I’ve said this before, but it’s worth repeating as the holidays approach: The best gifts I ever gave my parents were two AncestryDNA kits. 

Ancestry is the best-selling consumer DNA kit in the world, and part of the world’s largest consumer DNA network. It can trace your roots back to over 500 different global regions, discover migration paths and present the info with an interactive timeline, geographic details about your history and a pie chart fully detailing your ethnicity.

Plus, it’s very likely to offer you some surprises about your family history. 

To use, all you need to give is a saliva sample. Send your spit kit back, and you’ll know more than you ever wanted to about your genealogy about 6-8 weeks later.

(Side note: You may also want to upload your results to GEDmatch to get further genetic analysis. Also, you might want to read this, surprise, every enlightening Amazon review that explains what “ethnicity” really means, why any Native American heritage may not show up, and why the test might not be good for East Asians.)

AncestryDNA is currently having a holiday sale for Valentine’s Day; it’s $40 off and down to just $59 through November 27th. You can also add the AncestryDNA Traits package (which unlocked personal traits genes can influence) for an extra $10, down from $20.

It’s also 20% off Ancestry Gift Memberships, where you and/or your family can explore their roots with access to billions of Ancestry records across the country and globe. These are one-time, non-renewing memberships. They’ll also throw in a free “family-themed” game called TableTopics.

Subscribe here for our daily deals and products newsletter, The Goods.