Have you ever wondered where your freckles came from, or why you hate cilantro? Discover clues in your DNA about these and lots of other traits*. You can also see how they relate to the geographic regions in your AncestryDNA® results, and compare traits with others.
*AncestryDNA® Traits is not designed or intended to diagnose or provide medical information related to health conditions. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice or diagnosis. Consult a healthcare professional for any health-related questions or concerns.
Purchasing and viewing traits
Traits can be purchased with AncestryDNA®, purchased as an upgrade to AncestryDNA®, or included as part of an Ancestry family history membership. If you access traits through a membership, you'll have access to all traits for the duration of your membership.
View your traits
(Or, from the top menu, select DNA, then Traits.)
Traits we offer
AncestryDNA currently offers the following traits:
Personality
- Artist
- Cavities
- Dancing
- Doing things alone
- Hangryness
- Introvert or extrovert
- Morning or night person
- Pet ownership
- Picky eater
- Playing an instrument
- Playing music by ear
- Remembering dreams
- Risk taking
- Taking naps
- Tongue rolling
- Trying new things
Nutrients
- Omega-3
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin B12
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin E
Performance
- Athletic ability
- Competitiveness
- Desire to succeed
- Determination
- Dominant foot
- Focus
- Getting stronger
- Goal setter
- Hand-eye coordination
- Heart rate recovery
- Heat tolerance
- Holding your breath
- Individual or team sports
- Jumping high
- Leader
- Making contact with a ball
- Muscle fatigue
- Optimist
- Oxygen use
- Pain tolerance
- Performing choreography
- Persistence
- Physical agility
- Physical balance
- Physical flexibility
- Physical strength
- Quick reflexes
- Runner's high
- Self-confidence
- Self-discipline
- Speed
- Sports technique
- Sprinting
- Trying new things
- Watching sports
Sensory
- Alcohol flush
- Asparagus odor
- Bitter sensitivity
- Caffeine intake
- Cilantro aversion
- Mosquito bites
- Motion sickness
- Spicy foods
- Sun sneezing
- Sweet or savory foods
- Sweet sensitivity
- Tolerating dairy
- Umami sensitivity
Appearance
- Birth weight
- Cleft chin
- Dimples
- Earlobes
- Earwax type
- Ear wiggling
- Eye color
- Eyelash length
- Facial hair fullness
- Finger length
- Flat feet
- Freckles
- Hair type
- Hair color
- Hair strand thickness
- Hitchhiker's thumb
- Iris patterns
- Longer second toe
- Male hair loss
- Skin pigmentation
- Unibrow
- Widow's peak
- Wisdom teeth
More to explore
In addition to your traits reports, be sure to check out these features.
Compare with friends:
Compare your traits with anyone else who has AncestryDNA Traits. Once an invitation to compare has been accepted, you’ll be able to see that person’s traits, and they’ll be able to see yours. Learn more about comparing AncestryDNA® Traits.
Around the world:
Learn how your traits relate to the geographic regions in your DNA results. Using survey data collected from AncestryDNA members, we can provide a picture of how your traits may relate to the regions in your ancestral origins. This feature is only available for traits that we’ve collected survey data for. To see where your traits came from, go to your traits. At the bottom of the page under Around the World, click Select a trait. Click on one of your traits. If prompted, answer the survey question and click Submit.
Traits by parent:
See how much genetic influence each parent had on your traits. Your traits are influenced by DNA from both of your parents, but some DNA has more influence. For most traits, we can figure out which parent’s DNA has a larger effect. Learn more about traits by parent.
How your traits results are predicted
Specific places in your DNA are called markers. Scientists have found that some markers are associated with specific traits, like red hair or attached earlobes. We analyze these markers and use them to tell you what your DNA says about each of your traits. Sometimes, for various reasons, we can’t read a DNA difference in your DNA. In these cases, we estimate what it’s likely to be through a process called imputation.
To learn more about Traits, read our Traits white paper.
Accuracy
Think of your trait results as a peek inside your DNA, rather than a definitive prediction about your traits. If your trait result says you have curly hair, but your hair is straight, the markers we looked at aren’t “wrong,” they just don’t tell the whole story.
Most traits are influenced by many genes—some of which we don’t even know about yet. Environmental factors can affect your traits, too. Your set of genes is called your genotype, and how those genes are expressed in your traits is called your phenotype.
Your phenotype results come from a combination of the DNA we know about, DNA we don’t yet know about, and your environment. As science progresses, more of your trait predictions may line up with your DNA, but they will never all align. Your genes are just a starting point for who you could eventually become.
