Can you tell someone's heritage by their appearance?

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I always kind of wondered what my appearance said about my heritage. I know I'm white chick, but I don't know everything about my ancestry.

I really hope this doesn't sound like a dumb question.

No, it's not a dumb question. It depends on if you are familiar with different ethnicities and so if the person you are talking about is that ethnicity and also displays any strong characteristics.

Sometimes it can be deceiving, but a combination of jaw line + eye shape + skin tone +nose + lip shape might suggest certain heritage, but it's not fool proof. Names are pretty interesting to look into [if you weren't adopted]. So if you have a few last names that can be neat to look into the history of those names too.

ETA: I should add- Im Irish. I don't know anything about one of my sets of grandparents, other than they were heavily involved in the Irish Catholic church so either were fully Irish or A LOT IRISH. We suspect the latter because there are some things about my sister's face and my face that are a bit... interesting if you look at facial structure.
So actually facial features are something that interests me. ...which sounds kind of weird I know.

Only in a very general sense, such as being able to tell that a person might be of African, Asian, or European descent; but not being able to exactly which country their ancestors came from.

So, I think I have this wrong [sincerely]- what is the difference between ethnicity and heritage in a practical sense? Because peoples from asia but from differing countries have some different facial structure but we might be talking about different things or I might just actually not know what words I'm using right/wrong.

In this context, "Heritage" is the collective description of one's culturally inherited traditions, language, and customs; while "Ethnicity" is more in line with one's genetic ancestry.

All I know is, when I'm headed to Ireland, I can spot my gate at the airport just by the faces of the people in the waiting area. In addition to the characteristic fair skin, freckles, and higher proportion of redheads, there is also a certain downward slant of the eye (sloe eye, a la Darryl Dixon), eyebrows that are less arched and also slope downward, and a straight prominent nose.
So yes, I think it is possible to determine a person's ethnicity by their appearance, beyond merely "white".
That said, there will always be exceptions to the rule. It would be an educated guess, not a sure thing.

OK, thanks.