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Marion County – Ancestry

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Ancestry refers to the lineage or descent of a person, family, or group, tracing back through generations to identify their origins, heritage, and familial connections. It encompasses the genetic, cultural, and historical ties that link individuals to their forebears, shaping their identity and sense of belonging. Ancestry is a multifaceted concept, intertwining biology, genealogy, history, and culture, and it plays a significant role in how people understand themselves and their place in the world.

At its core, ancestry is rooted in genetics. Each individual inherits a unique combination of DNA from their parents, who in turn inherited their DNA from their own ancestors. This genetic material carries information about physical traits, predispositions to certain health conditions, and even behavioral tendencies. Advances in genetic testing, such as DNA analysis, have made it possible for individuals to trace their biological ancestry with remarkable precision. Companies like 23andMe and AncestryDNA offer services that analyze genetic markers to provide insights into a person's ethnic composition and geographic origins, often revealing surprising connections to distant relatives or previously unknown heritage.

Beyond genetics, ancestry is deeply tied to genealogy, the study of family history and lineage. Genealogical research involves constructing family trees, documenting relationships, and uncovering historical records such as birth certificates, marriage licenses, census data, and immigration documents. This process often reveals stories of migration, resilience, and adaptation, offering a window into the lives of ancestors and the challenges they faced. For many, genealogy is a way to honor their forebears and preserve their legacy for future generations.

Cultural ancestry is another critical dimension, encompassing the traditions, languages, customs, and values passed down through generations. It connects individuals to their ethnic or national heritage, shaping their cultural identity and worldview. For example, someone with Irish ancestry might celebrate St. Patrick's Day, learn traditional Irish dance, or explore the Gaelic language, while someone with Japanese ancestry might practice tea ceremonies, study calligraphy, or observe Obon festivals. Cultural ancestry fosters a sense of continuity and belonging, linking individuals to a broader community with shared experiences and values.

Historical ancestry delves into the broader context of a family's or group's past, including significant events, social conditions, and historical movements that shaped their lives. For instance, the transatlantic slave trade, the Irish Potato Famine, or the Jewish diaspora have profoundly influenced the ancestry of millions of people, leaving lasting imprints on their descendants' identities. Understanding historical ancestry often involves grappling with complex narratives of triumph and tragedy, resilience and oppression, and the interplay of individual and collective experiences.

Ancestry also has a deeply personal and emotional dimension. For many, exploring their ancestry is a journey of self-discovery, offering insights into who they are and where they come from. It can foster a sense of pride, connection, and continuity, as well as a deeper appreciation for the struggles and achievements of those who came before. At the same time, it can raise questions about identity, belonging, and the complexities of heritage, particularly for individuals with mixed or multicultural backgrounds.

In a globalized world, ancestry serves as a bridge between the past and the present, connecting individuals to their roots while also highlighting the interconnectedness of human history. It underscores the diversity and richness of human experience, reminding us that every person's story is part of a larger tapestry woven over centuries. Whether through genetic testing, genealogical research, cultural practices, or historical exploration, ancestry offers a profound way to understand ourselves and our place in the world.

A diversification score measures the diversity of ancestries in the county. As the value appoaches 100, ancestry diversity decreases and therefore increasing the risk of a lack of cultural diversity. The ancestry diversification score for this county is:

20.44

Most common ancestry not including "Unknown" is:

American

 
Ancestry Report Part I
DescriptionTotal Population American Native American Hawaiian Caribbean (Latino) Mexican Central American South American Other Hispanic African American Sub- Saharan Caribbean (Black)

Marion County29,3995,70270147474016018683190175
Alabama (in 000's)5,20355221240162431417909201187
National (in 000's)343,25113,8902,21362611,32738,8796,1814,6443,68725,8937,8527,174
Walker County65,66616,71818202061,368342601932,605709672
Monroe County33,7382,901452123882720306,7661,8411,795
Franklin County32,1557,03411322593,3272,5730240887205204
Itawamba County24,2693,9363501437400321,241271252
Winston County24,2385,5698211473643664561841414
Fayette County15,9813,44836114209047231,125316312
Lamar County13,5851,712302789318199804255254
 
Per Cent to Total PopulationDiversity
Index
 

Marion County20.4419.400.240.050.252.520.050.000.062.320.650.60
Alabama12.2410.610.410.050.773.120.820.280.3317.473.873.59
National7.834.050.640.183.3011.331.801.351.077.542.292.09
Walker County16.8925.460.280.000.312.080.520.090.293.971.081.02
Monroe County14.508.600.130.010.041.150.080.060.0920.055.465.32
Franklin County15.1421.880.350.010.8110.358.000.000.752.760.640.63
Itawamba County23.6116.220.140.000.061.540.000.000.135.111.121.04
Winston County21.8622.980.340.050.191.501.510.020.230.760.060.06
Fayette County18.8721.580.230.010.091.310.000.290.147.041.981.95
Lamar County20.9812.600.220.010.570.680.130.140.075.921.881.87
 
Comparisons to State Norms % to Total >= 150% % to Total < 50% 

Marion County 182.8357.65101.7232.9080.676.600.0018.6813.3016.7016.58
Alabama 100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00
National 38.15156.12389.80431.33363.02218.48488.45327.7043.1859.1058.20
Walker County 239.9967.110.0041.0066.7763.1932.9989.6722.7127.9028.50
Monroe County 81.0532.2912.664.6536.869.7121.4027.13114.79140.99148.16
Franklin County 206.2085.0913.29105.28331.62970.840.00227.7215.7916.4717.67
Itawamba County 152.8834.920.007.5449.390.000.0040.2329.2728.8528.92
Winston County 216.5881.9196.9425.3548.13183.215.9670.494.351.491.61
Fayette County 203.3854.5413.3711.4541.920.00106.1843.9140.2951.0954.37
Lamar County 118.7953.4731.4575.0521.9416.0850.4920.2133.8848.5052.07
 
Comparisons to National Norms % to Total >= 150% % to Total < 50% 

Marion County 479.2936.9326.107.6322.223.020.005.7030.8028.2528.48
Alabama 262.1664.0525.6523.1827.5545.7720.4730.52231.60169.19171.81
National 100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00
Walker County 629.1442.980.009.5118.3928.926.7527.3652.5947.2048.96
Monroe County 212.4920.693.251.0810.154.444.388.28265.85238.54254.55
Franklin County 540.5854.503.4124.4191.35444.350.0069.4936.5727.8730.35
Itawamba County 400.7822.370.001.7513.610.000.0012.2867.7948.8149.68
Winston County 567.7852.4724.875.8813.2683.851.2221.5110.062.532.76
Fayette County 533.1734.943.432.6511.550.0021.7413.4093.3286.4493.41
Lamar County 311.4234.258.0717.406.047.3610.346.1778.4582.0689.46
 
Ancestry Report Part II
DescriptionTotal Population Canadian British Dutch French German Italian Polish Scandi­navian Scotish/ Irish Spanish Other European

Marion County29,399292,278139244906346831662,48724437
Alabama (in 000's)5,20373591534178471528324775
National (in 000's)343,2511,35018,0691,8283,64224,7089,0274,6675,96920,6251,1409,563
Walker County65,666136,0772502652,448741752015,6770769
Monroe County33,738593,4713914469890581361,7090211
Franklin County32,15502,037968254119726351,567100180
Itawamba County24,269271,9493710669210854341,7260132
Winston County24,23842,178678588819448912,0350293
Fayette County15,98101,155527632121432468170170
Lamar County13,58511,15863103352943649890146
 
Per Cent to Total PopulationDiversity
Index
 

Marion County20.440.107.750.470.833.081.180.280.568.460.081.49
Alabama12.240.136.890.290.653.420.900.290.546.230.141.44
National7.830.395.260.531.067.202.631.361.746.010.332.79
Walker County16.890.029.250.380.403.731.130.110.318.650.001.17
Monroe County14.500.1710.290.120.432.070.270.170.405.070.000.63
Franklin County15.140.006.330.300.261.680.610.080.114.870.310.56
Itawamba County23.610.118.030.150.442.850.450.220.147.110.000.54
Winston County21.860.028.990.280.353.660.800.200.388.400.001.21
Fayette County18.870.007.230.330.482.011.340.200.295.110.001.06
Lamar County20.980.018.520.460.762.590.690.020.477.280.001.07
 
Comparisons to State Norms % to Total >= 150% % to Total < 50% 

Marion County 74.27112.45163.58128.5390.07130.5197.85105.36135.8059.10103.25
Alabama 100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00
National 296.1676.40184.25164.30210.38291.63471.23324.4596.46240.51193.53
Walker County 14.91134.31131.7262.49108.95125.1339.5957.11138.790.0081.34
Monroe County 131.67149.3139.9966.1060.4729.5859.5875.2281.320.0043.44
Franklin County 0.0091.94103.2939.4949.1767.9428.0320.3178.23225.1638.88
Itawamba County 83.76116.5552.7567.6483.3449.3577.1226.14114.170.0037.78
Winston County 12.43130.4195.6454.31107.0888.7568.6470.05134.780.0083.97
Fayette County 0.00104.89112.5873.6558.71148.4969.4053.7182.070.0073.89
Lamar County 5.54123.71160.44117.4175.7376.737.6587.90116.870.0074.65
 
Comparisons to National Norms % to Total >= 150% % to Total < 50% 

Marion County 25.08147.2088.7878.2342.8144.7520.7732.47140.7924.5853.35
Alabama 33.77130.9054.2760.8647.5334.2921.2230.82103.6741.5851.67
National 100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00
Walker County 5.03175.8071.4938.0451.7942.918.4017.60143.880.0042.03
Monroe County 44.46195.4421.7140.2328.7410.1412.6423.1884.300.0022.45
Franklin County 0.00120.3456.0624.0423.3723.305.956.2681.1093.6220.09
Itawamba County 28.28152.5628.6341.1739.6116.9216.378.06118.360.0019.52
Winston County 4.20170.7051.9133.0550.9030.4314.5721.59139.730.0043.39
Fayette County 0.00137.3061.1044.8227.9050.9214.7316.5585.080.0038.18
Lamar County 1.87161.9387.0871.4636.0026.311.6227.09121.160.0038.57
 
Ancestry Report Part III
DescriptionTotal Population Chinese Filipino Japanese Korean Vietnamese South Central Asian South East Asian Other Asian Middle Eastern Other Ancestry Unknown

Marion County29,3990252340711453,67510,815
Alabama (in 000's)5,2031573149186698061,073
National (in 000's)343,2514,4613,0107931,5411,9135,4521,6431,2291,93147,32251,000
Walker County65,66684604835262035199,07016,734
Monroe County33,738400055002225,8227,391
Franklin County32,1551200002141304,6957,705
Itawamba County24,269000005851922,85410,311
Winston County24,23820236005012192,5788,981
Fayette County15,981100010001702,3235,216
Lamar County13,5850000073201,9795,347
 
Per Cent to Total PopulationDiversity
Index
 

Marion County20.440.000.090.010.120.000.020.000.050.0212.5036.79
Alabama12.240.290.130.060.260.180.350.110.110.1715.4920.61
National7.831.300.880.230.450.561.590.480.360.5613.7914.86
Walker County16.890.130.090.010.010.050.040.030.050.0313.8125.48
Monroe County14.500.010.000.000.000.160.000.000.070.0117.2621.91
Franklin County15.140.040.000.000.000.000.070.010.040.0014.6023.96
Itawamba County23.610.000.000.000.000.000.240.020.080.0111.7642.49
Winston County21.860.080.090.020.000.000.020.000.050.0810.6437.05
Fayette County18.870.010.000.000.000.060.000.000.110.0014.5432.64
Lamar County20.980.000.000.000.000.000.050.020.010.0014.5739.36
 
Comparisons to State Norms % to Total >= 150% % to Total < 50% 

Marion County 0.0065.3311.5744.050.006.763.0844.479.7680.68178.48
Alabama 100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00
National 443.51673.78392.78171.03311.57451.20433.51334.48322.6888.9872.09
Walker County 43.6570.2010.364.6429.8011.2527.5949.7716.6089.15123.64
Monroe County 4.050.000.000.0091.140.000.0060.903.40111.38106.28
Franklin County 12.740.000.000.000.0018.5511.2737.760.0094.24116.25
Itawamba County 0.000.000.000.000.0067.8918.6673.114.7375.90206.13
Winston County 28.1672.9042.090.000.005.860.0046.2344.9768.65179.77
Fayette County 2.140.000.000.0034.980.000.0099.340.0093.82158.35
Lamar County 0.000.000.000.000.0014.6420.0013.750.0094.02190.96
 
Comparisons to National Norms % to Total >= 150% % to Total < 50% 

Marion County 0.009.702.9525.750.001.500.7113.303.0290.67247.59
Alabama 22.5514.8425.4658.4732.1022.1623.0729.9030.99112.38138.73
National 100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00
Walker County 9.8410.422.642.719.562.496.3614.885.14100.19171.51
Monroe County 0.910.000.000.0029.250.000.0018.211.05125.17147.44
Franklin County 2.870.000.000.000.004.112.6011.290.00105.91161.27
Itawamba County 0.000.000.000.000.0015.054.3021.861.4785.30285.95
Winston County 6.3510.8210.720.000.001.300.0013.8213.9477.15249.38
Fayette County 0.480.000.000.0011.230.000.0029.700.00105.44219.67
Lamar County 0.000.000.000.000.003.244.614.110.00105.67264.91


Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025