u/Conscious_Context_77

I was recently tested and have received my results. The purpose of the test was to clarify my Balkan background, as it has always been an unsolved mystery to me. My paternal surname (the one I was born with) is Yugoslavian and quite ancient—Montenegrins claim it as their own, while Croats say the opposite—so I wanted to pinpoint my true origins.

Here is what I knew beforehand:

1. Maternal grandfather: Volga Russian
2. Maternal grandmother: Volga Tatar
3. Paternal grandfather: 50% unknown, 50% from former Yugoslavia
4. Paternal grandmother: Ukrainian (based on her surname and the language she spoke)

Here is what I have gathered so far: MyHeritage, GEDmatch K15, and GEDmatch K13.

Based on my research into the MyHeritage and GEDmatch matches, I see that I have many Ukrainian, German, Croatian, and Tatar matches with long segments (>20 cM). Additionally, my GEDmatch calculator results show exclusively Croatian ancestry, with distances ranging from 10 to 11. I have matches with several Croats (with segments around 28 cM) and have studied their family trees, which are mostly Croatian. I also noticed many matches with Volga Germans, which makes sense given my maternal grandfather’s birthplace near Saratov. I was quite surprised to see that my Tatar roots are scoring somewhat low, as that was the only 25% of my heritage I was entirely certain about.

I don’t know if my "Yugoslavian mystery" is fully solved, but I think the test helped clarify my roots. I also have a question—perhaps someone here can clarify this:

Why is my Ukrainian score consistently ranking first across almost all calculators with such small genetic distances? I’m starting to wonder if there might be some undetected Ukrainian ancestry on my mother's side as well

Thanks in advance!