Yes, AncestryDNA does tell you your ethnicity—but it’s more accurate to say it gives you an ethnicity estimate based on your genetic markers.

Here’s what you get:

  • Ethnicity Breakdown: A percentage-based estimate showing what regions of the world your DNA comes from (e.g., 40% Irish, 25% West African, 15% Scandinavian).

  • Regional Detail: It includes over 1,000+ global regions, and may identify more specific communities within countries.

  • DNA Communities: These show likely migration patterns of your ancestors and can highlight historical population movements (e.g., Southern Italians to New York).

How it works:

AncestryDNA compares your DNA to a large database of genetic samples from known regions to find similarities. The result is a probabilistic estimate, not an exact measurement.

Important: These ethnicity estimates are most accurate for people from well-sampled regions (like Europe and North America) and less precise in areas with limited reference data (like parts of Asia or Indigenous populations).