Name that Nationality!?

Question

I have no idea what I am...Irish, English, German?, no clue. Who wants to guess what I am?

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=8836722&albumID=1184765&imageID=21348276

I'm American so I can't just go by the country I reside in. Also, I plan on picking the best guess since I have no idea what I am anyways.

Answer 1

A DNA test will tell you the general area your ancestors came from, but it won't be that specific. For example, DNA tests can't differentiate between English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish ethnicities because everyone in the British Isles is approximately 70 percent Celtic.

Answer 2

No one is going to sign in and let you know our real names. So we can't see any pics of you. I'd suggest calling your grandparents and asking them about their family heritage. You might learn more than just your ethnicity; you might even hear some cool stories about how your family got to be who they are.

Answer 3

After everyone has fun guessing, if you still really want to know who/what you are, try researching and finding facts.
http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/
One of many guides on how to start the process.
(since you say YOU don't know, I am curious to see how you would know which guess is accurate? )

Answer 4

Your NATIONALITY is whatever country you reside in; your heritage is the way you were brought up; youn ahnentafel (family tree) is where your ancestors were from.
Check:
http://www.searchforancestors.com/...

http://www.censusrecords.net/?o_xid=2739...

http://www.usgenweb.com/

http://www.census.gov/

http://www.rootsweb.com/

http://www.ukgenweb.com/

http://www.archives.gov/

http://www.familysearch.org/

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/...

http://www.cyndislist.com/

http://www.geni.com/


Assuming they emigrated from Europe, start with Ellis Island and the Battery Conservancy sites:
http://www.ellisisland.org
http://www.castlegarden.org


For Scotland, check:
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/

For Sweden:
http://www.genline.com/databasen/
-http://www.northpark.edu/home/index.cfm?...
http://www.finlandia.edu/catalog/intro.p...


For ship’s passenger lists, try:
http://www.immigrantships.net/
www.cyndislist.com/ships.htm
www.geocities.com/Heartland/5978/Emigration.html
www.immigrantstips.net/
www.searchforancestors.com/passengerlists/
www.archives.gov/genealogy/immigration/passenger-arrival.html


For those with native American ancestry, try:
http://www.tribalpages.com/
http://www.cherokee-nc.com/geneology.php...
http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/herita...

Netherlanders: http://www.genlias.nl

For a fee, try a DNA test:
When you really want to know where your ancestors came from, try such sites as: www.familytreedna.com, dnatribes.com, dnaancestryproject.com, and, of course, the National Geographics Genotype program, https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/geno...
For Jewish ancestry, try:
www.israelgenealogy.com

For people from India, try:
http://www.fibis.org/

Have a look at these sites these are South African ones,
http://genealogy.about.com/od/south_afri...
http://www.rupert.net/~lkool/page2.html....
http://www.jewishgen.org/safrica/website...
http://southafricanfamilyhistory.wordpre...

Meaning of names:
http://www.winslowtree.com/surname-meani...

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/f...

Here are some general sites with lists of African names:
http://www.swagga.com/fname.htm
http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/afr.php
http://www.familiesonlinemagazine.com/ba...

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/...

Military:
www.military.com
http://www.familymilitaryrecords.com/

http://www.archives.gov/veterans/militar...

http://websearch.about.com/od/peoplesear...

http://genealogy.about.com/b/2007/05/24/...

http://userdb.rootsweb.com/ww1/draft/sea...


Finding live people:
Two good places I use are www.zabasearch.com and www.peoplefinder.com

Don't forget, use your local library. Ours (a small one, yet) has www.ancestry.com and www.heritagequest.com, as well as periodicals, books and guidance from an experienced genealogist.

Keep good notes on where you find what: sources are very important.

Have fun!