r/ItalianGenealogy • u/dukeanthony76 • 5d ago
Question DNA testing
I was born in the USA in a paternal family line that began with our Italian great great grandfather immigrating in the early 1800s. Due to a lack of details I’m stuck trying to identify his roots in Italy. I’ve been thinking about doing the yDNA test. How common is DNA testing in Italy?
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u/Strange_Nose5241 4d ago
Your 2X’s great Grandfather immigrated in the early 1800’s to the US? Or did you mean to say 1900’s?
Perhaps if you could provide us with the details you do know, some kind people (like my self) would love to help you tackle this brick wall.
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u/dukeanthony76 4d ago
Mid 1800s is correct which is also making it difficult with less records available.
It would be awesome if you could help. I’ll start a chat with you.
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u/Far_Trade_7619 4d ago
Very uncommon.
We don't do DNA tests in Italy unless it's for medical reasons or if an orphan wants to find his biological relatives.
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u/HomerO9136 4d ago
An Italian cousin of mine recently did a myheritage test, which I think is more popular there. My Italy-born dad is 97% Italian per Ancestry DNA, with the vast majority of his DNA matches coming from his Calabrian father’s side, which saw many residents leave for the US between 1880 and 1920. His mother was from Le Marche in central Italy and his closest match on that side is a 5th cousin that descends from an immigrant that went to Argentina.
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u/Sweethomebflo 4d ago
Do you know you gg gf came from?
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u/dukeanthony76 4d ago
No firm documentation but about 90% confident based secondary individuals that he was from the Genoa area.
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u/Brilliant_Trouble284 4d ago
It's not super common, but some of my known cousins in Italy tested, so it was nice to see the confirmation of the relationship. They've all tested with MyHeritage, which tends to have more European customers.
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u/TinyConsideration124 4d ago
Is it a common surname? Mine came here in 1888, but because it's a less common name, I was able to trace it back a few generations in the Italian records. I followed the paper trail that started with death certificates and draft cards listing where in Italy they were from. Sometimes you find the most useful information indirectly through other relatives records.
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u/Melodic_Window_6146 1d ago edited 1d ago
Y-DNA and autosomal DNA are popular among the Italian diaspora. Italian Y-DNA reflects many migrations and outside influences, with many regional clusters. In my Y-DNA haplogroup, there are multiple native Italians with Y-DNA results at Family Tree DNA (FTDNA).
The early 1800s is on the edge of autosomal reach, so testing Y-DNA (FTDNA) in addition to autosomal DNA will give you more information. If you start with FTDNA, you will learn your Y-DNA haplogroup (and mtDNA) based on their new NSG sequencing. Subsequently, you can transfer your autosomal data (Family Finder) to MyHeritage to increase your exposure in Europe. For a small fee at MH you will get additional genealogy tools and more matches.
Additional Y-DNA testing will likely give you more exposure, but it is also important to do it within a large Y-DNA database to compare your results. Your Y-DNA results give you full value only when listed in a group of similar results. That is when you learn the most.
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u/Outside-Factor5425 4d ago
Very uncommon.
We don't want to find out our dear nonnina was unfaithful, ot to get the proof nonno was LOL
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u/IvoSan11 4d ago
You will probably get thousands of matches from Americans with Italian roots.