DNA Companies for Swedish American Genealogy
A range of companies offer DNA testing for those researching their family trees. Which are the best DNA testing companies for Swedish American genealogy? Below are my thoughts on things to consider.
Ps: The above image is AI generated.
Researching Ancestry Up To 5 to 7 Generations
Ancestry.com
Autosomal DNA testing is the best starting point for those researching ancestors from approximately three to four generations ago, and it can even provide up to seven generations back. Several companies offer such tests, but one stands out – Ancestry.com. It has the largest database of DNA-tested individuals worldwide and the most Swedish Americans in its database.
This significantly increases your chances of finding Swedish American DNA matches if you test with them. Ancestry also provides a suite of tools to facilitate DNA matching between the tested individuals. The enhanced shared matches tool is one of them and it allows you to see how much DNA your matches share and their predicted relationships with each other.
MyHeritage.com
Despite these advantages, Ancestry.com may not be the best company for every ancestry research focus. MyHeritage.com has a large number of Swedish test takers in their database – many of whom you may not find on Ancestry. Testing with MyHeritage could therefore be a valuable choice.
However, MyHeritage allows you to upload DNA test results from other companies, while Ancestry does not. Therefore, you may choose to test with Ancestry and then upload your results to MyHeritage. This way, you can search for DNA matches in both databases while only paying for one test. My Heritage also offers excellent research tools, including triangulation that helps identify common ancestors by analyzing DNA segments shared among matches.
FamilyTreeDNA.com
FamilyTreeDNA is a third company that offers autosomal DNA testing that I use in my Swedish American genealogy research. Like MyHeritage, they allow users to upload DNA results from other companies to their site. A unique feature of FamilyTreeDNA is that they display the X-chromosome for your DNA matches.
The the X-chromosome is inherited in a specific pattern from mother to child, and can provide valuable insights into DNA connections (but more on that in a future blog). The X-chromosome is included in autosomal testing but Ancestry and MyHeritage do not show those results or matches. In addition, FamilyTreeDNA offers Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) testing, which can help verify paternal or maternal lines in your family tree (more on that below).
While other companies also provide Autosomal DNA testing services, these are the three I use most frequently, so I will leave it at that for now.
Researching Beyond and Verifying Up To 5 to 7 Generations
If you are looking to take your Swedish American genealogy research beyond autosomal DNA, FamilyTreeDNA.com offers both Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) testing. These tests enable researchers to verify and trace direct paternal and maternal lines. This makes it possible to extend research well beyond seven generations and even reach back to Viking times and beyond.
This is possible because the Y-chromosome is passed down from father to son almost completely unchanged over long periods. mtDNA is passed down from mothers to their children and mutates even more infrequently. In contrast, autosomal DNA is recombined and about halved with each generation.
Unlock Your Ancestry
Y-DNA and mtDNA testing do not provide the breadth of cousin matches that autosomal DNA testing does. However, they offer a good way to confirm lineage with certainty. They can help bridge the gap between biological ancestry and historical documents, where documentation most often is incomplete or completely lacking.
Other companies also offer Y-DNA and mtDNA testing, but FamilyTreeDNA is the one I am most familiar with, so I will leave it at that for now.
Photo taken by Anna Schnell at the Gamla Uppsala museum, Sweden, of items from the Vendel time period that preceded the Vikings.
Hejdå for now 🙂
Anna
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