. The DNA of people from these areas is very similar, and we are pushing the limits of science to provide this level of detail to you. Because neighboring Irish regions share many genetic patterns, you may see assignments to some nearby regions that don’t perfectly match what you expect based on your family tree.

This highlights how complex it is to update our reference panel, since any change must be carefully balanced to keep results precise for people from both that region and nearby regions.

If your percentage for a region is low, check the range to see if it includes 0%. If it does, you may not have a genetic connection to that region. It’s also possible that the deep origins shown in your DNA point to a mix of DNA from ancestors you haven’t discovered yet. 
 

At this moment, we have not been able to develop an independent region for Hungary.  In cases like this, your results will reflect neighboring regions, like Eastern Slovakia or Carpathian Basin & Uplands. If you click into the region details, you will see that these regions encompass parts of Hungary as well. Importantly, countries change over time, and borders on a map today don’t necessarily reflect historical boundaries that may have shaped the genetics of these people over centuries. For example, the modern nations of Hungary and Slovakia were both previously a part of Austria-Hungary. So there may be countries that are covered by ancestral regions different from modern political boundaries.

Ancestry is continually working to expand the diversity of our products to provide more precise results to our members. Building new regions requires having enough data, usually in the form of Ancestry DNA test takers from that area, to identify a genetic profile specific to a population or area. 
 

Updates to our reference panel and our new algorithm mean that people with Southern Italian heritage will see much higher levels of these regions in their results, and will see a corresponding decrease in their Northern Italian assignments. 
 

Our new region assignment algorithm is improving the precision of results for many neighboring regions, including those in and around the Mediterranean. In 2025, we saw many people from Spain and Portugal see increased assignment to our northern Italian regions. Our current update has mostly reduced or eliminated these assignments for people of singular Portuguese or Spanish descent.

Hispanic, Latin American, and Caribbean people who previously had results linked to France, Spain, or Portugal are now seeing much higher assignments to the Canary islands in their results. In part, this is due to our improved algorithm better detecting the genetic impact of Canary Islanders (Isleños) on the colonization of the Americas by the Spanish. The Canary Islands served as the primary staging hub and final European port of call for Spanish ships crossing the Atlantic during the colonial era. Over several centuries, the Spanish Crown actively encouraged (and sometimes forced) the migration of Isleños to help populate and secure the colonies in the Americas.

Additionally, because of the geographic proximity and historical connection to West Africa, Canary Islanders carry a genetic profile that is similar to the mixture of African and Spanish DNA common in Latin America. As a result, our algorithm may be over-calling this region in the results of people from Latin America and the Caribbean.
 

Improvements to our algorithm have made our analysis more sensitive to DNA patterns linked to Sephardic Jewish groups and better able to distinguish them from those of other Iberian populations. While previous updates may have misapportioned Iberian DNA as Sephardic, with our new algorithm we can be much more exact. As a result, some people may now see decreased amounts of DNA assigned as Sephardic. You can check your range for this region to better understand how strong your connection to this region might be.

Importantly, having this region in your Origins results does not prove or disprove a personal or cultural connection to this ethnic group.
 

How did you develop your Eastern European Roma region?
 
Like many other ancestral regions, the reference panel we use for Eastern European Roma was built using samples from Ancestry members. Specifically, these members’ DNA results and family tree information linked them to the Romani people and this Eastern European area.

Our Eastern European Roma region does not represent the shared history of all Romani groups. Instead, it represents Romani people who live or have historically lived in areas of Eastern Europe. At the same time, because the global Romani community does have a common origin, Romani people not from Eastern Europe may still see some assignment to this region. Importantly, having this region in your results does not prove or disprove that you belong to this group. Identifying with or being a member of a cultural group involves much more than genetics. 
 

Where did you get your Romani DNA samples?
 
Like many of our other regions, the reference panel we use for Eastern European Roma  was built from Ancestry member samples. Specifically, these members’ DNA results and family tree information linked them to the Romani people and this Eastern European region. You can read our white paper to learn more about how we build our reference panels.

My old results seemed more detailed. Why did they change to Eastern European Roma?

Before we added our Eastern European Roma region, some people with Romani roots going back to Eastern Europe would get a mix of results that might include Northern India, Anatolia & the Caucasus, Greece & Albania, the Balkans, and other regions in the area between India and Greece.

A mix of results across this area is consistent with both early Roma history and how our science works

But, while that mixture of regions may reflect the  population’s complex ancient history, it’s not very useful for understanding a person’s individual family history. The mixture of regions makes it more difficult to trace where family members may have lived or moved to.

Our goal at Ancestry is to empower members to make discoveries about their family history; with this update, we aimed to provide greater precision in members’ results by adding our new Eastern European Roma region. Adding this new region could make interpreting your own results easier and will allow us to identify lower amounts of this origin in your DNA.

I do/don’t have the Eastern European Roma region in my results. Does that mean I am/am not Roma?
 
Origins results don’t prove or disprove that you belong to a particular group. Identifying with or being a member of a cultural group involves much more than genetics or family ties. It can also be a matter of choices, upbringing, family history, tradition, law, and many other factors.

If you are seeing more or less of the Eastern European Roma region in your results than you expect, this could be for several reasons:

First, a child only inherits half of each parent’s DNA. That means if your Romani ancestor is many generations removed from you, you may inherit less of that region in your results.

Second, DNA inheritance is random. Each parent passes down half their DNA to you, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they pass down half of each of their regions. (See Understanding Inheritance)

Third, a population’s history and interaction with neighboring groups can also influence DNA results. This could mean your percentages for our Eastern European Roma region could be different than expected and may appear alongside results from other regions in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

Fourth, predicting inheritance is not an exact science. The percentages for regions in your results are the most likely, but they're not the only possible results. Other possibilities may be nearly as likely. These other possible percentages make up the range in your results.

Our goal in the past few updates has been to bring our regions into a more recent genealogical time period, making them more valuable for family history research. So instead of pointing to origins from the past 1000+ years, we have focused our regions on reflecting the origins of people in the last 500-1000 years. This is why, for example, people with deep roots in Sicily may see a large number of assignments to neighboring regions disappear, and more of the DNA being assigned to Sicily specifically.

This has similarly happened in other regions, like in England, where customers have seen ancient connections to places to Norway, Sweden, and Germany disappear and be replaced by more assignments to England specifically.

 

Some people who previously had results linked to France, Spain, or Portugal are now seeing French Canadian regions in their results. The addition of our new French Canadian regions, Quebec and Acadia, along with new regions in England and Western Europe, has increased the likelihood of these French Canadian assignments.

One possible explanation is that the “older” European DNA in French-Canadians shares a closer genetic pattern with the “older” European origins found in Latin American and Caribbean people than either does with modern European DNA patterns found in our reference panel. This similarity can cause our region assignment algorithm to assign some of this DNA to French-Canadian regions more than expected in these groups. Adjusting these regions is part of our ongoing effort to deliver even more precise results for all members.

 

Even though we’re looking at people rather than places, most regions are named after a modern-day country or region where people in our reference panel have family going back generations.

Representing the people of the world fairly is a priority at AncestryDNA. We work with a diverse network of outside scholars and experts to develop and review how our regions are named. We go through several steps to name our regions.

We start with maps showing us the average DNA results for people who have lived a long time in a single area. We also consider who will typically get a region in their results to make sure a name is broad or narrow enough to be a good fit. That gives us a starting point.

From there we sometimes test various names with people local to an area or ask them for suggestions. Finally, we have a panel of outside subject-matter experts with local and scholarly expertise who can review our names for accuracy and cultural sensitivity.

The maps were created by determining the average results of people whose families have lived in the region for a long time. The maps are approximate, and people outside the highlighted shape may still have that region in their results. Similarly, only some people living within the highlighted area will have the region in their origins results. Additionally, for some African regions and several ethnoreligious regions–like Sephardic, Mizrahi, and Ashkenazi Jews and Germans in Russia—we also used historical population data to augment and refine the maps.

Ancestral journeys are based on technology that identifies groups of AncestryDNA members who are most likely connected because they share fairly recent ancestors (going back no more than 300 years) who lived in the same place or culture at the same time.

Once we identify an ancestral journey, we look for patterns in ancestral regions and data from family trees linked to AncestryDNA test results, including ancestral birth locations, to see where their ancestors lived and moved to. You don’t have to have a tree to get a journey, but trees that are connected to test results help us identify the story that explains a journey’s trajectory.

Historical researchers use that time and place data to look for the overarching story that binds those who share a journey together. While the timeline material in your results may not tell your ancestor's story exactly, it can give you insights into their daily lives and the events they lived through.
 

Journeys are based on AncestryDNA matches who most likely had relatives who lived at the same place and time in the past. However, not all journeys trace their roots back to the same point in time. Some are more recent, while others can go back to the 1700s.

Some of our regions carry names connecting them to specific ethnic groups, like our Mali—Mandé Peoples region. Other regions use geographic or ecological zones in their names, to indicate where people with this region have typically lived, like our Middle Euphrates, Kashmir & Punjab Foothills, or Mata Atlântica (Brazil) regions. Whether we include an ethnic group in the name or use a geographic area depends on the level of detail we have about who makes up the reference panel for that region and who will typically be getting this region in their results. In some cases, we may not have much information about how the people who will be getting this region self-identify. Where possible, we try to be descriptive and culturally relevant in the names we pick for regions that focus on geographic or ecological areas. Representing the people of the world fairly is our priority. We go through several steps and work with a diverse network of outside scholars and experts to develop and review how our regions are named.