Ancestry recently updated its estimates of the regions from which I (and everyone else) hail. As the volume of data increases, the overall picture should become clearer. They are certainly attempting a greater degree of granulation than seen on previous iterations. The estimates from 2020 suggested that I had a significant amount of Scot in me (0-23%). I questioned this in my blog ‘DNA ethnicity update’. The 2024 update reduced the figure to 14% Scot and introduced 7% Dutch into my mix.
For October 2025, there is a split by region by parent. The Dutch element is now down to 5% and only appears on my mother’s side. That is credible from a geographical perspective: it is only a short trip across the North Sea from Kent and Sussex. I am pleased to note that ‘Scottish’ has disappeared completely. In its place is 3% North East England. Again, this is a maternal connection. I am not aware of the link, but it is worth examining in due course.
The Irish connection has been subdivided. The main element is still Connacht (the province that includes Roscommon) but suggests traces of Donegal (in the NW) and Leinster (the province that surrounds Dublin). Those are new locations to consider.
On the paternal side there is 1% from Northwestern Germany. My Y DNA results have connections from many parts of mainland Europe. In all probability, the common ancestors are hundreds of years back. I am not sure that I can use that slice of information.
Many, if not most, of my DNA matches have very little in the way of family trees available to view. This reduces the scope for making full use of the geographical information. I would prefer future updates to continue subdividing by parent and then by grandparent. The vast majority of the 6843 paternal matches (as at October 2025) where detailed analysis is possible, come from my paternal grandmother. Names on that side are Delves, Highlands (with many variations of spelling), Denton and York. It is relatively straightforward to map out a family tree if your relatives came from the South East of England. I could easily add another one or two hundred names to the tree that I have published on Ancestry. I would immediately find common ancestors with more of my DNA matches. This would validate our research. And they would all be clustered in that same part of the country. The problem that is common to all of us with Irish roots is a sparsity of records. It is difficult to produce a credible family tree without good data. But some information is better than no information.
Photo: St. Thomas a Beckett Church, Framfield, Sussex. Many of my Highlands ancestors came from Framfield. The village was probably established in Saxon times. Digitised Parish records date from 1538. I would not have started these blogs if I was investigating the Highlands family from Sussex. I explained my motivation in the very first post ‘The search begins’.