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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:

Most common ancestry not including "Unknown" is:

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

St. Helena Parish	11,082	219	38	5	8	69	145	2	15	3,882	962	962
Louisiana (in 000's)	4,642	248	25	2	48	113	113	16	32	961	236	223
National (in 000's)	343,251	13,890	2,213	626	11,327	38,879	6,181	4,644	3,687	25,893	7,852	7,174
East Baton Rouge Parish	456,172	15,144	847	122	4,282	8,135	13,325	1,937	2,777	143,136	30,904	28,498
Livingston Parish	154,835	11,443	326	30	701	3,807	4,523	339	474	10,332	1,021	952
Tangipahoa Parish	140,867	5,484	401	26	938	3,590	2,293	426	475	30,241	5,514	5,383
East Feliciana Parish	19,288	1,003	77	11	89	112	74	30	63	4,580	1,377	1,376
Amite County	12,713	1,000	25	0	7	45	0	0	15	2,886	1,106	867

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

St. Helena Parish	20.38	1.98	0.34	0.05	0.07	0.62	1.31	0.02	0.14	35.03	8.68	8.68
Louisiana	11.28	5.34	0.54	0.04	1.03	2.44	2.43	0.34	0.69	20.70	5.09	4.79
National	7.83	4.05	0.64	0.18	3.30	11.33	1.80	1.35	1.07	7.54	2.29	2.09
East Baton Rouge Parish	14.60	3.32	0.19	0.03	0.94	1.78	2.92	0.42	0.61	31.38	6.77	6.25
Livingston Parish	13.03	7.39	0.21	0.02	0.45	2.46	2.92	0.22	0.31	6.67	0.66	0.61
Tangipahoa Parish	12.21	3.89	0.28	0.02	0.67	2.55	1.63	0.30	0.34	21.47	3.91	3.82
East Feliciana Parish	15.31	5.20	0.40	0.06	0.46	0.58	0.38	0.16	0.33	23.75	7.14	7.13
Amite County	15.40	7.87	0.20	0.00	0.06	0.35	0.00	0.00	0.12	22.70	8.70	6.82

Comparisons to State Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

St. Helena Parish		36.99	63.35	124.52	7.01	25.55	53.76	5.27	19.74	169.19	170.42	181.10
Louisiana		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		75.75	119.13	503.64	320.52	464.71	73.99	394.88	156.62	36.43	44.91	43.60
East Baton Rouge Parish		62.14	34.31	73.81	91.17	73.17	120.02	123.93	88.77	151.55	133.00	130.33
Livingston Parish		138.35	38.90	53.47	43.97	100.88	120.03	63.90	44.64	32.23	12.95	12.83
Tangipahoa Parish		72.88	52.60	50.94	64.68	104.56	66.88	88.26	49.17	103.69	76.84	79.72
East Feliciana Parish		97.34	73.76	157.40	44.82	23.82	15.76	45.40	47.63	114.69	140.15	148.83
Amite County		147.25	36.33	0.00	5.35	14.52	0.00	0.00	17.20	109.64	170.79	142.28

Comparisons to National Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

St. Helena Parish		48.83	53.18	24.72	2.19	5.50	72.66	1.33	12.60	464.37	379.48	415.33
Louisiana		132.01	83.94	19.86	31.20	21.52	135.15	25.32	63.85	274.47	222.68	229.33
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
East Baton Rouge Parish		82.04	28.80	14.66	28.45	15.74	162.21	31.38	56.68	415.95	296.16	298.90
Livingston Parish		182.63	32.65	10.62	13.72	21.71	162.22	16.18	28.50	88.46	28.83	29.42
Tangipahoa Parish		96.20	44.15	10.11	20.18	22.50	90.39	22.35	31.39	284.58	171.12	182.83
East Feliciana Parish		128.50	61.91	31.25	13.98	5.13	21.30	11.50	30.41	314.78	312.09	341.32
Amite County		194.38	30.50	0.00	1.67	3.13	0.00	0.00	10.99	300.93	380.31	326.29

Ancestry Report Part II
Description	Total Population	Canadian	British	Dutch	French	German	Italian	Polish	Scandinavian	Scotish/ Irish	Spanish	Other European

St. Helena Parish	11,082	16	210	1	220	112	144	4	11	287	0	76
Louisiana (in 000's)	4,642	63	170	8	254	149	99	10	17	186	26	43
National (in 000's)	343,251	1,350	18,069	1,828	3,642	24,708	9,027	4,667	5,969	20,625	1,140	9,563
East Baton Rouge Parish	456,172	2,490	15,183	627	16,381	11,008	8,480	927	1,746	14,154	1,720	4,875
Livingston Parish	154,835	1,430	11,699	276	11,268	7,084	5,115	319	998	12,862	1,033	2,113
Tangipahoa Parish	140,867	530	6,499	254	7,047	6,217	7,266	178	480	6,234	643	1,084
East Feliciana Parish	19,288	100	850	21	630	419	150	12	35	601	93	84
Amite County	12,713	16	496	4	150	214	67	0	25	652	0	48

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

St. Helena Parish	20.38	0.14	1.89	0.01	1.99	1.01	1.30	0.04	0.10	2.59	0.00	0.69
Louisiana	11.28	1.36	3.66	0.17	5.47	3.21	2.14	0.21	0.36	4.00	0.57	0.93
National	7.83	0.39	5.26	0.53	1.06	7.20	2.63	1.36	1.74	6.01	0.33	2.79
East Baton Rouge Parish	14.60	0.55	3.33	0.14	3.59	2.41	1.86	0.20	0.38	3.10	0.38	1.07
Livingston Parish	13.03	0.92	7.56	0.18	7.28	4.58	3.30	0.21	0.64	8.31	0.67	1.36
Tangipahoa Parish	12.21	0.38	4.61	0.18	5.00	4.41	5.16	0.13	0.34	4.43	0.46	0.77
East Feliciana Parish	15.31	0.52	4.41	0.11	3.27	2.17	0.78	0.06	0.18	3.12	0.48	0.44
Amite County	15.40	0.13	3.90	0.03	1.18	1.68	0.53	0.00	0.20	5.13	0.00	0.38

Comparisons to State Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

St. Helena Parish		10.60	51.74	5.42	36.32	31.44	60.76	17.19	27.58	64.76	0.00	73.46
Louisiana		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		28.88	143.72	319.90	19.41	223.90	122.98	647.33	483.12	150.24	58.57	298.42
East Baton Rouge Parish		40.07	90.87	82.56	65.70	75.06	86.93	96.75	106.34	77.58	66.48	114.47
Livingston Parish		67.80	206.29	107.08	133.15	142.31	154.48	98.09	179.08	207.71	117.64	146.17
Tangipahoa Parish		27.62	125.96	108.31	91.53	137.28	241.20	60.16	94.67	110.66	80.49	82.42
East Feliciana Parish		38.06	120.32	65.40	59.76	67.57	36.37	29.62	50.42	77.91	85.02	46.65
Amite County		9.24	106.52	18.90	21.59	52.36	24.64	0.00	54.64	128.24	0.00	40.44

Comparisons to National Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

St. Helena Parish		36.71	36.00	1.69	187.11	14.04	49.41	2.65	5.71	43.10	0.00	24.61
Louisiana		346.29	69.58	31.26	515.13	44.66	81.31	15.45	20.70	66.56	170.73	33.51
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
East Baton Rouge Parish		138.77	63.23	25.81	338.46	33.52	70.68	14.95	22.01	51.64	113.51	38.36
Livingston Parish		234.80	143.54	33.47	685.92	63.56	125.61	15.15	37.07	138.25	200.84	48.98
Tangipahoa Parish		95.65	87.64	33.86	471.51	61.31	196.13	9.29	19.60	73.65	137.41	27.62
East Feliciana Parish		131.81	83.72	20.44	307.86	30.18	29.57	4.58	10.44	51.86	145.15	15.63
Amite County		32.00	74.12	5.91	111.21	23.39	20.04	0.00	11.31	85.35	0.00	13.55

Ancestry Report Part III
Description	Total Population	Chinese	Filipino	Japanese	Korean	Vietnamese	South Central Asian	South East Asian	Other Asian	Middle Eastern	Other Ancestry	Unknown

St. Helena Parish	11,082	26	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	2,575	1,089
Louisiana (in 000's)	4,642	12	8	2	3	25	17	11	6	13	819	686
National (in 000's)	343,251	4,461	3,010	793	1,541	1,913	5,452	1,643	1,229	1,931	47,322	51,000
East Baton Rouge Parish	456,172	2,632	1,586	206	909	3,881	3,362	1,044	644	2,286	68,159	44,765
Livingston Parish	154,835	321	127	48	102	165	104	57	258	344	22,310	42,854
Tangipahoa Parish	140,867	114	68	24	0	194	77	276	259	320	25,919	22,413
East Feliciana Parish	19,288	0	5	14	20	0	1	4	1	6	4,648	2,802
Amite County	12,713	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	17	4	2,574	2,492

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

St. Helena Parish	20.38	0.23	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.04	0.00	23.24	9.83
Louisiana	11.28	0.25	0.17	0.04	0.07	0.53	0.36	0.23	0.13	0.28	17.64	14.78
National	7.83	1.30	0.88	0.23	0.45	0.56	1.59	0.48	0.36	0.56	13.79	14.86
East Baton Rouge Parish	14.60	0.58	0.35	0.05	0.20	0.85	0.74	0.23	0.14	0.50	14.94	9.81
Livingston Parish	13.03	0.21	0.08	0.03	0.07	0.11	0.07	0.04	0.17	0.22	14.41	27.68
Tangipahoa Parish	12.21	0.08	0.05	0.02	0.00	0.14	0.05	0.20	0.18	0.23	18.40	15.91
East Feliciana Parish	15.31	0.00	0.03	0.07	0.10	0.00	0.01	0.02	0.01	0.03	24.10	14.53
Amite County	15.40	0.00	0.02	0.00	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.13	0.03	20.25	19.60

Comparisons to State Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

St. Helena Parish		92.35	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	28.06	0.00	131.73	66.47
Louisiana		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		511.58	511.08	604.77	671.78	104.81	445.72	210.84	278.41	199.47	78.16	100.50
East Baton Rouge Parish		227.12	202.61	118.24	298.11	160.01	206.82	100.82	109.74	177.72	84.71	66.37
Livingston Parish		81.61	47.80	81.17	98.55	20.04	18.85	16.22	129.52	78.79	81.69	187.20
Tangipahoa Parish		31.86	28.13	44.61	0.00	25.90	15.34	86.31	142.92	80.56	104.32	107.62
East Feliciana Parish		0.00	15.11	190.04	155.12	0.00	1.45	9.14	4.03	11.03	136.62	98.26
Amite County		0.00	9.17	0.00	11.77	0.00	0.00	0.00	103.94	11.16	114.79	132.58

Comparisons to National Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

St. Helena Parish		18.05	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	10.08	0.00	168.54	66.14
Louisiana		19.55	19.57	16.54	14.89	95.41	22.44	47.43	35.92	50.13	127.94	99.51
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
East Baton Rouge Parish		44.40	39.64	19.55	44.38	152.66	46.40	47.82	39.42	89.10	108.38	66.05
Livingston Parish		15.95	9.35	13.42	14.67	19.12	4.23	7.69	46.52	39.50	104.51	186.28
Tangipahoa Parish		6.23	5.50	7.38	0.00	24.71	3.44	40.94	51.33	40.39	133.46	107.09
East Feliciana Parish		0.00	2.96	31.42	23.09	0.00	0.33	4.33	1.45	5.53	174.79	97.77
Amite County		0.00	1.79	0.00	1.75	0.00	0.00	0.00	37.33	5.59	146.86	131.93

Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025

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