My 2026 vs. 2025 AncestryDNA Regions Update

Like clockwork, AncestryDNA seems to add more Regions and Journeys to their Ethnicity Estimate pages every year about this time.  I did not highlight the 2025 estimate last year, but I want to highlight the latest 2026 AncestryDNA Regions data for myself.

Users who have an AncestryDNA autosomal DNA test can frind it in the DNA tab > Regions menu on the Ancestry home page.

Here is my 2026 AncestryDNA Regions map: 

And here are my Regions listed with percentage numbers for each Region:

AncestryDNA provides a handy comparison chart from the previous estimate to the current estimate:

This chart reflects the changes in the Regions.  If I add up all of the British Isles Regions from 2025 and 2026, I see:

• 2025:  79% (Southeastern England (69%), East Midlands & Yorkshire (4%), Northern Wales & Northwestern England (4%), West Midlands (2%)).
• 2026:  82% (Southeastern England (37%), Devon & Somerset (14%), Cornwall (4%), East Midlands & Yorkshire (15%),  Northern Wales & North west England (3%), Leinster, Ireland (2%), Northern England (2%), West Midlands (4%), Southern Wales (1%)).

For western Europe, the Regions are:

• 2025:  21% (Denmark (11%), Bavaria and Western Austria (7%) and The Netherlands (3%))
• 2026:  18% (Denmark (1%), Bavaria and Western Austria (4%), Belgium (5%), Northwestern Germany (3%), Switzerland (3%), Central Italy (1%) and Northeastern Germany (1%)).

I have no idea who the Italian and Irish ancestors are. I can figure out who some of the other small Regions are based on my genealogy research. But I have so many British Isles ancestors back in the 1500s that I haven't tried to determine which Region each fits into.  

According to AncestryDNA, the changes reflect the significantly increased number of Regions and the number of data points in the reference panel for each region.

AncestryDNA has also separated the Regions by Parents (the percentages are expressed as percentages of my DNA):

• My Father and his parents (all descended from the British Isles - 25% migrated from Wiltshire in the 1850s and 75% migrated from all over the British Isles in the 1600s):

• My Mother and her parents (both British Isles and western Europe):

A long time ago, I guessed at my ethnicity estimate based on where my ancestors probably were in 1500:

• 70%  British Isles
• 24%  Germany/Switzerland
• 1%  Holland/Belgium
• 1%  France
• 4%  Unknown (perhaps some are French, German, Dutch, Belgian, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Scandinavian, Native American, or other places)

The 2026 AncestryDNA Regions estimates are much closer to my own estimates now.

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Disclosure: I pay for an All-Access subscription from Ancestry.com. In past years. Ancestry.com  provided a complimentary All Access subscription, an autosomal DNA test, material considerations for travel expenses to meetings, and hosted events and meals that I attended in Salt Lake City.

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