MyHeritage launched Ancient Origins in February 2025 to enable MyHeritage DNA users to trace their origins back up to 10,000 years and explore the ancient populations that shaped their genetics. Ancient Origins quickly captivated users around the world, who discovered connections to groups such as Viking-era Scandinavians, ancient Celtic populations, early European farmers, steppe nomads, and many more.
Today, we’re excited to announce a new addition to Ancient Origins: Notable Individuals. This new feature lets you discover your genetic proximity to 32 notable figures whose DNA was recovered from archaeological remains. Curious whether your DNA is genetically similar to Ötzi the Iceman, the Griffin Warrior of ancient Greece, Ludwig van Beethoven, or Cheddar Man? With Notable Individuals, you can now find out and learn more about the people behind the DNA samples.
Explore Ancient Origins: Notable Individuals
Ancient Origins: Notable Individuals (click to zoom)
In addition, we’ve made it easier to access one of the most popular Ancient Origins reports — Closest Populations — which is now available directly from the main screen. This report was previously under Advanced Reports>Genetic Similarities>Single Origin.
How the Notable Individuals feature works
Ancient Origins is based on the rapidly advancing field of archaeogenetics: the study of ancient DNA recovered from archaeological remains. In recent years, scientists have successfully sequenced DNA from thousands of ancient individuals from cultures and civilizations spanning thousands of years of human history. These breakthroughs are transforming our understanding of how ancient populations migrated, mixed, and shaped the genetic landscape of the modern world.
Ancient Origins compares your DNA to ancient DNA samples from individuals who lived hundreds or even thousands of years ago. The new Notable Individuals feature, made possible by the partnership between MyHeritage and Illustrative DNA, builds on this technology by highlighting ancient samples associated with historically significant individuals and well-known archaeological discoveries.
The feature estimates your genetic proximity to each individual by comparing shared genetic patterns between your DNA and the ancient sample. In other words, it identifies how genetically similar your DNA is to theirs, relative to other ancient populations and samples in the database.
It’s important to note that these results do not indicate direct descent or family relationships with historical figures. Rather, they reflect broader genetic similarities that can make history feel more personal — and may give you an especially fun fact to bring up at your next dinner party or family reunion.
The 32 featured individuals and groups span a wide range of cultures, regions, and historical eras. They include royalty, warriors, rulers, famous archaeological discoveries, and other historically significant individuals whose remains have contributed to modern ancient DNA research. Each profile includes background information about the individual’s life, culture, and historical significance, alongside a short AI-generated video depicting a few moments in that person’s life.
Accessing Notable Individuals
To access Notable Individuals, log in to your MyHeritage account on desktop or mobile and navigate to DNA>Ancient Origins. On the main Ancient Origins screen, you’ll now see a new section called “Notable Individuals,” marked with a “New” badge.
Accessing Notable Individuals (click to zoom)
Select “Notable Individuals” to access the full list of featured historical individuals and your genetic fit score for each one.
Example of Notable Individuals result with a close genetic fit score with the Birka Female Warrior (click to zoom)
Tap or click any individual to view your results. Each profile displays your genetic proximity to the ancient DNA sample, along with historical background information and imagery that help bring the story of the individual to life, and a chart of the modern populations most genetically similar to this individual.
Full description of the Birka Female Warrior (click to zoom)
The results also include a brief AI-generated video depicting the individual. As an example, watch the video of the Birka Female Warrior below:
More about Closest Populations
As mentioned above, alongside the addition of Notable Individuals, we made it easier to access one of the most popular Ancient Origins reports. Closest Populations, previously found under Genetic Similarities>Single origin, is an advanced report that enables you to better understand how closely your DNA compares to ancient populations.
Accessing Closest Populations (click to zoom)
Unlike the Ancient Origins Breakdown, which provides a report based on a tailored model of your choosing, the Closest Populations report compares your DNA to all of the reference populations in the database. The report shows the top 50 ancient populations that are most similar to you genetically.
Ancient Origins: Closest Populations (click to zoom)
The “dual origin” and “triple origin” reports, which show how different populations compare to you genetically in combinations of two or three respectively, can still be found under Genetic Similarities.
Cost and availability
The Notable Individuals feature is now available as part of Ancient Origins for eligible MyHeritage DNA users.
Ancient Origins is included in the Complete and Omni plans for users who have purchased a MyHeritage DNA kit. Existing eligible subscribers will automatically receive access to the new feature.
If you haven’t explored Ancient Origins yet, now is the perfect time to dive deeper into your ancient past and discover the historical individuals whose DNA is most similar to yours by purchasing a MyHeritage DNA kit.
Summary
Ancient DNA research is evolving at an extraordinary pace, continually uncovering new insights about the people and populations that shaped human history. With the addition of Notable Individuals, Ancient Origins offers a more personal and engaging way to explore those discoveries through your own DNA.
Whether you’re fascinated by ancient civilizations, historical figures, archaeology, or the story of human migration, the new feature adds another layer of depth to your journey of discovery.
We invite you to explore Ancient Origins and discover which notable individuals from history you’re genetically closest to.
