Asian American & Pacific Islander Ancestors Case Study

My grandmother knew little about Elizabeth’s family tree. Descendants of Elizabeth shared stories that suggested Elizabeth’s parents could have been of Portuguese, French, or other European descent. Elizabeth’s surname, Xavier, is more commonly found in Portugal, and her mother’s, Bell, is common in Scotland. This is consistent with the British and Portuguese influence in India. However, was Elizabeth of Portuguese and/or British descent, or were one or both of her parents of Indian descent? 

Identifying a Living Descendant of Elizabeth for DNA Testing

To determine if Elizabeth was of Portuguese, British, or Indian descent, we needed her closest living relative to take an AncestryDNA test. Based on DNA inheritance, if Elizabeth was 100% Portuguese, British, or Indian  we would expect:

• Elizabeth’s child would have inherited 50% Portuguese, British, or Indian DNA
• Elizabeth’s grandchild would have inherited around 25% Portuguese, British, or Indian DNA
• Elizabeth’s great-grandchild would have inherited around 12.5% Portuguese, British or Indian DNA

Due to the random nature of DNA inheritance, we would expect a grandchild of Elizabeth to inherit about 25% of her DNA. In reality, that amount could range from less than 20% to more than 30%.  

Starting with the Known Origins of the Other Great-Grandparents

Fortunately, Elizabeth’s great-granddaughter, Juniece, was willing to take an AncestryDNA test. Before determining Elizabeth’s ethnicity, we need to first examine Juniece’s other seven great-grandparents to determine their origins to ensure that any Portuguese or Indian DNA is not attributable to any of Juniece’s other great-grandparents.

• Great-Grandparents 1 and 2: Juniece’s paternal grandfather and his parents were immigrants from Denmark.
• Great-Grandparent 3: Juniece’s paternal grandmother’s father was an immigrant from Scotland.
• Great-Grandparent 4: Juniece’s paternal grandmother’s mother was an immigrant from England.
• Great-Grandparent 5: Juniece’s maternal grandfather’s father, husband of Elizabeth, was an immigrant from Northern Ireland
• Great-Grandparent 7: Juniece’s maternal grandmother’s father was an American of Scottish and other likely European descent
• Great-Grandparent 8: Juniece’s maternal grandmother’s mother was an American of German and other European descent

The following is a four-generation pedigree chart for Juniece showing the known ancestral origins of her great-grandparents.

Interpreting the Great-Granddaughter’s DNA Test Results 

Based on what is known about Juniece’s other seven great-grandparents, we would expect that her results should have significant amounts of DNA attributable to Northwestern Europe, including regions in Scandinavian countries, the British Isles, as well as Germany. Therefore, if Elizabeth was of Portuguese or British descent, then all of Juniece’s ancestral regions would be in European countries. If Elizabeth was of Indian descent, then around twelve percent of Juniece’s DNA would be attributable to regions in or around India.

Juniece took an AncestryDNA test. Her results can be seen in the following image:

Total regions in Europe: 90%
Total regions in Asia: 10%

Juniece’s regions in Europe, including Ireland, Scotland, Germanic Europe, etc., are consistent with her seven great-grandparents of European descent. The regions in Asia, including Southwest India, The Deccan and the Gulf of Mannar, etc., are within the expected range for Elizabeth to be of completely, or mostly, Indian descent. Therefore, while Elizabeth may have had someone in her family tree of Portuguese or British descent, we can determine that the majority of Elizabeth’s ancestors were of Indian descent.

Finding Answers to DNA Questions

Testing a great-grandchild of Elizabeth confirmed that she was of Indian descent, and not Portuguese or British descent. Testing the closest living descendants of an ancestor can help you determine the origins of that ancestor. However, the further removed from that ancestor the tester is, the less DNA that descendant will have inherited from the target ancestor. A descendant who is a third- or fourth-great-grandchild may not have inherited any of that ancestor’s DNA. Therefore, it’s ideal to have a child, grandchild, great-grandchild, or, at most, great-great-grandchild take a DNA test if the person in question is no longer living.

The results from an AncestryDNA test can help you learn more about your origins. With a free trial of Ancestry, you can also start to build your family tree and search for your ancestors in record collections from around the world. 

If you’d like a specialist’s help to narrow down the likely origins of a particular branch of your family tree, reach out to the Ancestry ProGenealogist team.

Sources

Elizabeth Xavier Tait; digital image, ID Number KWJ4-2RQ, Family Tree; FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/memories/KWJ4-2RQ; accessed February 2025.

Baptismal record for Elizabeth Xavier Tait; India, Select Births and Baptisms, 1786-1947,” Ancestry, ancestry.com/search/collections/9899/records/1728500; accessed February 2025.