DNA is pretty hot right now. All the companies are advertising it like some magic bullet, like with a swab or a tube of spit you will know who you are are where you come from. I’ve done two DNA tests, one with National Geographic (transferred to FamilyTreeDNA) and one with Ancestry, and am considering a third test with Living DNA and yet I would still hesitate to recommend DNA to anyone, especially as a first line genealogy tool.

The first question I would ask someone considering DNA is why. What do you hope to learn? A friend had a specific bit of information -she wanted to see if there was any native ancestry in her family. This is a good question and one that DNA can easily answer. A cousin of mine had a similar question -we know we have native DNA in our family, but which indigenous people does it come from? This is a question that cannot yet be answered.

In terms of ethnicity, every company approaches it differently based on the data they’ve collected. You can see in the picture below that each company has different estimates for my ethnicity -clearly the accuracy is questionable. (Personally, based on what I know, I believe the National Geographic one to be the most accurate, although the region “Finland and Siberia” is sketchy). Regardless, even the most accurate ethnicity tests are not breaking down the results by country, but by more general regions. The newest test on the block, Living DNA, breaks the regions down the most of any DNA test, hence my interest in taking it. It would be nice to have my British DNA broken down a little further, but then, how much British DNA do I have, versus how much British DNA does an older member of my family have? Maybe it would be better to have my great-aunt take the test instead.

Ftdna ethnicity estimate

Ancestry ethnicity estimate

National geographic ethnicity estimates

This leads me to my final point. Aside from ethnicity, the other reason people do DNA tests is for their “family finding.” Certainly, you’ll discover many, many new cousins. If you want to be able to sort through your matches, it’s incredibly useful to have someone from each side of the family tested. Your parents will have more of your ancestor’s DNA than you, your grandparents even more than that. If you’re fortunate enough to have grandparents or great-aunts/uncles alive, consider asking them to test. That way, when you get a list of matches, you’ll at least know what branch of the family you’re related on. But then what will you do? Even if you know which branch of the family you are related on, when it comes down to it, both sides need a family tree to compare. DNA is not going to do the work of building that family tree for you.