I have been identified as 5% Jewish, how do I find out more information about this part of my DNA?
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What a find!! 5 % Jewish. In our Help Center you may find this Article
Using DNA in family history research
Article Id: 1694
April 20, 2020
DNA testing has become a big part of genealogy and family history. DNA matches, sometimes referred to as cousin matches, can be the link to overcoming brick walls in family history research, help adoptees find their birth families, and lead to exciting new family history discoveries.
On FamilySearch.org, you will find a free, user-friendly resource to provide simple, beginner-level answers to common DNA questions, such as:
- What is DNA?
- How can DNA help me find my ancestors?
- Which DNA test options are available?
- What should I do after completing a DNA test?
DNA testing does not replace traditional forms of family history research. Rather, it can complement a well-documented family tree.
Please note that FamilySearch does not endorse or recommend any commercial DNA applications for genetic genealogy. Nor does our Family Tree provide specific features to post or link DNA groups based on DNA matches.
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Note that anything below two digits in those "ethnicity" categorizations may be inaccurate.
In broad outline, those categorizations are based on the similarity of your DNA to the DNA of people in "reference populations". If everyone with the pattern "CATCAT" (or in reality, something much, much longer) belongs to Group M in the company's reference populations, then if you have that pattern, they'll assign it to Group M. But it's entirely possible -- likely, even -- that the same "CATCAT" pattern is also found in Groups N and P, just not among the members of those groups who happened to make it into the reference populations. So you'll be in Group M even if you actually got your particular CATCAT from an ancestor in Group P.
The other consideration is that despite what all of the DNA companies would have you believe, geography is not actually genetic. Yes, farmers tended to stay put for many generations, but there were always wars, famines, and other upheavals that caused people to pick up and move long distances, often in large groups -- and then when they got to their destination, they tended to marry the other people who'd come from the same area, preserving DNA patterns associated with Place A while living in Place B, hundreds of miles and several political boundaries away from A. Modern reference populations do not necessarily notice or recognize such "islands", especially not when they go back many centuries.
Granted, Jewish genes tend to be pretty distinctive and well-documented, so you probably do have a great-great-grandparent who was Jewish, but even so, you shouldn't believe everything the DNA site says about what part of Europe said ancestor may have come from.
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