Is anyone good with Ancestors, bloodline and throw back genes...?

Hello

I am wondering if anyone here know anything about Ancestor genes or throw back genes..
I really want to get to the bottom of where my lineage could possibly come from and more so the traits I have more of.

Basically, my dads sides surname is German but none of my dads side knows much about the German ancestors from who we had taken the name from.
I have spoken to my dad about my interest in our family name and also the fact my dad, half sister and I are naturally tanned. I have faded over the years but my dad and half sister are still as tanned as ever and my dad, sister and I have very dark hair, and my hair is naturally dark and curly like my dads. When I was a baby I looked mixed race because of the dark tight curly hair and tanned skin, and my dads been called a 'Pakistani' which he isn't as we're full English but if you saw a picture of all of us you would defiantly say we was foreign.

that's where more curiosity came in as my dads mum and dad are pale and my dad is his dads child ( my granddads ) because they look very alike, so that's what got me thinking why aren't they tanned and also my dads brother.
I came to the conclusion that maybe a German ancestor fled to Israel which I asked my dad about, but he went on to tell me that there has been talks of Italian, Spanish, Hungarian and Irish in our blood line or Ancestors. All of this has now made my brain on overload because I want to know so bad where my bloods from but its also made sense of the whole tanned skin ting and curly hair.

Sorry for the essay but anyone knowledgeable on this subject?
Thank you

Well, I've done a lot of genealogy work, both in records and in DNA work. There's a lot of stuff out there and you could choose one or both paths. I was fooled by tales of my own ancestry based on skin color, so be careful jumping to any conclusions.

If you want to take the DNA route, one interesting way is via the National Genographic Project. This traces your deep ancestry and can tell you where the various population groups split off historically. If there's serious Hungarian in your background, or Irish, you'll be able to tell. Family Tree DNA does the same sort of thing. Some of these DNA tests are more expensive than others and there are a wide variety available.

In my own case my family legends had it that we were part Native American. My own darker skin, compared to others with the same European ancestry, seemed to confirm it, but I had both male and female (MtDNA) tests done and it simply is not there. So much for that legend.

The other route is actual genealogical studies. It's surprising how much information is out there, though frankly a lot of it is suspect. But it's worth taking a look and it doesn't take much going backwards to find someone else, a second or third cousin, who's been there and done that, which will save you a lot of work.

It can be a lot of fun and a lot of work, but bear in mind that if you go a mere 40 generations back, which is about 1,000 years, theoretically you have a trillion ancestors. (2^40) Of course you don't, and that means we're all cousins, and a lot more closely related to each other than you would think.

a reply to: BloodSister

Go find a school that does genetic testing, and have it done. You will get your answer without any interpretation. Just the facts.

But then you need to understand that it doesn't matter. All of us are an amalgamation of the mass movement and interbreeding of not only all other humans, but also non humans like Neandertal and Denisovan.

I have an English last name, but m almost purely Hungarian and German. There is some sprinkling of other stuff in there to make me a proper mutt (Lebanese, English, Cherokee).

Sounds like you may have some of the old german ancestry in you. They are darker. The Finns have the darker skin tendencies also. Same with the old English and old French and dark Italians.. There seems to be two different kinds of people there, separated for about three thousand years or more from the lighter skin people. One line is darker and one is lighter.

I just had my DNA done, almost 90 percent Finn/upper western Russian. I came out as 100 percent European. I don't know how far back that goes though, probably only like three thousand years. It was only seventy nine bucks at ancestry.com. They tell you who you are possibly related to. I guess I am not as much of a mutt as I thought I might be.

Even with these links, I can't get past my great grandfather and grandmother. Lots of possibilities, but no straight links to say there is a direct link. Lots of warring in Finland destroyed records I guess. Oh well, I am who I am, it really does not matter. Laplanders have a coat of arms looks like a caveman with a club. I hope that's my family's coat of arms.