From your birthplace to your result

Your answers

Your birthplace and those of both your parents, your skin tone and theirs: that is what it takes to start. Skin tone is asked because a birthplace does not say everything: two people born in the same place, to parents born in the same place, can come from very different families, and it is often the only clue that tells them apart. Then, if you know them, you can add your grandparents, your great-grandparents and a family name. Every detail narrows the result.

The calculation

The calculation steps back one generation at a time over several centuries, then much further, tens of thousands of years back. At each step it looks at who lived in that place at that time, who was arriving, who was leaving, and between which groups marriages were made. It explores thousands of possible families at once, and keeps what they agree on.

Its sources

On published ancient DNA: 22,305 genomes from people who lived from prehistory to modern times, gathered in the AADR, the largest public database of its kind. And on history: 1,060 documented peoples, each placed back in its region and its century, plus the migrations, borders and upheavals that moved whole populations. Every source is named on the credits page.

ancient genomes sequenced and published by researchers

22,305

named historical peoples, each placed in its region and century

1,060

documented countries, each with its own written page

243

The result

Your major regions of origin over recent centuries, each with its share. The founding peoples you descend from, thousands of years back. A dated journey back, era by era, from today to the hunter-gatherers. And a book that tells the story of every land in your lineage.

Its limits

It does not read your DNA and it does not replace genealogy: it will never know your great-great-grandmother's name. It computes the most probable families starting from where you are, and the result remains an estimate.

How well it does depends on your lineage. When it comes from one place, it finds the right main region 94 times out of 100. When it is heavily mixed, 64 times. We measure that, and we show it.

See the proofThe frequently asked questions

Probabilistic estimate for cultural and recreational purposes, with no genetic or diagnostic value.

We measured how often it gets it right

We hid the answer from the calculation on 81 lineages whose answer we already knew, then counted how often it found it again. The numbers are public.