Can You Annoy People By Talking About Your Genealogy or Clan Heritage?

Will you annoy people by tracing your Celtic heritage?
Is it offensive or rude to ask people from Scotland or Ireland for help withy your family history?
Rocky, Ally and Erik try to help someone who seems nervous about reaching out to people in the old country who may be relayed to them or have a clan connection in common.
For the most part, we feel one should be able to engage ion conversation about these topics with most anyone, so long one is polite and considerate of the other person's time. But are there nuances to consider?
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Tartans in this video:
Rocky: American Dream
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Ally: Kilts & Culture
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Started in 2003, USA Kilts is a team of kilt makers and artisans located in Spring City PA. In 2017, we made it our mission to build community and bring kilts and Celtic culture to the forefront with our YT show: Kilts & Culture.
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[@vodostar9134]

One thing to keep in mind is that just because you're excited about genealogy doesn't mean the distant relative you find through it cares about who you are. One does need to be careful about the approach. I have had some interesting conversations with very distant cousins, but more often, there's no interest on the other end.

[@Mike-gd4zd]

I work in a very centralised part of Scotland, and see tourists from America on a daily basis talk about their family lineage. The claims are always said as some sort of bridge to both ground them in the past… but also provide them opportunity to wax lyrical about their ‘main character energy’ - as usually they are related to William Wallace, or Robert the Bruce. As a native born and bred Scotsman… it can be incredibly tiresome.

[@IosuamacaMhadaidh]

You're absolutely right. Which is why if I ever get to visit, I'll probably keep to myself 😂

[@jamesstevenson7816]

Ancestry or not if you celebrate our Culture or Traditions then your Scottish in my heart ❤

[@deannamcmurtrey5794]

I realize I'm about a year late, but your sentiment is very sweet and I couldn't just say nothing.

[@frankmckinley1254]

Wow I got to post first on your video. Yes more on this and thanks.

[@signespencer6887]

Having kids required to research their family history can be dicey- anyone who was ‘passing’ will have a ‘brick wall’. Some families have secrets and dark histories. Teachers who give such assignments need to be prepared to deal. My own grandmother lied to us about almost everything, as we discovered through Ancestry research. We still don’t know why.

[@scottishhellcat]

Signe Spencer some people still lie about uncomfortable family issues.

[@thejacobitehiker]

As a Scotsman interested in my Family Tree, History, and as a decendant from Jacobite's to the extent that one of my Ancestors was in the medical tent with Bonnie Prince Charlie, on a personal level I would NOT be upset if an American said they felt they were Scottish because their ancestors originally came from Scotland. Most Scottish I know would NOT be offended. We Scots love our country and everything about it, and we are usually more than aware that many of our folks were sent to the USA, Canada and Australia etc. Scottish and Scottishness is in your blood.

[@kennethmclaughlin9538]

I always say I’m second generation American and that my grandfather and Grandmother are from Donegal Ireland, and I still have family living there even my son Lives since 2002 in Donegal and is Married too and we have 4 Irish grandchildren. I did an DNA test to find out 80% Irish 17% Scotts and 3% French 😊 , so do I feel Irish and am I very proud of it, YES I DO. oh and yes we lived in Ireland for 8 years with Family and 100 cousins

[@Luv2tickt]

The one thing that's always got under my skin is when the "I'm *insert foreign nationality" (and yes Rocky is right about that being short-hand), or worse, the "hyphenated-American" enters the conversation. President Teddy Roosevelt said, "The man who loves other countries as much as his own stands on a level with the man who loves other women as much as he loves his own wife." We were raised to know, appreciate and honor where our ancestors came from, but to never forget THEY came here for a better life and to become Americans. So while I have German, Scottish and Irish heritage, I'm born and bred 100% American who had served our glorious Republic and have continued to do so in my community for the past twenty-seven years.

[@MrKandu4u]

I feel this happens in America because we're "products" of the "American melting pot". I also feel that one of the greatest failures of the American family is that so many of our children have no idea of where our families are from and our cultures. And, if you don't know where you're from you have a hard time knowing where you're going and why. Which is why so many children currently have a hard time with learning their identity. This is one of the reasons that this is my favorite KZbin station as I've learned a lot about the culture of my fore parents by watching the many videos offered on this station. This lead me to my families Clans. Thanks to everyone at USA Kilts for all of the hard work you do educating the public on this important topic.

[@sethirwin1610]

“Two countries divided by a common language “.😂😂

[@paul0wen65]

Most of my conversations about heritage start with my tattoos-I have Celtic and Pictish symbols along with an Irish tri-color and Scots saltire/Saint Andrews. One time, a black Scotsman who came down to my hometown in Montana with his Alberta friends saw my Scotland flag tat and asked if I was Scots. I said I have ancestry connecting me to Scotland. He said good on me, and thank gawd he found some one who understood his accent because his Canadian friends weren't speaking English!

[@vm1776]

I decided that I was going to record my grandfather's voice and while packing the night before for a weekend trip where I'd see him, I couldn't find the tape recorder and suddenly something told me that I wouldn't need it. Of course I didn't NEED it but I couldn't figure out why something was telling me that there was no reason to continue searching. The next day my cousin arrived first and found my grandfather had died. He was right next to the phone in his favorite chair. My uncle spoke with him on the phone the night before and about 20 minutes after the phonecall my mom called him and he didn't pickup. That feeling of knowing I wouldn't be recording started shortly after the time my uncle got off the phone with him. I kicked myself for a long time that I didn't ask my grandfather questions that I should have, he passed at 93 years of age after all. but geneology research and writing it down didn't really dawn on me until I was married and saw the importance that my inlaws placed on it and how they recorded it. But after my grandfather died, I connected with his youngest and only surviving sibling and my children know stories about their great grandfather's dating years told from the micheivious eyes of his little brother.

[@Sunnyflowerpuppy]

My family has been telling me and my brother ever since we were little. My grandmother on my mom's side died when I was 10, and like most 10 year olds, asking her about her grandparents never crossed my mind. My grandfather on my mom's side and my great-grandmother, dad's mother's mother died before I was born. I already got a lot of information on my grandparents and great grandparents just by asking family members after reading on why asking them is important. It's all on text and email and I'm compiling the information and research on a document. I learned a lot already and there is a lot more to learn. Once I dig out the family bible, I will learn more about one branch of my family.

[@terrykeever9422]

A lot of what I "learned" as a youngster was incorrect. A man came to a family reunion selling family histories that were incorrect. Sold a coat of arms and said my surname was English nobility. Turns out it's Scottish and a sept of McIver. A distant cousin claimed we were Russian. So much easier and accurate these days. Traced ours back to 1746 Pennsylvania in an hour or so. Maternal family ancestor (Sharpe) came from Scotland via Ireland before 1716 Maryland. Also a McDonald in the tree branches.

[@SeanPaulNotTheSinger]

I think that you've brought up an excellent point in regard to terminology. Quite often when we are spreaking to someone in another coutry, we forget that our shorthand or slang can be misunderstood or misinterpreted, which could be construed as offensive because we're making assumptions that may or may not be false. Since I wear a kilt daily, I get asked frequently if I'm Scottish or Irish. My normal response is, "Yes, by way of Canada. My family emigrated in the early 1900s to Nova Scotia and here I am." I recently encountered a Scottish gentleman at a conference and he asked if I was Scottish, when I responded that way, he appreciated my approach, and then was curious about my family's background, mentioning that he thought it was interesting that someone in the USA would wear a kilt, daily, when it's rarely worn where he lived in Scotland. That spawned the conversation where my wearing a kilt started off as a protest against my company's lame dress policy and then becoming a lifestyle choice...

[@101shapshifter]

I remember when I was in elementary school, asking my mother about her ancestry (Which was Irish), heck literally my mother's maiden name is my middle name. All the while my dad's ancestry is German. So basically if a person wanted to know my ancestry, all they have to do is look at my middle and last names. My DNA has a blood alcohol level of .8

[@raymondsosnowski9717]

Point well taken! However, beware of the pitfalls of DNA evidence. First, different sites have their own categorizations - on three different sites, my so-called ethnicities do differ; they are NOT identical! Also recall that you get 50% from your father & 50% from your mother, but do NOT forget the corollary that 50% of your father's DNA is missing from you as well as 50% of your mother's DNA This DNA 'roulette' can skew your individual results, and perhaps even miss a particular ethnicity contribution or two. Clustering is the option to close these gaps, that is, get DNA from every close relative you can (does get expensive for sure) including parents (if possible), siblings, blood-line aunts & uncles, and 1st cousins. I have made e-mail inquiries with people with matches on the various sites that I belong to - from my experience, most do go unanswered; do not know why. But do not be discouraged. I have also found 2nd & 4th cousins who either still live in Central Europe or who now live in North America. YMMV. Also try to corroborate any oral history; cover-ups occur in family lore as well as omissions of fact. And I might add, do not always trust written records - mistakes do occur as well as misinformation may have been recorded. It's a puzzle not for the faint-of-heart, but well worth the 'risk' as far as I am concerned. FYI, I have been pursuing my ancestry (including DNA testing) since 2007.

[@silver6054]

"I have made e-mail inquiries with people with matches on the various sites that I belong to - from my experience, most do go unanswered; do not know why." I think it's fairly obvious! While some people (including some of my immediate family) are very interested in ancestry, others, including me, are not. If I get an email from someone who says we are fourth cousins, sharing a relative I have never heard of/met/cared about, that's pretty much a random stranger and I would have no interest in following up. I have much more "real" in common with my unrelated neighbors, work colleagues etc. Hopefully, for those who care, enough will be interested enough to respond, but that the lack shouldn't be a surprise

[@joevirnig8057]

Jeanie Jogemy? - I had Algebra with her!

[@BCSchmerker]

+USAKiltsOfficial *Thanks for the critic perspective.* My surname is an Odenwälder (Hessen, DEU) trade name, but this is only one o' my Greater German roots. My other paternal roots are Norman, from the Scots' Lowlands (viz., Hyndford, Lanarkshire, GBR) and the south of Eire (the exact County, IRL, I've yet to confirm). Being half Japanese, I have an inkling about my maternal roots, probably from artisan, mercantile, and noble branches - the Greater Japanese Empire had, and the current State of Japan has, a history of aversion to Western religions, witness the emigration to California, USA, of the Kodama, Hori, and Kume due to persecution in the "Great Eight-Island Realm of Plentiful Reed Plains and Fresh Ears of Grain."

[@straycat1674]

A lot of the issue comes in part by the fact that genealogy and DNA does not dictate your nationality. At least the people who live in Europe. You said to them you’re not gonna be Scottish unless you were raised there. Unless you have that cultural influence. That means somebody’s parents can move there from India and they’re born there. Well they’re more Scottish than you will ever be because you were never born there. What a lot of natural born Scots seem to not understand is that there’s no such thing as being genetically American unless you’re Native American. This is our nationality, but that is different than our genetics.