Ways to Trace Your Viking Ancestry

Great Sources and Tools Below
Among the 20 major Y chromosome haplogroups associated with Vikings are |1, R1a, R1b, G2, and N.

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Trace ancestors in Norway here

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Top Sources
Heimskringla
Orkneyinga saga
Rus Primary Chronicle
Sagas of the Icelanders
Irish Annals

Sources Can all be found here

🔍 Discover Your Viking Heritage! 🔍 Unravel the mysteries of your past and trace your roots back to the fearless warriors of the North with our comprehensive guide on tracing Viking ancestry. In this video, we'll dive deep into the world of genealogy, unveiling the best strategies and tools to unveil your Norse heritage.

🌐 Key Topics Covered:

Viking Genealogy Basics: Learn the fundamental steps to kickstart your journey into Viking ancestry research. From understanding family records to exploring historical archives, we've got you covered.

DNA Testing for Vikings: Explore the power of DNA testing in uncovering your Viking lineage. We'll guide you through the best DNA testing services and how to interpret the results to trace your roots back to the Viking Age.

Online Resources and Databases: Navigate the vast ocean of online resources and databases tailored for Viking genealogy. Unearth valuable information from digital archives, historical records, and specialized platforms dedicated to Norse heritage.

Visit Viking Strongholds: Take your journey offline and embark on a pilgrimage to Viking strongholds and historical sites. We'll share tips on planning your visit to key locations connected to Viking history.

Connect with Viking Communities: Join online forums and communities dedicated to Viking genealogy. Connect with like-minded individuals, share experiences, and gain insights into effective research strategies.

#VikingAncestry #GenealogyResearch #NorseHeritage #DNATesting #VikingGenealogy #AncestralRoots #FamilyHistory #VikingDNA #HistoricalArchives #OnlineGenealogy #VikingStrongholds #AncestryJourney #DiscoverYourPast #NordicHeritage #ScandinavianAncestry #VikingHistory

Ready to embark on an epic journey to uncover your Viking heritage? Hit play now and let the exploration begin! Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more fascinating genealogy content. 🚀 #VikingPride #AncestryAdventure #UnlockingHistory

00:00- Intro
01:45- What is Viking?
02:50- Nobility/Peasants
04:05- Last Names
06:30 Place names
07:45 Oldest records
10:00- Outside Scandinavia
10:45- UK
12:20- Mainland europe
13:30- East
15:00- More research
15:35- Physical Appearance

[patricedeavila]

Listening to your video, family name check, family history check, check and check (but Scotland, England, Norway, Eastern Europe), DNA (back in the innocent days) and mom has done out family history back to the 800's.... but I'm fm 6'1', red headed when I was young, and while this is all nice, I think it's the heart, integrity, intelligence, fortitude, and logical mind that was given from our ancestors that matters. Thanks for all you do!

[imnedmonton]

My matrilineal ancestry is Scandinavian. I'm Canadian so I guess that makes me a candi-scandi. Kidding. Stay safe and be well. Love from Canada. ♥

[BlaineKK]

Thank you for pointing out my same concerns with these DNA test companies. Nefarious to say the least

[zalomann]

I spent a few days on the "myheritage" site and got results on my direct paternal line thanks to the church records and other people's work on that site. Results back to the 1400's. My earliest paternal ancestor lived in the same village I do now. I still live on the farm my maternal family has had since the 1300's, in a smaller town in Hustadvika, Northwest Norway. Both my last names from parents are descriptions of the type of landscape where the family farms are located.

[cherbinsted]

My great grandfather was Jorgen Anton Erichsen from Drobak, Norway. He was a sailor, who jumped ship in Australia to pursue his fortune on the goldfields. Shame he didn’t find the mother lode.

[Chercheure_Indépendante]

12:45 yep William the Conqueror who descended from Rollo, I have videos about this on my channel

[bethysbarn]

Thank you so much for this! I’m in the UK and expected my dna to show like 1% Scandinavian etc dna and I actually got a large chunk from Sweden, Norway, Finland and a tiny bit of Iceland as well as Europe and Britain and I spent months really deep diving both sides of my family and on my moms side we have a ridiculous amount of nobility and huge names from English and Scottish history and I come from the sister of Richard iiis which ended up back up to frickin king Rollo of all people! I expected a dead end or some peasant line that was impossible to track and I honestly was floored and I still can’t believe it months later, I keep thinking I got it wrong and recheck the sources and it amazes me, I’m quite closely related to princess Diana and the Spencer’s and all sorts, it’s absolutely mental to me, it’s so fascinating to be able to trace back so far, I’m quite grateful to have such upper class ancestors so it’s easier to track but still 😳😬 I was a child with almost white hair it was so blonde and I have blue eyes so that’s so cool it’s still coming through the dna so far down the line!

[Ninettezinha]

I'm a big fan of your videos especially because of you debunking all the myths and pop-culture cultivated beliefs about Norsemen and Scandinavians across history. The ancestry information in Poland, where I'm from, is also not as accessible and stored as you mention about Scandinavia. Most of the records would be in churches or town halls, difficult to obtain for just your personal research. Knowing my ancestry only 3 generations has always frustrated me deeply, given how turbulent polish history was. I did jump on the heritage DNA test band wagon hoping it would bring about some more details. It came back saying I was 73.3% Eastern European (surprise, surprise), 15.1% baltic - makes perfect sense as we had a commonwealth with Lithuania for few centuries, 6.8% Balkan - again makes perfect sense, a lot of Slavic people have balkan and baltic roots, but what came as a surprise was 2.9% Scandinavian and 1% Finnish. Now looking at it globally I'm a diluted Slav with quite a rich heritage probably dating way way back. It also gave me a raw data i could run through my trueancestry site to find actual burial and excavation sites data linking to specific venues. Again this might be another gimmick, but it did really feel fantastic to see specific locations, excavation pictures and being connected to particular individuals as your ancestors - mostly ancient/medieval Estonian, Ukrainian and Swedish if to believe this site.

[niiightshadeee]

Amazing advice about the mainstream DNA test kits… people should be very wary.

And thank you for making this video! I am lucky enough to have an extensive family tree that has been preserved of my Danish heritage and have knowledge of relations to Danish royalty hundreds of years ago. My grandparents and great parents have always claimed to know of Viking ancestry as well, but I haven’t been able to get concrete proof as their is not a ton of accessible genealogy info online in relation to Danish Vikings’ lineage. I’ve been at a standstill with this search for a while now, so the methods described in this video are greatly appreciated!

Your content is truly incredible, and I’m so grateful for all that you share with us.

Merry Christmas my friend!

[zenzha]

This channel has that balance of academic and magical, and I just love it so much 🌸

[Dana-hq]

Love your videos. My family is from Norway, Sweden, England and Switzerland. We live in USA now.

[FrenchViking]

These are the exact reasons why i have never taken such dna tests. But i know a lot about my mothers side of the family, our history goes back to the 1400s, French nobility from Normandy. We still have our titles and our coat of arms. My Fathers side come from the north in Scandinivia, unfortunately i don't know much about those ancestors.

Love your video's.

[sharons.]

Thanks for the tips. Right now Im only back to the early 1800s when looking into my great great grandfather. So investigating records might be on the agenda when visiting Norway.

[MosaicRose]

This was so exciting to watch. I have family names ending in "sen" "berg" also names like Lund and Hansen, and many more. Some of my family went from Scandinavia into the UK, many came from Schleswig-Holstein and other places. I would love to really start doing some deeper research.

[Clive-xsci]

A very interesting video, my mother recently carried extensive research into our family history and it turned out that our ancestors on both the paternal and maternal sides of the family where at the battle of Hastings. On my maternal side I’m related to Roger Bigod, a Norman Knight who became the first Earl of Norfolk. Through him I can trace my ancestry back to 732 in Norway. On my Father’s side I’m related to a Danish mercenary who fought for a Knight and was awarded land in Lincolnshire. I took a DNA test after we discovered this information and it showed me a being a large percentage Norwegian / Icelandic and Germanic. Interestingly I showed up with 8% each of Scottish and Irish - I’ve got no idea where that came from

[jeffbrund]

I was adopted so had no choice but to do DNA checks (three different ones). My folks are small but I’m 6’3” 250 pounds with facial features you described and bright blue eyes. Results…Northwest Europe, England, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden and Northern France so I’m assuming I have “Viking” genes.
Great video keep up the good work. 👍😄

[bealornobeal]

I’ve been enjoying exploring your channel for a bit now. This one really inspired me to dig into my family tree some. Found out my mom’s side is Irish / English and my dad’s side is Italian / German / Swedish. I’m still researching before doing a dna test, but am excited to find out more.

[a.randolph]

Fortunately for our family we have a (Norwegian) heritage book that goes all the way back to 1743 thanks to a great aunt who put it all together. Our family name is Holten in the Heidal / Vaage regions. The name changed to Hollin when my great grandparents came through Ellis Island in 1907. I'm now updating / digitizing our heritage book for my nephews and nieces. It's been fun looking through all the information even though many of the documents are in Norwegian.

[tenbroeck]

I am more interested in the culture of my Swedish ancestors. I thought my mother was directly German, but on her father's direct line, our ancestor was a Swedish soldier, fighting for Germany and the Netherlands in the 30 Years war with Gustavus Adolphus. He settled to farm in Germany after his military service. The Viking thing is interesting, but I just see it as an ancient Piracy, brought on by hunger and testosterone! I love this channel for the Pagan culture and Germanic history, etc. You do great work. I was adopted and was told my real father was Irish, but when I hired an investigator and took part in DNA testing, I found out my Y-DNA was called the "Dutch DNA" and my Maternal DNA used to be about 15% of Danish women, but has declined over the centuries. My DNA is Scandinavian, NW Europe, Germanic Europe and 25 percent Bato-Slavic, from my East German ancestors who lived in Kaliningrad Russia, so this channel is awesome to me.

[Kayla-eyzg]

Extremely awesome video for demystifying my Germanic heritage. My family lost most of their tradition and history during the Lutheran expansion, but my cousin who is a professional genealogist was able to trace back to at least the 1500s in very northern Germany. We were a family of some sort of nobility, as we had a castle and a major battle in military history books occurred there. (My dad learned of it in his military history classes.) So, I was curious as I wanted to claim that Nordic heritage but didn't want to claim something that wasn't actually mine to claim. I was missing the history that made all of it make sense, thank you!