To estimate your ancestral ethnicity, MyHeritage compares your DNA with the DNA of people around the globe whose genetic ethnicity is known. In this version of our Ethnicity Estimate, we currently have 15 ethnicities drawn from Jewish populations from around the world:
Bene Israel Jewish
Cochin Jewish
Caucasus Jewish
Bukharan Jewish
Ashkenazi Jewish (Germany, France, Netherlands)
Ashkenazi Jewish (USSR)
Ashkenazi Jewish (Poland, Hungary, Romania, Czechia)
Iraqi Jewish
Syrian Jewish
Persian Jewish and Kurdish Jewish
Libyan Jewish
Algerian Jewish
Tunisian Jewish
Moroccan Jewish
Yemenite Jewish
Whilst it is true that Judaism is a religion and not an attribute determinable by a DNA mutation, Jewish people tended to live in separate communities and practice endogamy, i.e. marry within that community. This allows genetic research to establish a distinguished model for various Jewish ethnicities. One should also note that the Ashkenazi Jewish diaspora originated in Western Europe and migrated to other countries throughout history. Therefore the ethnicities related to this group encompass the entire Ashkenazi Jewish diaspora.
Due to unique traits of Judaism it can be classified both as a religion and as an ethnicity. One can have Jewish ancestors but it does not necessarily mean that one would be Jewish from a religious perspective.