Regardless of where our distant ancestors may be from, our recent family may have moved to a different region. This would not match the equal genetic split found in our DNA. A person may be of equal European and African origin but have features that would be more consistent with one or the other. So to share an ethnicity means that you identify as part of a specific ethnic group. You see ethnicity applies more to a shared culture, language and national origin than to what the people look like. The meaning of ethnicity is the real reason that the way we look cannot be used to determine who we are ethnically. Just because we have certain features in common with our ancestors however does not mean that those features alone can determine our ethnic makeup. Our outward appearance is controlled by genomes and we often share physical traits with our close ancestors. These are the observable traits that relate to appearances such as height, eye color and blood type. What these apps are essentially claiming is that they can judge ethnicity based on phenotypes. It is also likely you could upload a different picture of yourself and get differing results. The honest truth of these apps is that they likely throw out random suggestions that have no logical basis in terms of your appearance. This did not surprise me at all so I explained that the DNA test would indeed be the more reliable indicator. I have had clients in the past who have told me they tried such an app and that their results were vastly different from their DNA ethnicity test results. It is hard to imagine that a phone app would have an extensive enough database to determine specific features to a level at which it would determine ethnicity. The heritage of most people on earth is varied and the way we look physically doesn’t always track closely to our genetic ancestry. These however are not absolute indicators. We do live in a world where advanced facial recognition technology and software can be used to unlock our phones or spot individuals of interest in a crowd so why can’t it judge our ethnicity? Well, undeniably there are facial features and skin tones that would indicate a certain heritage. I will also discuss ways we can truly determine it and also how historical pictures actually can give hints to ethnicity. As you read on I will explain why taking a selfie and uploading it to an app will not help to determine your ethnicity. ![]() There are obvious physical indicators with some people that may hint toward certain ethnicities but they shouldn’t be taken at face value so to speak. ![]() They give you so much more than any other family tree DNA kit, and let you connect to the places you're from in the world where your family story started, and even help you to discover living relatives you never knew you had!įor the most accurate family history research based on your DNA, sign up for AncestryDNA now! Get AncestryDNA → After reviewing all of the top DNA products on the market, nothing comes close to AncestryDNA to help you discover your whole family story!
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