With DNA inheritance, we can split up your DNA by the parent you inherited it from. That means we can estimate which ancestral regions, journeys, and traits you got from each parent and which parent your DNA matches are related to. 

You inherited half of your DNA from one parent and half from the other. But though we can split up your DNA using SideView™ Technology, we don’t know which parent is your mother and which is your father. That’s where you come in. If you know which parent is which, you can change your Parent 1 and Parent 2 labels to “Maternal” and “Paternal” (or vice versa). 

Parent 1 and Parent 2 are the same throughout AncestryDNA®. So if you can figure out who Parent 1 is in your DNA matches, for example, then you know who Parent 1 is everywhere else, too. 

Using DNA matches

Find one familiar match.
If you know which side of your family even one of your matches is on, you have enough information to label Parent 1 and Parent 2. Look at whether we assigned that match to Parent 1 or Parent 2, and you’ll have your answer.

For example, if you know that match is your maternal aunt, and you see that we assigned her to Parent 1, then Parent 1 is your maternal side–which makes Parent 2 your paternal side. 

To label your parents: 

1. Above your list of DNA matches, select the By parent tab. 
2. Under Parent 1 or Parent 2, select Edit parent and follow the steps to change the label. 

Using ancestral regions

If your matches don’t help you, your ancestral regions may be your best bet.

Look for a unique region. 
Did Parent 1 or Parent 2 pass down a region to you that the other didn’t? If so, figuring out which side that region came from can give you the answer. Here are some ways to narrow it down:

• If your parents have taken tests, look for a region in your results that you share with only one parent, then match that unique region to Parent 1 or Parent 2.
• If they haven’t taken tests, look for the unique region among regions you share with your closest matches. If you know which side of your family those matches are on, you can guess which parent is Parent 1 and which is Parent 2. This isn’t proof, since a match could have inherited the same region you did from a parent who isn't related to you. But if several matches on the same side of your family share that region and it doesn’t appear (or if it appears much less often) on the other side of your family, this can be a clue.
• Use records to trace your family tree, looking for birthplaces in the unique region. For example, if the unique region is Japan, look for census records that mention a birthplace of Japan. If you find these on one side of your family and not the other, this is also a clue.

Check out the percentages. 
Many people inherit the same regions from both parents, but in different amounts. For example, imagine Parent 1 passed down 25% Egypt and Parent 2 passed down 3% Egypt. If you know one of your parents has only 5% Egypt themselves, that may be the parent who passed down 3%. Since each region in your results could be a range of possible numbers, this is only a clue. We assign the most likely one as the percentage–but the most likely number is not the only possible number. This means that either parent could have passed down more of a region to you than they appear to have in their results.

To label your parents:

1. In regions by parent, select Label parents in the top-right corner.
2. Follow the steps to change the label.