my iGENEA test

[Amphipolis]

So YouTube is full of YouTubers presenting their DNA tests, I've seen many of them with crazy reactions, here's the most interesting, a young woman finding out she's not her father's daughter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fS8nPo21Dg

[Amphipolis]

I liked these videos of myheritage dna very much and it's very cheap so I ordered two (I'll keep the second one for my mother). The variety of results I saw for people from several countries (Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Albania etc.) is very interesting. Thank you.

[tchaiku]

Gedmatch results are more accurate. This Cypriot gets 54% ''Greek'' however look at his gedmatch results.

Gedmatch.com Eurogenes K13 Results:
# Population (source) Distance
1 Cyprian 5.9
2 Lebanese_Muslim 9.67
3 Sephardic_Jewish 10.2
4 Algerian_Jewish 10.35
5 South_Italian 10.71
6 Tunisian_Jewish 10.73
7 Italian_Jewish 11.3
8 Syrian 11.5
9 Ashkenazi 11.55
10 Libyan_Jewish 11.66
11 East_Sicilian 11.69
12 Central_Greek 12.18
13 Samaritan 13.19
14 Lebanese_Christian 13.75
15 Turkish 14.12
16 Lebanese_Druze 14.52
17 Jordanian 15.08
18 Assyrian 15.64
19 Palestinian 15.78
20 Italian_Abruzzo 16.04

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpCOIDYmUCw

[maco2envy]

Quora, really?

[tchaiku]

Autosomal Tests are not very accurate especially if you pass 300 years.
Albanians in MyHerirage usually score 60%-100% as "Greek".
CIassification as Italian, Greek, Balkan etc have different meaning. The Greek in MyHeritage Dna is used to represent something else.

We've come to the reason I absolutely dislike these DNA tests.

What these companies call 'Greek' is actually the classification that many other ethnic groups are subconsciously represented by as well. Let's look at MyHeritage's other classifications one can score that make sense to have for Albanians:

Balkan

Balkan is a classification specifically made by MyHeritage to denote South Slavic ancestry, which is a combination of incoming Slavic tribes in the Early Middle Ages, and assimilated Thracians, Illyrians, Dacians etc. Since Albanians are a Paleo-Balkanic people without (major) Slavic ancestry.. they do not score this in great amounts. Matter of fact, I have seen Greeks score more of this, especially northern Greeks score around 30% Balkan, than Albanians.

That's it. No other classification than 'Greek', a fellow Paleo-Balkanic ethnic group, that makes the slightest sense for Albanians to score in their results. It does not matter whether it is South or north, Tosk or Gheg Albanians we are speaking of, they score 'Greek' because that is the only ethnic group in MyHeritage's database genetically closest to them. It has nothing to do with Tosks having some Greek ancestors, Kosovars also score loads of 'Greek' and often even more than actual Greeks.
What exactly does Greek mean on the My heritage DNA test? Albanians seem to score very high percentages even though they aren't Greeks, so who is in their database for "Greek"?
We've come to the reason I absolutely dislike these DNA tests.

What these companies call 'Greek' is actually the classification that many other ethnic groups are subconsciously represented by as well. Let's look at MyHeritage's other classifications one can score that make sense to have for Albanians:

Balkan

Balkan is a classification specifically made by MyHeritage to denote South Slavic ancestry, which is a combination of incoming Slavic tribes in the Early Middle Ages, and assimilated Thracians, Illyrians, Dacians etc. Since Albanians are a Paleo-Balkanic people without (major) Slavic ancestry.. they do not score this in great amounts. Matter of fact, I have seen Greeks score more of this, especially northern Greeks score around 30% Balkan, than Albanians.

That's it. No other classification than 'Greek', a fellow Paleo-Balkanic ethnic group, that makes the slightest sense for Albanians to score in their results. It does not matter whether it is South or north, Tosk or Gheg Albanians we are speaking of, they score 'Greek' because that is the only ethnic group in MyHeritage's database genetically closest to them. It has nothing to do with Tosks having some Greek ancestors, Kosovars also score loads of 'Greek' and often even more than actual Greeks.

A northern Greek’s results.

A northern and central Greek’s results.

My father took a Myheritage DNA test, he is both Kosovar and Greek, and he turned out to be 67.1% 'Greek'. His Greek side is from the Peleponnese and northern Greece, where the people do have quite some foreign admixture thus if he were only Greek he would not score more than 60% Greek, and his Albanian side is obviously from Kosovo, a region with absolutely no historical Greek population. A Gheg (northern) Albanian I met on the internet showed his results and they said he is 94% Greek.

'Greek' includes the descendants of other Paleo-Balkanic peoples with little Slavic ancestry, so does it include many west Anatolian ancient nations such as Carians, Lydians, Lycians, Mysians, Bithynians etc. It is a big mistake for companies to call the classification they make for the Greek people 'Greek' if they do not make seperate additional classifications to represent Albanians and ancient Anatolian ancestry, who otherwise just fall under the ‘Greek’ section. Thus one should take their results with a grain of salt.

https://www.quora.com/What-exactly-does-Greek-mean-on-the-My-heritage-DNA-test-Albanians-seem-to-score-very-high-percentages-even-though-they-arent-Greeks-so-who-is-in-their-database-for-Greek/answer/Baris-Ates-1

[Amphipolis]

I'm not disappointed. Why did you get that impression?

I even shared my haplogroup earlier on this thread, which I found out on my own separately.

PS:

DNA results/ancestry is not something I have control over

Are you thinking to do a test yourself?

Definitely, something around 500$.

[Carlin]

Thanks. That doesn't sound so bad, so I don't know why you're disappointed. Also, confirming what you might already expect is not so bad (though we all like surprises).

I'm not disappointed. Why did you get that impression?

I even shared my haplogroup earlier on this thread, which I found out on my own separately.

PS:

DNA results/ancestry is not something I have control over

Are you thinking to do a test yourself?

[Amphipolis]

Sorry, what do you mean close to any of these?

Yes, there are percentages and I am mostly Europe South (ancestrydna gives a range of 44% to 64% and rounds it to '55%'). I also have Europe East as I said earlier (roughly at 35%). I also received a few different Low Confidence Regions, the highest being Caucasus 3%.

Thanks. That doesn't sound so bad, so I don't know why you're disappointed. Also, confirming what you might already expect is not so bad (though we all like surprises).

[Carlin]

I see you uploaded an image and you already removed it a few hours laters, but at least the links you gave have some images with quantities which is close to what I remember from previous posters





Was it close to any of these? Did it have percentages?

Sorry, what do you mean close to any of these?

Yes, there are percentages and I am mostly Europe South (ancestrydna gives a range of 44% to 64% and rounds it to '55%'). I also have Europe East as I said earlier (roughly at 35%). I also received a few different Low Confidence Regions, the highest being Caucasus 3%.

[So between Europe South, Europe East and Caucasus I am at 93%, the rest being Low Confidence regions, like Europe West at 1%, Finland/NW Russia 1% and Middle East 1%, etc.]

[Carlin]

maco2envy - I didn't specify any prior information with regards to my background.

Niko777 - I think I didn't explain this properly. Rep. of Macedonia is included within the sub-region of Europe South/Greece, Turkey & Albania - but it is also included in Europe East. Here is the map of Europe East, as defined by AncestryDNA of course.





From AncestryDNA (copy and paste):

Europe East

Primarily located in: Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria, Russia, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia

Also found in: Germany, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Estonia, Bulgaria

The Europe East region stretches from the Baltic Sea in the north to the borders of Greece in the south. Throughout history, the region has stood at the crossroads—and often in the crosshairs—of Europe and Central Asia. Despite constant invasions and occupations over the centuries, the hardy inhabitants have, nevertheless, managed to persevere.

[Amphipolis]

I see you uploaded an image and you already removed it a few hours laters, but at least the links you gave have some images with quantities which is close to what I remember from previous posters





Was it close to any of these? Did it have percentages?

[maco2envy]

Southern Bulgarians are Thracians

[Niko777]

Sub-region "Greece, Turkey & Albania"

Interesting how Macedonia (and southern Bulgaria) are the only "Slavic" nations in the same DNA subregion as Greece, Asia Minor, Albania, and not in a region with the other "Slavic" countries.

[maco2envy]

I lot of Macedonians I know which have taken the AncestryDNA test have been falling into this so-called "Greece, Turkey & Albania" subregion. Quick question Carlin, did you specify any prior information with regards to your background to AncestryDNA?

[Carlin]

So, will you share the results? We're interested in the format, not your actual ancestry. Is it worth it?

It depends what you are looking for (?). I honestly didn't do a thorough review/comparison of different ancestry testing services, and went with AncestryDNA as the kit was on sale - the price was significantly reduced. Some online classify AncestryDNA as the best service for what it offers and price-point.

https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-dna-test/

Also, 3 Mistakes to Avoid When Shopping for a DNA Test:

https://geneticsdigest.com/best_ancestry_genealogy_dna_test/index.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI697A7pqJ3QIVwrfACh1bkg3bEAAYASAAEgJ3pvD_BwE

Anyway, AncestryDNA will present your Ethnicity results based on different AncestryDNA Regions, such as: Europe South, Europe East, Europe West, Caucasus, Middle East, etc. Each of these regions has its own sub-regions.

For example, I am mostly Europe South (primarily located in "Italy/Greece", with the sub-region "Greece, Turkey & Albania" - Rep. of Macedonia is included within this sub-region "Greece, Turkey & Albania" - but it also appears under Europe East), and Europe East coming in second. I also have traces from other regions which AncestryDNA classifies as Low Confidence Regions, such as: Caucasus, Europe West and even Finland/NW Russia!

Sub-region "Greece, Turkey & Albania"