While your DNA stays the same, our science is constantly improving to provide more precise and informative results. With this update we added more samples to our reference panel, which expands the number and diversity of populations we can compare your DNA to. You may see new regions or changes in your percentages with this update.

AncestryDNA calculates your ancestral regions by comparing your DNA to a reference panel made up of DNA samples from more than 185,000 people representing 146 different populations. Because our reference panel and the way we analyze your DNA both change as we get more data, your results can change as we get more data, too. See this support article for a deeper dive into ancestry regions.

Ancestry is constantly updating our technology and cutting-edge science. As we update our algorithm and reference panel, your results may change. Additionally, as we add more and more customers to our AncestryDNA database, we hope to increase the number and granularity of our regions, making each update more precise.

We calculate your ancestral regions by comparing your DNA to a reference panel made up of thousands of DNA samples from people with long family histories in one place or within one group. Our reference panel is robust due to the millions of family trees linked to our DNA customers. For this update, Ancestry’s team of scientists increased the AncestryDNA reference panel size we use to make these comparisons. The updated reference panel has more samples from more parts of the world, which allowed us to increase the total number of regions available for analysis from 107 to 146.

Because this update is more precise overall, many users will see improvements in their results as percentages change. Others will see new or updated regions in their results. Ancestry will continue to work to expand the diversity of our products to provide more precise insights to our customers.

In this update we’ve also added a new nesting hierarchy for ancestral regions. With the addition of so many new regions, and the possibility that you’ll miss seeing those lower-percentage regions, we’ve grouped our new more specific regions under larger "macro-regions" defined by geography or population (e.g., "West Africa" or "Celtic & Gaelic"). Nesting your regions under these macro-regions makes your results easier to scan and more relatable, while preserving core identities. This structure aims to enhance clarity, comprehension, and stability of results year-over-year.

The macro-regions are designed to group your results in order to enhance clarity, comprehension, and relatability. The macro-regions don’t have an associated reference panel and are not the result of our analysis of your DNA. So they aren’t assigned a percentage. Instead, you can see what percent of your DNA we assigned to each of your more specific ancestral regions that are represented in our reference panel.

To estimate your ancestral origins, we compare your DNA to the DNA of people with long family histories from specific parts of the world. This group of individuals is called our reference panel. The unique AncestryDNA reference panel is a collection of over 185,000 DNA samples from around the globe that we use to identify 146 different populations. It’s unique because most samples come from our database, and many have their heritage documented through Ancestry family trees.

Representing the people of the world fairly is our priority. We go through several steps and work with a diverse network of outside scholars and experts to develop and review how our regions are named. We start with a set of maps that show us where we typically find a particular ethnicity region in the results of people who are native to an area. We also consider who will typically be getting a region in their results to make sure a name is broad or narrow enough to be a good fit. That gives us a starting point. From there we sometimes test various names with users local to an area or ask them for suggestions. Finally, we have a panel of outside subject-matter experts with local and scholarly expertise who review our names for both accuracy and cultural sensitivity.

With this update, we’ve added more samples to the reference panel we use to determine ancestral regions. As a result, we’re able to deliver 68 new or updated regions. These include:

• Connacht, Ireland
• Donegal, Ireland
• Leinster, Ireland
• Munster, Ireland
• Isle of Man
• North East Scotland
• Central Scotland & Northern Ireland
• Hebrides & Western Highlands, Scotland
• Northern Wales & North West England
• Southern Wales
• Brittany, France
• Devon & Somerset
• East Midlands
• Northern England
• Southeastern England & Northwestern Europe
• West Midlands
• Cornwall
• Russian Germans
• Northwestern Germany
• Southern Germanic Europe
• The Netherlands
• Metropolitan France
• Acadia
• Quebec
• Denmark
• Sweden
• Norway
• Iceland
• Finland
• Azores
• Madeira
• Portugal
• Canary Islands
• Northern Spain
• Spain
• Basque
• Malta
• Sardinia
• Central Italy
• Northeastern Italy
• Northwestern Italy
• Southern Italy
• Sicily
• Crete
• Ionian Islands
• Northern & Central Greece
• Southern Greece
• Aegean Islands
• Western Balkans
• Northwestern Balkans
• Southwestern Balkans
• Romania
• Slovenia
• Albania
• Eastern European Roma
• Sephardic Jews in the Eastern Mediterranean
• Sephardic Jews in Northern Africa
• Ashkenazi Jews in Eastern Europe & Russia
• Ashkenazi Jews in Central & Southeastern Europe
• Estonia & Latvia
• Lithuania
• Northeastern Poland
• North Central Europe
• Southern Poland
• Slovakia
• Western Ukraine
• Eastern Czechia
• Russia

As our reference panel continues to grow, we are able to refine our regions and provide more precise results.

In this update we’ve added a new nesting hierarchy for ancestral regions, grouping more specific regions under larger, more stable "macro-regions" defined by geography or population (e.g., "West Africa" or "Celtic & Gaelic"). This structure aims to enhance clarity, comprehension, and stability of results year-over-year, making them easier to scan and more relatable, while preserving core identities.

Additionally, subregions, which were introduced in 2024 to provide additional specific insights, have been retired in the 2025 update. With technological advancements and updated reference panels, Ancestry can now achieve similar granularity directly through ancestral regions.

Yes, your “By parent” results may change. We break down the regions you inherited from each parent using your own DNA information and our proprietary SideView technology. Because this update expands the number and diversity of populations we compare your DNA, the regions you inherited from each parent might also change. You may see new regions or changes in percentages with this update.

The 2025 update includes 68 new and updated European ancestral regions, which will significantly impact the results of people with roots in Europe. At the same time, your family doesn’t just have to be from Europe to see these changes. French and British Canadians, African Americans and Afro-Caribbeans, Central and South Americans—just to name some examples—are all likely to see the impact of these changes too.

Additionally, in this update we’ve added a new nesting hierarchy for ancestral regions, grouping more specific regions under larger, more stable "macro-regions" defined by geography or population.

We know that big changes to your results can be a little disorienting at first, especially when they involve areas core to our identity. The new macro-region structure aims to enhance clarity and comprehension of your results. The new display will make your results easier to scan while preserving core identities.

In this update, we separated the previous Germanic Europe into more specific regions like Southern Germanic Europe and Northwestern Germany. As a result of narrowing the scope of these German regions, people with roots to more western parts of Germany may see their results shift to neighboring regions, such as the Netherlands or Southeastern England & Northwestern Europe, a region which also includes parts of Belgium, the Netherlands, northern France, and western Germany.

Ancestry is continually working to expand the diversity of our products to provide more precise results to our members. Building new regions requires having enough data to identify a genetic profile specific to a population or area. At this moment, we have not been able to develop an independent region for Hungary. In cases like this, your results will reflect neighboring regions, like Slovakia or Northwestern Balkans. If you click in to the region details, you will see that these regions encompass parts of Hungary as well. Importantly, countries change over time, and borders on a map today don’t necessarily reflect historical boundaries that may have shaped the genetics of these people over centuries. For example, the modern nations of Hungary and Slovakia were both previously a part of Austria-Hungary. So there may be countries that are covered by ancestral regions different from modern political boundaries.

In this update, we made significant changes to our regions in Scotland and Ireland, adding greater levels of granularity and narrowing the scope of these regions. At the same time, the shared histories of these nations means that we regularly see some amount both Irish and Scottish descent showing up in both populations. By strengthening our reference panels for both of these populations, you may see your results shift, better capturing your Irish or Scottish heritage.

The previous Germanic Europe region has been separated into more specific regions like Southern Germanic Europe, Northwestern Germany, and North Central Europe, which covers Eastern Germany and Western Poland. People with roots to Central, Southern, and Western Germany will predominantly see the new Southern Germanic Europe region show up in their results. Those with roots in Northern Germany will see mainly the Northwestern Germany region, as well as the Netherlands. Individuals with roots in Eastern Germany will see their results most significantly shifted, with North Central Europe becoming a more prominent region in their results. This reflects the mixed German-Polish population that lived in the former eastern territories of Germany. With new advances in the technology behind the ancestral regions, our estimates are becoming more precise, especially for people of an admixed origin.

In 2025, updates to our reference panel and the addition of many new regions in the Mediterranean area (e.g., Sicily, Crete, Aegean Islands, and Ionian Islands) mean that our Southern Italy ancestral region has become much more focused and specific to Italy. In 2024, we saw assignment to our Southern Italy region go up in many historically connected areas around the Mediterranean, including Greece, Crete, and Turkey. Now, many of these areas have their own ancestral regions, reducing the prominence of Southern Italy in members’ results.

In 2024, we saw assignment to our Southern Italy region go up in many historically connected areas around the Mediterranean, including Turkey. In our 2025 update, we’ve been able to adjust this. The addition of many new regions in the Mediterranean area—Sicily, Crete, Aegean Islands, and Ionian Islands—means that our Southern Italy ancestral region has become much more focused and specific to Italy. This has resulted in higher assignments to our Anatolia & the Caucasus region for those with roots in Turkey and the eastern Mediterranean.

In 2025, updates to our reference panel helped us to add many new regions in the Mediterranean area including Sicily, Crete, Aegean Islands, and Ionian Islands. These updates have made these regions more focused and specific. A subsequent effect of these new regions is that people with roots to neighboring North African and Middle Eastern areas have seen these Mediterranean regions drop out of their results, and seen their assignment to regions in North Africa or the Middle East increase.

In 2025, updates to our reference panel allowed us to add new regions in Germany and England, creating more specific and precise assignments while balancing the results for Western Europe. As a result, individuals with roots back to the Netherlands are likely to see more assignment to the Netherlands ancestral region and less assignment to any of these neighboring regions.

Our 2025 update to our reference panel and assignment algorithm have allowed us to adjust the assignment of our Norway and neighboring Scandinavian regions. As a result, people with deep roots to Norway will now see more of this region reflected in their results.

In this year's update we’ve added 2 new regions representing people from French-speaking Canada: Acadia and Quebec. Many people in the US and Canada with family roots to early French American settlers will see these French Canadian regions appear more prominently in their results, replacing our previous France region. Additionally, with the development of multiple new regions in England and Western Europe, those with roots to European France may see an increase in their assignment to the regions Southeastern England & Northwestern Europe, Southern Germanic Europe, and Spain.

The latest update replaced the 2 broad regions Central & Eastern European and the Baltics with 8 new regions: Estonia & Latvia, Lithuania, Northeastern Poland, North Central Europe, Southern Poland, Slovakia, Western Ukraine, and Eastern Czechia. These new regions greatly improved our regional specificity. As a knock-on effect, they reduced the assignment of our Russia region for people with roots to many of these neighboring countries.

In previous updates, we’ve seen an over-assignment of regions including Denmark and Sweden to people with roots to southern England. This pattern reflects the historical connection between these people. This year, with the update of 7 regions in England and the new Northwestern Germany region, we were able to lower the assignment of Denmark for people with roots to many of the surrounding regions. Overall, this represents an improved experience, and one that better reflects the true genealogical roots of these individuals.

Like many of our other ethnicity regions, the reference panel we use for our new Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jewish regions were built using samples from Ancestry customers. Specifically, these customers’ DNA results and family tree information linked them to these geographically and ethnically specific communities.

Importantly, having this region in your ethnicity results does not prove or disprove whether you belong to this ethnic group. Identifying with or being a member of an ethnic, cultural, or religious group involves much more than genetics.

Additionally, our Sephardic Jewish regions do not represent the shared history of all Sephardic groups. Instead, they represent Sephardic people who live or have historically lived in specific areas around the Mediterranean including Spain, Turkey, Greece, and North Africa.

What it means to be Jewish is a complex issue, and being Jewish can mean different things to different people. It can be a matter of religion. Being Jewish can also be a matter of shared heritage and culture. The AncestryDNA test explores the less than 1% of DNA that varies among humans to estimate the populations your ancestors came from.

As people move, so does their DNA. To bring you the most precise results in your ancestral region estimate we aim to build a reference panel that includes people whose DNA is typical of DNA from a certain place. To do this, we look for people whose families have lived in the same country or part of a country for generations. These are customers with deep roots to that place, and their long family history in that place is reported in their Ancestry family trees.

Many customers won’t see big changes. As our science and data improve, we’re able to provide more precise and informative ancestral region estimates, but this doesn’t always happen all over the world at once. So while some customers may see new regions or changes in their percentages, others may see smaller changes or no changes at all. We'll keep using advances in science to enhance our customers' experiences, which means that your results could evolve as the resolution of our DNA estimates improve even more.

This updated ethnicity estimate is provided free of charge to AncestryDNA customers.

Your new results will appear in your DNA Origins whether you are logged in via mobile or desktop. If you would like to view your new results in the Ancestry App, please make sure you have downloaded the most updated version.

This year, App users in the US, CA, AU, and UK will also be able to explore the new DNA Highlights feature, to first time and returning users. DNA Highlights summarizes your DNA results and pairs interesting stats with content from DNA Origins to provide catchy images and videos that can be shared with family and friends.

You will be able to view and download the prior version of your ethnicity estimate in DNA Story for 90 days after the update.

No, we can update your results without you having to provide a new sample.

When you receive your DNA results, they’ll include the latest ethnicity estimate.

As soon as your new results are ready, we will automatically apply this update. The new results will replace your current ancestral region estimate.

We’ve added thousands of additional samples to the reference panel we use to determine your ancestral regions, building it up from 116,800 people to over 185,000. With this additional data, we are able to identify 146 different world populations to compare your DNA to, and we’re also better able to tell neighboring regions apart. This increased precision means you could see changes to the regions your DNA is assigned to, your percentages, or both.

Don’t worry—your DNA hasn’t changed! What’s changed is the amount of data we have available to compare it to. We’ve added thousands of additional samples to the reference panel we use to determine your ancestral regions. This means we can now identify 146 different world populations to compare your DNA against. Our larger reference panel lets us provide results that are even more precise. Analyzing DNA to estimate a person’s ancestral origins is at the cutting edge of science—in a field that is evolving rapidly. We are always keeping an eye on the latest developments and how we can use them to make improvements to your test results.

Increased precision means we’re better able to tell neighboring regions apart. This means that some regions from previous results may not appear in your results anymore.

Your latest region estimate takes advantage of a larger reference panel, which allows us to estimate your ethnicity with an even higher degree of precision.

We’re confident in the science behind our proprietary algorithm and the precision of these results. The consumer genomics industry is rapidly evolving, and these results are as precise as possible for where the science is today. At the same time, we’ll keep using advances in science to enhance our customers’ experiences, which means that these results can evolve over time as the resolution of DNA estimates improve. A good example of this is our ability to break up large regions into smaller, more specific regions—which means you may see more precise geographies in your ethnicity estimate over time.

Your latest ethnicity estimate takes advantage of a larger reference panel, which allows us to estimate your ethnicity with a higher degree of precision. That said, your DNA is only one element of a much larger picture, and your family history and relatives play an important role in your personal story, even if they are not specifically reflected in your AncestryDNA ethnicity estimate.

While we each inherit 50% of our DNA from our father and 50% from our mother, that also means that there’s 50% of each parent’s DNA we don’t get. If your parent has only a small percentage of DNA for a specific region, you might not inherit any of that portion of their DNA. Additionally, with our updated estimates, regions you previously inherited only small percentages for could now be below the level that we report in your results. Siblings also get 50% of each parent’s DNA, but which DNA segments they get is completely random, which is why your results won’t necessarily match your sib’s–unless you’re identical twins. See Understanding Inheritance support article for a deeper dive on why your DNA results might be different than your parents and your siblings.

The change will not affect your DNA matches.

Ancestral Region updates don’t affect ancestral journeys. Instead of a reference panel, our proprietary Genetic Communities™ technology determines journeys by identifying groups of people in our DNA network who have more matches to each other than to people in other parts of the network and searching the linked family trees of people in the community to identify ancestors who were in the same area at the same time.

Yes! To share your region results with friends and family outside of Ancestry, click the “Share” button on your results page. Then you can share your results via various social media or messaging channels, download an image of your results, or copy a shareable link of your results. Once you share that link, anybody can use it to access a summary of your results.

Yes. With DNA compare, you can compare your regions and journeys with anyone who’s taken an AncestryDNA test. You can compare with DNA matches and anyone else who’s shared their results with you. To compare with a non-match, ask them to share their results. You need to have matches turned on in order to compare (and so does anyone you’re comparing with).

When you select Compare my DNA, you’ll see two of your closest matches already featured. You can remove them (or add anyone else) anytime. You can compare up to 10 people at the same time.

Based on our analysis, we assign the most likely percentage of your DNA that is descended from each of your ancestral regions. These are the percentages that you see first in your results. These percentages represent our best estimate. However, our analysis also provides additional combinations of regions and percentages that could fit your DNA, though they are less likely. We use these other combinations to show you the possible percentage range for your ancestral regions’ results. You can find the ranges by clicking into the detailed view for a region. Be aware that if a range includes zero, it means there is a chance you have no DNA related to this region.

If Ancestry does not have enough data to identify a genetic profile for a specific population or area, your region estimate will most likely reflect neighboring regions. However, it is important to note two factors. First, some populations do not differ enough at a genetic level to be distinguished as separate regions. Second, countries change over time, and borders on a map today don’t necessarily reflect genetic boundaries, so there may be countries that do not fall into a single ethnicity region.

Yes. Your previous privacy settings will remain the same with this update. Additionally, you can adjust your settings at any time via your DNA Results Summary Page. We also offer a host of resources and tools that help you manage your privacy settings on our website.

Yes, you can find it on our White Papers page.