Myheritage DNA matches

**miarosie3** · 11-01-2019, 06:50 PM

I uploaded my ancestry DNA raw data to myheritage and I checked out their DNA matches. I used the filter tool and chose Balkan and it shows that I have 331 DNA matches that are Balkan. According to my heritage and ancestry, I have 0% Balkan. Is that normal to get that many Balkan dna matches if I’m not Balkan?

**JosephK** · 11-01-2019, 06:59 PM

Originally Posted by miarosie3

I uploaded my ancestry DNA raw data to myheritage and I checked out their DNA matches. I used the filter tool and chose Balkan and it shows that I have 331 DNA matches that are Balkan. According to my heritage and ancestry, I have 0% Balkan. Is that normal to get that many Balkan dna matches if I’m not Balkan?

Other people in your British family have intermarried/mated with Balkan people... so you'll have cousins that are partially Balkan whether you are or not...

Either that or someone's lying to you.

**miarosie3** · 11-01-2019, 07:01 PM

What do you mean by someone’s lying?

**JosephK** · 11-01-2019, 07:04 PM

Originally Posted by miarosie3

What do you mean by someone’s lying?

Just kidding... implying a secret Balkan relative... but I forgot your tests say "0% Balkan"...

**miarosie3** · 11-01-2019, 07:07 PM

I also score Middle East but I only have 13 Middle Eastern matches out of 4,000? Is that normal? ��

**JosephK** · 11-01-2019, 07:12 PM

So, you do score Middle East? None of the commercial companies are very accurate, so it could easily just be 'noise' or mis-interpreted (unless, of course, you know you have MENA ancestors)

But for the same, but opposite, reasons as above with Balkan, you may not have many ancestors who continued to mate with MENAs, or at least ones who had their DNA tested... Perhaps not so many MENAs are on MyHeritage.

**miarosie3** · 11-01-2019, 07:17 PM

On ancestry yes, I had 20% Middle East. But I only have those 13 out of 4,000 whereas I don’t score any Balkan on ancestry yet I have 331. But ancestry says I score 7% Eastern Europe. It just confused me haha haha

**BanjaLuka** · 11-04-2019, 11:06 AM

Originally Posted by miarosie3

I uploaded my ancestry DNA raw data to myheritage and I checked out their DNA matches. I used the filter tool and chose Balkan and it shows that I have 331 DNA matches that are Balkan. According to my heritage and ancestry, I have 0% Balkan. Is that normal to get that many Balkan dna matches if I’m not Balkan?

and them living in Balkan they are not 100% Balkan FYI, you can examine and compare what you have in common with your matches individually. You might be linked with through Finnish, Scandinavian or West European or East European DNA or even Greek or Italian, it does not have to be Balkan dna that you have 0%.