The study shows the genetic history of Scandinavia was influenced by foreign genes from Asia and Southern Europe before the Viking Age. Early Viking Age raiding parties were an activity for locals and included close family members. The genetic legacy in the UK has left the population with up to six per cent Viking DNA.
From this, it was calculated that the modern English population has approximately 6% Danish Viking ancestry, with Scottish and Irish populations having up to 16%. Additionally, populations from all areas of Britain and Ireland were found to have 3–4% Norwegian Viking ancestry.
Almost one million Britons alive today are of Viking descent, which means one in 33 men can claim to be direct descendants of the Vikings. Around 930,000 descendents of warrior race exist today - despite the Norse warriors' British rule ending more than 900 years ago.
“Importantly our results show that 'Viking' identity was not limited to people with Scandinavian genetic ancestry.” The genetic legacy of the Viking Age lives on today with 6% of people of the UK population predicted to have Viking DNA in their genes compared to 10% in Sweden.
In fact, across Great Britain there is a clear pattern: the highest Scandinavian genetic ethnicity is found in northeast England, decreasing as you get further from that region. And in Ireland, the average Scandinavian ethnicity varies rather widely, with a high of 5.3% in Ulster and a low of 2.0% in Munster.
This marker is barely present in England with an average of 1 per cent of men carrying the genetic code. Vikings are still running rampant through Scotland as, according to the researchers, 29.2 per cent of descendants in Shetland have the DNA, 25.2 per cent in Orkney and 17.5 per cent in Caithness.
The Celts were an ancient people inhabiting what is now Ireland, Scotland, England, and other parts of Europe from as early as 1000 BC. On the other hand, the Vikings were active from around 800 AD to 1100 AD in Scandinavia and Northern Europe.
If we are speaking ethnically, the closest people to a Viking in modern-day terms would be the Danish, Norwegians, Swedish, and Icelandic people. Interestingly though, it was common for their male Viking ancestors to intermarry with other nationalities, and so there is a lot of mixed heritage.
1. Norway. As one of the countries where Vikings originated, there's tons of Viking heritage in Norway.
Experts have said that any surname ending in 'sen' or 'son' is likely to be of Viking descent (big news for Emma Watson, Emma Thompson, Robert Pattinson and co) – and surnames such as Roger/s, Rogerson, and Rendall also hint that there's a touch of the marauder to you.
New research shows that the Irish definitely have their fair share of Viking heritage–in fact, the Irish are more genetically diverse than most people may assume. The Irish have Viking and Norman ancestry in similar proportions to the English.
Yes, the British royal family descends from Vikings. Descent of Elizabeth II from William the Conqueror shows the direct senior royal line which begins with William I also known as William The Conqueror.
According to Origins of English Surnames and A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances, English surnames that have their source in the language of the Norse invaders include: Algar, Allgood, Collings, Dowsing, Drabble, Eetelbum, Gamble, Goodman, Grime, Gunn, Hacon, Harold, Hemming, ...
Britons share the most DNA with people from France and Germany — countries which were home to the Angles and Saxons that moved into the British Isles after Roman rule collapsed in the 4th century.
Where did the Vikings settle in England? The Vikings settled in East Anglia, the north of England and parts of the Midlands and were joined by more Scandinavian migrants. There is debate about just how many.
The genetic legacy of the Viking Age lives on today with six per cent of people of the UK population predicted to have Viking DNA in their genes compared to 10 per cent in Sweden.
Who are the descendants of the Vikings? Viking settlements exist in different parts of the world, including Denmark, Greenland, Iceland, Great Britain, Ireland, Scotland, Normandy and Swedish parts of Finland, Estonia and Latvia.
A small percentage of Scandinavian DNA can easily be explained by distant ancestors who settled in foreign lands. If your Scandinavian ethnicity is more than 20%, though, you probably have strong and fairly recent ties to the region.
No, Vikings aren't a Germanic tribe. The fact of the matter is that Germanic tribes consisted of an umbrella of various tribes that speak different languages commonly grouped together. Moreover, Vikings were only a subgroup of different peoples that included the Germans.
“A lot of the Vikings are mixed individuals” with ancestry from both Southern Europe and Scandinavia, for example, or even a mix of Sami (Indigenous Scandinavian) and European ancestry.
Experts believe that a majority of Irish people have Celtic roots; however, a study published on Thursday found they may also have a great deal of influence from the Vikings, Anglo-Normans, and British.
Vikings in Ireland. France and Ireland as well. In these areas they became known as the "Norsemen" (literally, north-men) and laterally as the "Vikings". They called themselves "Ostmen".
To this day you can find Scottish Clans with direct Viking (Norse) descent. Clan Gunn in the North, Clan MacDonald of the Isles and Clan MacLeod (pronounced Mac-loud), in the west mainland and Isles, along with other Clans (such as MacQueen and MacAulay) are of Norse-Scot origin.