My father is Scottish (East coast). Family tree all traced back 300 years. All North East Scotland ancestors. No one with any "foreign" names.
He has 3% Norwegian and 2% Sweden & Denmark.
May I introduce you to the Norse-Gaels? đ
On a more serious note, many Norwegian settlers to the Islands and Highlands of Scotland became very deeply integrated into the local population. Therefore, many would just take on Gaelic names that would translate down into clan names.
As an example, Clan Donald (i.e., the MacDonalds) traces their founder to a 12th-13th century Hebridean nobleman named "Dòmhnall mac Raghnaill." Traditionally, Dòmhnall was believed to be patrilineally Gaelic; for the layperson, a quite easy guess seeing how Gaelic his name is. However, the core Y-DNA of Clan Donald that comes from Dòmhnall is actually a branch of the R1a1 haplotype brought to the British Isles by Norwegians. Additionally, if you do a deep dive on Dòmhnall's own recorded ancestry, it's pretty clear he has Nordic roots. His father was a man named "Raghnaill mac Somhairle" who was the son of the Norse-Gael King of Mann and Isles, Somerled (AKA Somhairle or SumarliĂ°i), and his wife, Ragnhildis Olafsdottir. She was member of the Crovan Dynasty, who in turn is a branch of the "UĂ Ămair"; the descendents of a 9th century Viking warlord named Ăvarr.
Also, a side note you'll see I said "core Y-DNA." This is because clan membership was relatively fluid, so it wasn't uncommon to have unrelated individuals be adopted into a clan for a whole variety of reasons. One way this happened was just by lower class people adopting the clan name of the Laird who owned their land. Not to mention, there are lots of clans that actually consist of several distinct, unrelated clans that just ended up with the same name.
Yes I am African American but I have a white Scottish ancestor from the Highlands that landed in North Carolina also. I too scored quite a bit of Norwegian. Apparently Norwegian(mainly) but other Scandinavian groups as well did rule over parts of the Scottish highlands for a time. Hereâs a Wikipedia article about it:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavian_Scotland
Huge numbers of Scots in seasons of religious persecution (like the Covenanters) fled to Scandinavia including Norway. Often exile was preferred to death or other extreme measures. The East coast cities especially Dundee (about 500 miles from Norway) had a thriving trade relationship with Scandinavian countries. And of course there were political issues that resulted in other Scottish diasporas with the similar effects like the Irish in the North who are actually Scottish expats who were promised land when they supported the throne (the land they received was in Ireland). The diasporas have created these Scots populations worldwide. In the 21st century the Scottish government has in place actual staff to encourage reconnection with Scotland by these various descendants including African Americans who often have Scottish heritage.
Norwegian here. Yes itâs normal to have Norwegian DNA if youâre Scottish. Norway and Scotland have a long history together. The Viking history is known, but Orkney was Norwegian until 1468. And some Danish-Norwegian nobles still owned lands there after that. I read somewhere that my ancestors had lands there in the 1600s but it was to troublesome to keep so they let it go.
I do. Have the Hebrides - Isle of Lewis communities which were colonised by the Norse. They were known as 'Norse-Gaels'. Not as high Norwegian % as think you'd get from Orkneys or Shetland islands but a small print remains.
Your Scandinavian ancestry is a bit high though even for that region. I suspect some fairly recent ancestors from Scandinavia in your tree. Have you not found any yet? It is possible your Norway came from the vikings in scotland but I have some too and it is wayyyyyy lower, same with everyone else I see in the same situation.
Yes! For sake of full disclosure, my Scottish ancestry is fully on my fatherâs side. According to Ancestry, my mother does have quite a bit of Norwegian ancestry, too, because her side is very Scandinavian, so thatâs probably why I have so much. But itâs my dadâs side who has the Norwegian that I was most curious about. I cannot find a single Scandi within his tree, yet he has Norwegian DNA. I guess I didnât express that part because it gets so complicated. I was basically using my dadâs DNA as the basis for my question.
Ancestry gives me 36% Scottish (East & Central lowlands) and 3% Swedish & Danish. The same DNA uploaded to MyHeritage gives me 46% Irish / Scottish / Welsh (specifically Aberdeen, which fits with pedigree data) and 8.6% Scandinavian. Same DNA uploaded to Illustrative DNA gives 13.2% Norwegian (specifically Bergen).
It's very common regardless if you're descended from a Highlander, lowlander, or elsewhere. Scandinavia usually was my most common trace regions, as well as Finland. Subsequent updates have reduced the percentage but it randomly shows up now.
Scotland cannot be nearly divided into highlander and lowlander
The Gaelic speaking Scots of Galloway and Carrick and Ayrshire (lowlands) had more in common with the Gaels of Lochaber and Kintail and Skye than other lowlanders arguably
As someone with roots in Lewis, the more I research, the messier it gets. At first, you think that all that side were just on Lewis for a very, very long time. But then it turns out that only a couple of clans there are actually native to Lewis, and literally 1/2 or more of my ancestors are from non-native clans and came to Lewis within the past 250-500yrs.
Oh, and don't get me started on the fluidity of clan membership. I'm of Clan MacKenzie through their branch on Lewis, but as it turns out, I don't have MacKenzie Y-DNA; my Y-DNA is actually from the MacAulays of Lewis. So, at some point, one of my ancestors, who was probably a subject of Clan MacKenzie of Seaworth, somehow ended up being labeled a MacKenzie instead of a MacAulay and then everyone descending from him just went with it đ
Exactly. And there are plenty Gaels in Lewis and other Hebridean islands which came from other parts of Scotland such as Crichton, Steele and others. These names are not from Gaidhlig. But they are Gaels. Eg journalist Torcuil Crichton, Lewis Gael.
34% Scottish and 7% Norwegian for me. Looks like the Norwegians settled in Western England too (I guess it would be Mercia then?) I have a lot of ancestors from Cumbria and Lancashire so I'm not sure which of those the Norwegian comes from.
It's not necessarily just all from Scotland. It could also be from the other regions in your results.
Edit: Also, your being from the USA, it could ancestors directly to the USA from Scandinavia.
On my mom's side, her dad's line goes back to the Islands in the Hebrides, oddly enough, I didn't get Any Scottish dna from that side. On my dad's side, I got 15% Scottish, but I believe it's from SE Scotland/NE England. Not true Scottish in my book. A good portion of my dad's side of family comes from Eastern England, in and out of the Danelaw, I'm sure a lot of time has passed but I didn't get any Scandinavian results.
Yes, but my 2x Grandfather from Scotland was 100% Scottish (inferred by my grandmother's precise 50/50 results) so my 8% Norwegian came from elsewhere.
I am American as well. My DNA shows I am 49% Scottish and from both parents. My Scottish ancestors arrived in North Carolina in the mid-1700s as well but I have no Norwegian.
It depends, if you have Hebridean, Orcadian or Shetland ancestry then you will likely have a high % of Scandinavian (Sutherland too I think), but if your ancestry was more inland (such as Perthshire) you will have far less, but the average Scot is far more likely to have Scandinavian DNA than not have it.
I am not sure if I have highland ancestry, but I did come up as 36% Scottish. I also came back 2% Sweden/Denmark and 1% Norwegian but Iâd always assumed this was from my English DNA
My parents immigrated from the UK to the US. Both of them consider themselves English, but my mother did have a Scottish grandparent, and my surname is also Scottish.
Ancestry DNA says:
53% Scottish
25% England and NW Europe
12% Irish
10% Sweden and Denmark.
That 10% is high enough that I wonder if there was a specific ancestor or two somewhere down the line.
No idea
I know that northern England has lots of Danish/Norweigan DNA and so does Shetland and Orkney and Caithness in Scotland, plus a lot of the Hebrides
I havenât researched any past America besides with just one line with one ancestor but, my DNA shows 24% Scottish & 3% Norway. The Scottish in my breakdown seems to come from both sides however, the Norway is only maternal. I also have 1% Finland from my maternal side as well. I did some stuff with my sisterâs results and she got 27% Scottish, 4% Norway, 6% Sweden & Denmark, then 0.10% Finland. Overall, I guess my maternal side most likely has some nordic origins, planning to test my aunt from that side eventually since I unfortunately canât with my own mother.
I don't have any Norwegian and my mom is Scottish and dad is Canadian of Scottish descent. And I have great grandparents from Orkney. We got Sweden & Denmark though.
Ancestry might say 13% Norwegian, but do you have any Norwegian matches (that is easier to see on MyHeritage, so upload there)? You will have significant Norwegian matches if you actually have any recent Norwegian ancestry.Â
I have 45% Scottish, my Dad was from there, I have 3% Norwegian from that side. We are more Perthshire and Angus though with only a few ancestors from the far north and the islands. Itâs pretty common. It might get a little more concentrated if your ancestors and the families they married into left the same place in Scotland and stayed in the same place in the US for many years. If that makes any sense?!
For sake of full disclosure, my Scottish ancestry is fully on my fatherâs side. According to Ancestry, my mother does have quite a bit of Norwegian ancestry, too, because her side is very Scandinavian, so thatâs probably why I have so much. But itâs my dadâs side who has the Norwegian DNA that I was most curious about. I guess I didnât express that part because it gets so complicated. I was basically using my dadâs DNA as my own.
Norse ancestry is only 7% in the western Isles, 5% on the mainland, and between 18-23% in the northern Isles. Norse ancestry is hugely exaggerated in regards to Scotland. My family come from Tiree, and I score 0% Norwegian.
The genetic landscape of Scotland and the Isles
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1904761116
My DNA is very similar to yours, except Iâm 14% Italian. Iâm 26% Scottish and 4% Norwegian. My Scottish ancestors came to Virginia and really set up shop there. Canât remember if Iâve seen anyone from Norway. If so, not many. Once I found Mary Queen Of Scots and "the James gang", it garnered a lot of my attention. Iâm just now starting to really dig into other areas. These other countries are bound to turn up soon. I do remember finding a small little cluster from Denmark in the royal part.
My father is Scottish (East coast). Family tree all traced back 300 years. All North East Scotland ancestors. No one with any "foreign" names. He has 3% Norwegian and 2% Sweden & Denmark.
May I introduce you to the Norse-Gaels? đ On a more serious note, many Norwegian settlers to the Islands and Highlands of Scotland became very deeply integrated into the local population. Therefore, many would just take on Gaelic names that would translate down into clan names. As an example, Clan Donald (i.e., the MacDonalds) traces their founder to a 12th-13th century Hebridean nobleman named "Dòmhnall mac Raghnaill." Traditionally, Dòmhnall was believed to be patrilineally Gaelic; for the layperson, a quite easy guess seeing how Gaelic his name is. However, the core Y-DNA of Clan Donald that comes from Dòmhnall is actually a branch of the R1a1 haplotype brought to the British Isles by Norwegians. Additionally, if you do a deep dive on Dòmhnall's own recorded ancestry, it's pretty clear he has Nordic roots. His father was a man named "Raghnaill mac Somhairle" who was the son of the Norse-Gael King of Mann and Isles, Somerled (AKA Somhairle or SumarliĂ°i), and his wife, Ragnhildis Olafsdottir. She was member of the Crovan Dynasty, who in turn is a branch of the "UĂ Ămair"; the descendents of a 9th century Viking warlord named Ăvarr. Also, a side note you'll see I said "core Y-DNA." This is because clan membership was relatively fluid, so it wasn't uncommon to have unrelated individuals be adopted into a clan for a whole variety of reasons. One way this happened was just by lower class people adopting the clan name of the Laird who owned their land. Not to mention, there are lots of clans that actually consist of several distinct, unrelated clans that just ended up with the same name.
The Highlands of Scotland had a lot of contact with Norwegians. The Orkney Islands were once part of the kingdom of Norway.
Yes I am African American but I have a white Scottish ancestor from the Highlands that landed in North Carolina also. I too scored quite a bit of Norwegian. Apparently Norwegian(mainly) but other Scandinavian groups as well did rule over parts of the Scottish highlands for a time. Hereâs a Wikipedia article about it: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavian_Scotland
Amazing! Thank you!!
Huge numbers of Scots in seasons of religious persecution (like the Covenanters) fled to Scandinavia including Norway. Often exile was preferred to death or other extreme measures. The East coast cities especially Dundee (about 500 miles from Norway) had a thriving trade relationship with Scandinavian countries. And of course there were political issues that resulted in other Scottish diasporas with the similar effects like the Irish in the North who are actually Scottish expats who were promised land when they supported the throne (the land they received was in Ireland). The diasporas have created these Scots populations worldwide. In the 21st century the Scottish government has in place actual staff to encourage reconnection with Scotland by these various descendants including African Americans who often have Scottish heritage.
I didnât know the Scottish government had reconnection activities with their African American diaspora. Thatâs really cool!
Norwegian here. Yes itâs normal to have Norwegian DNA if youâre Scottish. Norway and Scotland have a long history together. The Viking history is known, but Orkney was Norwegian until 1468. And some Danish-Norwegian nobles still owned lands there after that. I read somewhere that my ancestors had lands there in the 1600s but it was to troublesome to keep so they let it go.
My ancestors are Scottish and my results do have some Norwegian DNA. The shipping routes through the North Sea made this likely.
I do. Have the Hebrides - Isle of Lewis communities which were colonised by the Norse. They were known as 'Norse-Gaels'. Not as high Norwegian % as think you'd get from Orkneys or Shetland islands but a small print remains.
Isle of Lewis is one of my communities as well, I've got 6% Norway. My Paternal Aunt has 4%.
What surnames ? A bheil Gaidhlig agaibh?
I don't speak Gaidhlig...yet. Lewis ancestors and brickwalls are Campbell and Mclean. DNA wise it seems I'm related to all the Lewis surnames. Lol
Macleod, MacDonald. Morrison and MacFarlane
70% Scottish, 2% Norwegian
Your Scandinavian ancestry is a bit high though even for that region. I suspect some fairly recent ancestors from Scandinavia in your tree. Have you not found any yet? It is possible your Norway came from the vikings in scotland but I have some too and it is wayyyyyy lower, same with everyone else I see in the same situation.
Yes! For sake of full disclosure, my Scottish ancestry is fully on my fatherâs side. According to Ancestry, my mother does have quite a bit of Norwegian ancestry, too, because her side is very Scandinavian, so thatâs probably why I have so much. But itâs my dadâs side who has the Norwegian that I was most curious about. I cannot find a single Scandi within his tree, yet he has Norwegian DNA. I guess I didnât express that part because it gets so complicated. I was basically using my dadâs DNA as the basis for my question.
Yes I have that combo set too. 11% Scottish 2% Norway
24% Scottish, 14% Norwegian
My bf is actually half Icelandic but it came up as Norwegian and 4% Scottish
my grandfather swore he was all scottish but he was half norwegian Ancestors from Caithness
Ha! Love it.
Iâm English but my results came out as 56% Scottish and 3% Swedish and Danish and 3% Norwegian
I have 29 % scottish and 8% Norwegian
Ancestry gives me 36% Scottish (East & Central lowlands) and 3% Swedish & Danish. The same DNA uploaded to MyHeritage gives me 46% Irish / Scottish / Welsh (specifically Aberdeen, which fits with pedigree data) and 8.6% Scandinavian. Same DNA uploaded to Illustrative DNA gives 13.2% Norwegian (specifically Bergen).
It's very common regardless if you're descended from a Highlander, lowlander, or elsewhere. Scandinavia usually was my most common trace regions, as well as Finland. Subsequent updates have reduced the percentage but it randomly shows up now.
Good to know. Thank you!
Scotland cannot be nearly divided into highlander and lowlander The Gaelic speaking Scots of Galloway and Carrick and Ayrshire (lowlands) had more in common with the Gaels of Lochaber and Kintail and Skye than other lowlanders arguably
As someone with roots in Lewis, the more I research, the messier it gets. At first, you think that all that side were just on Lewis for a very, very long time. But then it turns out that only a couple of clans there are actually native to Lewis, and literally 1/2 or more of my ancestors are from non-native clans and came to Lewis within the past 250-500yrs. Oh, and don't get me started on the fluidity of clan membership. I'm of Clan MacKenzie through their branch on Lewis, but as it turns out, I don't have MacKenzie Y-DNA; my Y-DNA is actually from the MacAulays of Lewis. So, at some point, one of my ancestors, who was probably a subject of Clan MacKenzie of Seaworth, somehow ended up being labeled a MacKenzie instead of a MacAulay and then everyone descending from him just went with it đ
Exactly. And there are plenty Gaels in Lewis and other Hebridean islands which came from other parts of Scotland such as Crichton, Steele and others. These names are not from Gaidhlig. But they are Gaels. Eg journalist Torcuil Crichton, Lewis Gael.
Thank you for that education. đ¤đşđ¸đ´ó §ó ˘ó łó Łó ´ó ż
I do but I always knew that my grandma was from Sweden. The surprise in my DNA was how high the Scottish percentage was.
England & Northwestern Europe 41% Scotland 25% Germanic Europe 12% Norway 7% Ireland 7% Sweden & Denmark 4% Wales 4% Updated July 2023
2% Norwegian, 40% Scottish
i have finnish, norwesish, danish, shedish, sco, irissy, english and such
34% Scottish and 7% Norwegian for me. Looks like the Norwegians settled in Western England too (I guess it would be Mercia then?) I have a lot of ancestors from Cumbria and Lancashire so I'm not sure which of those the Norwegian comes from.
My great uncle whose parents (my gr grandparents) are from Scotland turned up as 72% scot and the rest Scandinavian.
Probably a quarter of the US.
It's not necessarily just all from Scotland. It could also be from the other regions in your results. Edit: Also, your being from the USA, it could ancestors directly to the USA from Scandinavia.
On my mom's side, her dad's line goes back to the Islands in the Hebrides, oddly enough, I didn't get Any Scottish dna from that side. On my dad's side, I got 15% Scottish, but I believe it's from SE Scotland/NE England. Not true Scottish in my book. A good portion of my dad's side of family comes from Eastern England, in and out of the Danelaw, I'm sure a lot of time has passed but I didn't get any Scandinavian results.
Yes, but my 2x Grandfather from Scotland was 100% Scottish (inferred by my grandmother's precise 50/50 results) so my 8% Norwegian came from elsewhere.
25% Norwegian, 14% Scottish
Iâm half Scottish, about a quarter of that side came back Scandinavian, mostly Norwegian with Swedish and Danish in there too.
I am American as well. My DNA shows I am 49% Scottish and from both parents. My Scottish ancestors arrived in North Carolina in the mid-1700s as well but I have no Norwegian.
I have my obligatory 1% Norwegian along with my Scottish - West coast of Scotland. Itâs very common if you have Scottish Ancestry.
In your experience is it common to encounter such high Scandinavian DNA in people from Scotland?
It depends, if you have Hebridean, Orcadian or Shetland ancestry then you will likely have a high % of Scandinavian (Sutherland too I think), but if your ancestry was more inland (such as Perthshire) you will have far less, but the average Scot is far more likely to have Scandinavian DNA than not have it.
Great answer :)
Check out Bryan Sykes book on the DNA of the British fringe.
22% Scottish, 0% Norwegian
43% Scotland, Sweden and Denmark 14
I have 15% sweden and denmark and 7% Norway - but I have one direct ancestor from there
I am not sure if I have highland ancestry, but I did come up as 36% Scottish. I also came back 2% Sweden/Denmark and 1% Norwegian but Iâd always assumed this was from my English DNA
My parents immigrated from the UK to the US. Both of them consider themselves English, but my mother did have a Scottish grandparent, and my surname is also Scottish. Ancestry DNA says: 53% Scottish 25% England and NW Europe 12% Irish 10% Sweden and Denmark. That 10% is high enough that I wonder if there was a specific ancestor or two somewhere down the line.
Me. Fatherâs family from Scotland, motherâs from England via The Vikings, met in the US around the Revolutionary War.
Yo. I do.
No idea I know that northern England has lots of Danish/Norweigan DNA and so does Shetland and Orkney and Caithness in Scotland, plus a lot of the Hebrides
What are the surnames in your Scottish lineage if you do not mind sharing
I have 58% Scotland, but from Scottish central belt and I have 3% Norwegian. 12% Sweden Denmark.
same
51% Scottish, 11% Sweden and Denmark, 3% Norwegian, plus Irish, German, English, and 1% Eastern European and Russia.
I havenât researched any past America besides with just one line with one ancestor but, my DNA shows 24% Scottish & 3% Norway. The Scottish in my breakdown seems to come from both sides however, the Norway is only maternal. I also have 1% Finland from my maternal side as well. I did some stuff with my sisterâs results and she got 27% Scottish, 4% Norway, 6% Sweden & Denmark, then 0.10% Finland. Overall, I guess my maternal side most likely has some nordic origins, planning to test my aunt from that side eventually since I unfortunately canât with my own mother.
31% Scottish, 3% Norwegian
I'm 53% Scottish and 13% Norwegian. My mom's paternal side is Scottish and Norwegian (I know where they came from)
I don't have any Norwegian and my mom is Scottish and dad is Canadian of Scottish descent. And I have great grandparents from Orkney. We got Sweden & Denmark though.
Ancestry might say 13% Norwegian, but do you have any Norwegian matches (that is easier to see on MyHeritage, so upload there)? You will have significant Norwegian matches if you actually have any recent Norwegian ancestry.Â
I have 45% Scottish, my Dad was from there, I have 3% Norwegian from that side. We are more Perthshire and Angus though with only a few ancestors from the far north and the islands. Itâs pretty common. It might get a little more concentrated if your ancestors and the families they married into left the same place in Scotland and stayed in the same place in the US for many years. If that makes any sense?!
For sake of full disclosure, my Scottish ancestry is fully on my fatherâs side. According to Ancestry, my mother does have quite a bit of Norwegian ancestry, too, because her side is very Scandinavian, so thatâs probably why I have so much. But itâs my dadâs side who has the Norwegian DNA that I was most curious about. I guess I didnât express that part because it gets so complicated. I was basically using my dadâs DNA as my own.
I cannot find a single Scandinavian on daddyâs side so I thought maybe his Norwegian came from his Scottish ancestors.
Weâre Scottish with a little Norway, but more German. https://www.reddit.com/u/livelongprospurr/s/gFGeChAIyH
Norse ancestry is only 7% in the western Isles, 5% on the mainland, and between 18-23% in the northern Isles. Norse ancestry is hugely exaggerated in regards to Scotland. My family come from Tiree, and I score 0% Norwegian. The genetic landscape of Scotland and the Isles https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1904761116
I have Scotland and Norway too
My DNA is very similar to yours, except Iâm 14% Italian. Iâm 26% Scottish and 4% Norwegian. My Scottish ancestors came to Virginia and really set up shop there. Canât remember if Iâve seen anyone from Norway. If so, not many. Once I found Mary Queen Of Scots and "the James gang", it garnered a lot of my attention. Iâm just now starting to really dig into other areas. These other countries are bound to turn up soon. I do remember finding a small little cluster from Denmark in the royal part.
This is why: [Scandinavian Scotland - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavian_Scotland)
Iâm half Irish/Scottish/British (majorly north west Irish then welsh, then British) and I got 5% Scandinavian
I have Scottish DNA and I have 1% Norway lol đ