Quote Originally Posted by Gregmc View Post
I've considered Famiy Tree DNAs super DNA test and doing both lines at the same time to see what I get. I'm trying to figure out if my paternal line will show Gealic or Norse (Norman) blood. What do you guys think abou that test? I want to wittle it all the way down. I've traced my name back to the 16th century, but there's such a blend of people in Scotland and Ireland, from one to another and back again that it just mixes into a blur. I know my ancestry to be Scots, but Scots what?

What about the super DNA test? Is it worth it?

If you have the means I don't see why you wouldn't be happy with the full or "super" test, however, a Y-DNA test (your fathers line) would tell you if your Scots ancestry has a Norse signature. I wouldn't reccommend anything less than a 37 marker test to accomplish this. 37 markers should give you some pretty clear "relatives" (matches) of presumably similar surname origin.

Mtdna which tests the mitochondrial DNA, can only give you a ball park area of your maternal (mothers-mothers line) origin. MTDNA does not contain nearly as much ancestral info as YDNA does (at least the science isn't there yet).

The newer test called "Family Finder" (autosomal markers) is supposedly able to connect/detect cousins on both sides (maternal/paternal) as far back as 5 generations, it also can give you an idea of your ancetral genetic make-up percentages i.e. 75% Western Europen -15% European - 10% Asian. That's about as detailed as it gets at this time. I think it is a good tool for genealogists becuase it can connect you to other branches of your family.

Hope this helps!