AncestryDNA® Ethnicity Estimates Updated

by Lisa Cooke | Oct 21, 2019 | 01 What's New, DNA | 4 comments

Here’s the latest DNA update quoted from Ancestry®:

Ancestry® Expands Reference Panel to Deliver More Precise Results and New Regions

“Today, Ancestry® announced their latest update to AncestryDNA® ethnicity estimates.

This update was made possible thanks to an increase in the AncestryDNA reference panel.

The reference panel is now more than double its previous size with samples from more places around the world, allowing Ancestry to determine ethnic breakdowns with a higher degree of precision.  

New ethnicity estimates will roll out to new and existing customers over several months, resulting in these potential developments for customers.”

New Ethnicity Regions

From their blog post:

“For example, previously we had North and South America as two large regions: Native American–Andean and Native American–North, Central, South.

With this new update, we are able to refine the areas into 11 smaller ones.

If you received one of the older regions before, your new report will most likely have one of the newer, more precise regions instead like Indigenous Eastern South America, Indigenous Cuba, and Indigenous Americas–Mexico, among others.” 

More Global Regions

“This advancement will enable AncestryDNA to deliver even more regions globally to enhance the experience across diverse populations including improvements and region realignment in West Africa, northwestern Europe, the Americas, Oceania, and South Asia.”

When You Will See the Update

“It’s important to note that we are phasing the update over time to ensure individual attention is given to delivering each result; therefore, some may see results earlier or later than others.”

Read the Full Announcement

Get all the details on this new update announcement by reading their article Ancestry® Expands Reference Panel to Deliver More Precise Results and New Regions. 

List of AncestryDNA® Regions

“More than 1,000 global regions make up the ethnicities displayed in our DNA test. As DNA science improves, the number of regions we test for (and the countries covered in each region) may change.

This article lists each region, but to see which areas of the globe are included in the regions, you’ll need to view the list from your DNA Story page (which will highlight an area of the map when you click a region).

To see all the regions, click See other regions tested at the bottom of your ethnicity estimate and click on a region on the next page. 

Ethnicity Estimate FAQ

Check out the interactive map and watch the explanatory video: FAQ for new AncestryDNA ethnicity estimate.

Click here for AncestryDNA ethnicity estimate FAQ

Results May Vary, Here’s an Example

If you’ve taken a DNA test, you may have received different ethnicity results than you expected and different from your family members. DNA expert Diahan Southard explains why this happens in the Genealogy Gems article “Results May Vary:” One Family’s DNA Ethnicity Percentages. Click here to start reading now.  

Click here to pick from our vast collection of DNA articles including DNA Ethnicity Accuracy: How It’s Getting More Specific.

More Resources

Get the DNA SUPER BUNDLE: 10 Quick Reference genetic genealogy guides by Diahan Southard at the Genealogy Gems store. 

10 DNA Genetic Genealogy quick reference guides by Diahan Southard available now at the Genealogy Gems Store.

What Do You Think?

Have you noticed the update in your AncestryDNA® account? Did this update deliver any surprises? Please leave a comment below and share what you learned.