Haplogroup H is the most common mtDNA haplogroup in Europe  and is found in about 40% of Europeans.  H3 – my father’s haplotype — is the second most common subclade of H. It is found more frequently in western than in eastern Europe and is thought to have arisen 9000-11,000 years ago.

On the other hand, Y-DNA haplotype J2b1 is now found mostly in the southern Balkans and Anatolia. Fewer than 2% of European men in the region of Europe from which my known ancestors came – the British Isles and northern Europe — belong to haplogroup J2b.