Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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The Hidden Links Between Blood Type & Ancestry…
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:28 Blood Types and Rh-negative
2:11 Why Irish and Basque Blood is So Unique
4:29 Blood Types in Europe and the Americas
6:46 Rest of the World Blood Types
9:25 Why Rh-negative in Europeans?
Does the blood running through your veins reveal something about your ancestry? Why is blood type O so common in Ireland and the Atlantic fringe, Rh-negative so elevated in Europe, while type B is dominant in parts of Asia? Well in this video we will uncover the Hidden Links Between Blood Type & Ancestry.
But before looking at why there is such variation across the world, lets quickly go through the main blood types. Now the ABO system classifies blood into 4 main groups, A, B, AB and O. This is based on whether red blood cells carry A antigens, B antigens, both, or neither, as this breakdown shows. And let me know what your blood type is in the comments below and where you are watching this video from.
Now your blood group is determined by the genes you inherit from your parents. And on top of the ABO classification, there is the Rh system, most commonly referring to the RhD antigen. If you have the RhD protein on your red cells, you are Rh positive. If you lack it, you are Rh negative. Now look at this table. You can see how rare rh negative is around the world, at only 6% or so. Yet it is elevated in Europe, or in places with a lot of European ancestry, such as the US. But why is this? Well we will explore this connection later.
Now each blood group in general can be either Rh positive or negative, which means in total, there are 8 main blood groups. And if you look at this table, you can see that O+ is the most common blood type in the world, found in around 42% of people. AB- is the least common of the main 8 types on the other hand. There is an extremely rare blood type that is often forgotten, called Rh-null (or nicknamed “Golden Blood”). Fewer than 100 people have ever been documented with this since its discovery in 1961, which lacks all Rh antigens.
But how do blood types vary by populations in Europe and across the globe? Well if we start with Europe, two broad trends stand out.
Sources:
Blood groups - NHS
World Population By Percentage of Blood Types – World Atlas
The magic of the world's rarest blood type - BBC Future
The rarest and most common blood types by ethnicity
Blood type distribution by country - Wikipedia
What Does Your Blood Type Say About Your Heritage? - DNA Diagnostics Center (DDC)
Farhud DD, Zarif Yeganeh M. A brief history of human blood groups. Iran J Public Health. 2013;42(1):1-6. Epub 2013 Jan 1. PMID: 23514954; PMCID: PMC3595629.
Rare blood types - NHS Blood Donation
Ancient humans evolved new blood types after leaving Africa | Science | AAAS
Blood type distribution by ethnicity U.S.| Statista
Rh blood group system - Wikipedia
Iain Mathieson (2017) - Blood groups in ancient Europe
Blood type distribution U.S. 2023| Statista
Golden blood: The rarest blood type in the world - Big Think
Creative Commons Imagery:
Sophiedionne14 File:Rh blood cells drawing.svg - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Deed - Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International - Creative Commons
Tamm E, Kivisild T, Reidla M, Metspalu M, Smith DG, Mulligan CJ, et al. (2007) Beringian Standstill and Spread of Native American Founders. PLoS ONE 2(9): e829. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0000829
Wojciech Pędzich, Robert Molyneaux File:Yamnaya phenotype, Reconstruction, male, grave Novooleksiivka; Ukraine.png - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Deed - Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International - Creative Commons
Matteo De Stefano/MUSE File:Homo sapiens - Neolithic - reconstruction - MUSE.jpg - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Deed - Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported - Creative Commons
#ancestry #blood #dna
If you enjoyed this video, please consider buying me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/celtichistory
Join This Channel to Get Exclusive Member-Only Videos: youtube.com/channel/UCCS3M_uNHH2iOJkpGhkO2SA/join
Subscribe to Celtic History Decoded -
youtube.com/channel/UCCS3M_uNHH2iOJkpGhkO2SA?sub_confirmation=1
The Hidden Links Between Blood Type & Ancestry…
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:28 Blood Types and Rh-negative
2:11 Why Irish and Basque Blood is So Unique
4:29 Blood Types in Europe and the Americas
6:46 Rest of the World Blood Types
9:25 Why Rh-negative in Europeans?
Does the blood running through your veins reveal something about your ancestry? Why is blood type O so common in Ireland and the Atlantic fringe, Rh-negative so elevated in Europe, while type B is dominant in parts of Asia? Well in this video we will uncover the Hidden Links Between Blood Type & Ancestry.
But before looking at why there is such variation across the world, lets quickly go through the main blood types. Now the ABO system classifies blood into 4 main groups, A, B, AB and O. This is based on whether red blood cells carry A antigens, B antigens, both, or neither, as this breakdown shows. And let me know what your blood type is in the comments below and where you are watching this video from.
Now your blood group is determined by the genes you inherit from your parents. And on top of the ABO classification, there is the Rh system, most commonly referring to the RhD antigen. If you have the RhD protein on your red cells, you are Rh positive. If you lack it, you are Rh negative. Now look at this table. You can see how rare rh negative is around the world, at only 6% or so. Yet it is elevated in Europe, or in places with a lot of European ancestry, such as the US. But why is this? Well we will explore this connection later.
Now each blood group in general can be either Rh positive or negative, which means in total, there are 8 main blood groups. And if you look at this table, you can see that O+ is the most common blood type in the world, found in around 42% of people. AB- is the least common of the main 8 types on the other hand. There is an extremely rare blood type that is often forgotten, called Rh-null (or nicknamed “Golden Blood”). Fewer than 100 people have ever been documented with this since its discovery in 1961, which lacks all Rh antigens.
But how do blood types vary by populations in Europe and across the globe? Well if we start with Europe, two broad trends stand out.
Sources:
Blood groups - NHS
World Population By Percentage of Blood Types – World Atlas
The magic of the world's rarest blood type - BBC Future
The rarest and most common blood types by ethnicity
Blood type distribution by country - Wikipedia
What Does Your Blood Type Say About Your Heritage? - DNA Diagnostics Center (DDC)
Farhud DD, Zarif Yeganeh M. A brief history of human blood groups. Iran J Public Health. 2013;42(1):1-6. Epub 2013 Jan 1. PMID: 23514954; PMCID: PMC3595629.
Rare blood types - NHS Blood Donation
Ancient humans evolved new blood types after leaving Africa | Science | AAAS
Blood type distribution by ethnicity U.S.| Statista
Rh blood group system - Wikipedia
Iain Mathieson (2017) - Blood groups in ancient Europe
Blood type distribution U.S. 2023| Statista
Golden blood: The rarest blood type in the world - Big Think
Creative Commons Imagery:
Sophiedionne14 File:Rh blood cells drawing.svg - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Deed - Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International - Creative Commons
Tamm E, Kivisild T, Reidla M, Metspalu M, Smith DG, Mulligan CJ, et al. (2007) Beringian Standstill and Spread of Native American Founders. PLoS ONE 2(9): e829. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0000829
Wojciech Pędzich, Robert Molyneaux File:Yamnaya phenotype, Reconstruction, male, grave Novooleksiivka; Ukraine.png - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Deed - Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International - Creative Commons
Matteo De Stefano/MUSE File:Homo sapiens - Neolithic - reconstruction - MUSE.jpg - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Deed - Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported - Creative Commons
#ancestry #blood #dna
