A Millennial in Wonderland

Geneology and family trees have always interested me, my entire life. Knowing my past and where I came from is very important and definitely impacts how I see the world.

My family has a rich history, and I am fortunate to have known many family members growing up. I grew up with four grandparents and very close to my first cousins. I always listened to my grandparent’s stories of their families and childhoods.

On my mother’s side, I have my grandma’s father who owned a shoe store. He was very young when he died, only in his 40s. I got to write a report about him in my senior year of high school.

On my father’s side, I have my other grandma’s father, who had a box making factory. Perhaps my two great grandfathers should have gotten together and sold boxes with shoes! It’s funny how they could have supported each other.

But getting to the part that you’re here to read…my results! I expected everything except the last 3% breakdown. 

There is no surprise being 99% European because my heritage is certainly linked to my ancestors coming to America from Russia, Hungary, Austria and even Greece.

My mom and I were certain there would be Greek in my blood and we were right, a whopping 10%! It just confirms our knowledge that my great grandfather Kaplan was from Greece.

What surprised me the most was my 1% North African roots. 1% is barely anything, but it’s likely that I had ancestors from either Morocco, Western Sahara, Algeria or Libya. Maybe that explains why I’ve always wanted to be fluent in French. Now, it is also found in Spain, Portugal, and the Middle East. So that could tie me into Sephardic Jewish roots. Maybe my family originated from the Jewish slaves in Egypt.

My ethnicity is 87% European Jewish, which comes from Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Hungary and Israel. It is also found in Germany, France, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Romania, Bosnia, Serbia and Estonia.

The dispersal of Jews throughout Europe has everything to do with why the communities are scattered throughout the Middle East, Europe, North Africa and Central Asia. Between the pogroms and world wars, Jews were on the move. Basically, I make up your typical Ashkenazi Jew.

The other <3% that makes up my ethnicity comes from the Iberian Peninsula, Great Britain, and Ireland. The Iberian Peninsula is Spain and Portugal, which gives me those Sephardic roots I mentioned. I’m more surprised with Great Britain and Ireland.

Great Britain percent primarily comes from England, Scottland, and Wales. It could also come from Ireland, France, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, and Italy. I’m seeing an overlap now.

I’m guessing the Irish in me gives me the pale complexion. Dark brown hair and eyes have to be from the Middle East/Russian roots.

I am so pleased that I picked up the Ancestry DNA kit for $69 when it was on sale. I saved my brother Michael the money, but we know we share the results. In an odd way, the results make me feel closer to my family and ancestors that I didn’t know.

Purchase your own kit through my referral link here, I’ll get $10 and you’ll get 10% off..

And now my friend Max owes me ice cream because I bet I was more Jewish than him and my genetics won!