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Does getting Brittany as a region mean I have Breton ancestry?

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Might be a stupid question, but as far as I understand Bretons are a separate ethnic group that is similar to other Celts. I assume some French people are native to the area as well. Does getting this region mean I have Breton ancestry or French?

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Most likely. But the biggest clue is the surnames in your family tree. Many French surnames may actually not be of “French” origin, and many very French sounding names are of Breton or Norman ancestry.

Do you know a few names that fall under that category?

u/Hesthetop avatar

Kerouac/Kirouac, Le Pen, Quimper, and Guegan are Breton names.

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u/Tales4rmTheCrypt0 avatar

Did you get it as part of the new update?

u/EmbarrassedSea1011 avatar

Yes

u/Tales4rmTheCrypt0 avatar

Then I would say yes, since the new update is concerning "genetic groups" which people have shared ancestry to. Also, in general, the further west you get in France the less immigration there tends to be. Up until recently, most people there were fairly native.

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u/Visual-Monk-1038 avatar

What's your haplogroup if you don't mind sharing it?

What does the description say? Usually they'll say whether their references for the group are based on geographic or ethnolinguistic identities.

u/EmbarrassedSea1011 avatar

There's only the basic description that is the same with all the countries / regions I have ancestry from; "you share DNA with participants from the following regions"

I also got Normandy, eastern Brittany and Pays de la Loire as a genetic group recently

It doesn't mention the Breton ethnicity at all? If that's the case I'd guess the group likely includes Breton and other French identifying people from Brittany.

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Bretons aren't separate, or more Celtic genetically. There is no genetic gap between Bretons and non-Breton French .

That being said, Bretons carry at varying degrees British Isles ancestry dating to the time some of their ancestors settled on this peninsula of Armorica, and later because links with their cousins, especially in Cornwall, didn't stop for centuries. There is also a separate Irish minor migration but it's not unique to Bretagne, and is a more general Western European trend and was mostly clergy. The most British/Brittonic genetic influence is in Lower Brittany (Western Bretagne) and decreases the further East and South you go. The only area that probably doesn't have much if any of this ancestry is South of the Loire river (pays de Retz...) because rivers seem to have been powerful [partial] genetic barriers in Gauls for millennia.

As for getting Brittany as a detected region, it means you have enough matches with other customers who have their 4 grandparents who were born in Brittany. So it's likely you do have ancestors from a particular area of Brittany. But since Bretons aren't like a totally separate and isolated group, many people around Brittany, in Normandy, Anjou, Mayenne etc, have ancestors who lived in Brittany and vice-versa. The more you get to the end of the peninsula, the less likely there is shared ancestry with other regions though.