Ancestry for Worcester County, MD

Worcester County – Ancestry

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:

9.97

Most common ancestry not including "Unknown" is:

British

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)

Worcester County	54,282	2,455	103	4	594	737	494	179	56	3,976	1,253	1,207
Maryland (in 000's)	6,308	175	12	3	125	125	338	102	58	1,122	399	296
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
Sussex County	276,454	15,142	872	89	5,415	9,248	12,360	1,470	1,438	16,524	4,643	5,995
Wicomico County	106,858	5,772	210	48	1,793	3,159	1,356	284	751	17,676	4,096	6,688
Accomack County	34,110	6,938	54	2	440	1,865	958	46	83	5,073	1,683	1,899
Somerset County	25,210	2,913	133	2	162	469	415	27	45	6,136	1,689	1,528

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Worcester County	9.97	4.52	0.19	0.01	1.09	1.36	0.91	0.33	0.10	7.32	2.31	2.22
Maryland	8.52	2.78	0.19	0.04	1.98	1.99	5.36	1.62	0.92	17.78	6.33	4.70
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
Sussex County	8.95	5.48	0.32	0.03	1.96	3.35	4.47	0.53	0.52	5.98	1.68	2.17
Wicomico County	10.14	5.40	0.20	0.04	1.68	2.96	1.27	0.27	0.70	16.54	3.83	6.26
Accomack County	10.91	20.34	0.16	0.01	1.29	5.47	2.81	0.13	0.24	14.87	4.93	5.57
Somerset County	13.35	11.55	0.53	0.01	0.64	1.86	1.65	0.11	0.18	24.34	6.70	6.06

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

Worcester County		162.97	98.73	17.61	55.35	68.38	16.97	20.33	11.19	41.19	36.49	47.36
Maryland		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		145.81	335.51	436.16	166.91	570.42	33.58	83.39	116.52	42.42	36.16	44.52
Sussex County		197.36	164.13	76.95	99.07	168.47	83.36	32.78	56.43	33.61	26.55	46.19
Wicomico County		194.63	102.26	107.36	84.87	148.88	23.66	16.38	76.24	93.02	60.60	133.31
Accomack County		732.92	82.38	14.01	65.25	275.36	52.37	8.31	26.40	83.63	78.00	118.58
Somerset County		416.36	274.52	18.96	32.50	93.69	30.69	6.60	19.36	136.87	105.91	129.09

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

Worcester County		111.76	29.43	4.04	33.16	11.99	50.54	24.37	9.60	97.10	100.91	106.39
Maryland		68.58	29.81	22.93	59.91	17.53	297.82	119.91	85.82	235.74	276.53	224.64
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Sussex County		135.35	48.92	17.64	59.36	29.53	248.27	39.30	48.43	79.23	73.42	103.75
Wicomico County		133.48	30.48	24.62	50.85	26.10	70.47	19.64	65.43	219.28	167.57	299.45
Accomack County		502.64	24.55	3.21	39.09	48.27	155.96	9.97	22.65	197.15	215.69	266.37
Somerset County		285.54	81.82	4.35	19.47	16.42	91.41	7.92	16.62	322.65	292.88	289.99

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

Worcester County	54,282	137	5,906	243	456	5,630	2,830	1,251	593	5,555	167	2,261
Maryland (in 000's)	6,308	10	282	16	36	383	140	83	42	338	15	168
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
Sussex County	276,454	1,120	24,893	1,435	2,062	23,173	13,346	5,814	2,234	29,416	621	9,161
Wicomico County	106,858	105	8,115	231	651	6,039	2,299	1,036	606	6,765	247	1,696
Accomack County	34,110	61	2,171	59	128	1,243	401	301	271	1,506	45	455
Somerset County	25,210	14	1,429	39	68	716	219	121	79	727	84	246

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Worcester County	9.97	0.25	10.88	0.45	0.84	10.37	5.21	2.30	1.09	10.23	0.31	4.17
Maryland	8.52	0.15	4.47	0.25	0.57	6.07	2.22	1.32	0.66	5.36	0.24	2.67
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
Sussex County	8.95	0.41	9.00	0.52	0.75	8.38	4.83	2.10	0.81	10.64	0.22	3.31
Wicomico County	10.14	0.10	7.59	0.22	0.61	5.65	2.15	0.97	0.57	6.33	0.23	1.59
Accomack County	10.91	0.18	6.36	0.17	0.38	3.64	1.18	0.88	0.79	4.42	0.13	1.33
Somerset County	13.35	0.06	5.67	0.15	0.27	2.84	0.87	0.48	0.31	2.88	0.33	0.98

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

Worcester County		166.89	243.39	176.07	146.57	170.90	234.94	175.00	164.68	190.83	126.62	156.13
Maryland		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		260.10	117.76	209.46	185.11	118.61	118.52	103.24	262.13	112.05	136.72	104.44
Sussex County		267.89	201.43	204.16	130.14	138.12	217.55	159.69	121.82	198.42	92.45	124.21
Wicomico County		64.97	169.88	85.02	106.29	93.12	96.95	73.62	85.49	118.06	95.13	59.49
Accomack County		118.25	142.38	68.03	65.47	60.05	52.98	67.01	119.77	82.33	54.30	50.00
Somerset County		36.72	126.80	60.85	47.06	46.80	39.15	36.44	47.24	53.78	137.13	36.58

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

Worcester County		64.16	206.69	84.06	79.18	144.09	198.24	169.51	62.83	170.31	92.61	149.50
Maryland		38.45	84.92	47.74	54.02	84.31	84.38	96.86	38.15	89.25	73.14	95.75
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Sussex County		103.00	171.05	97.47	70.30	116.45	183.56	154.68	46.47	177.09	67.62	118.94
Wicomico County		24.98	144.27	40.59	57.42	78.51	81.81	71.31	32.61	105.36	69.58	56.97
Accomack County		45.46	120.91	32.48	35.37	50.62	44.70	64.90	45.69	73.48	39.71	47.88
Somerset County		14.12	107.68	29.05	25.42	39.46	33.03	35.30	18.02	47.99	100.30	35.02

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

Worcester County	54,282	193	74	9	73	133	130	101	61	249	6,685	10,487
Maryland (in 000's)	6,308	90	52	8	51	28	145	28	19	33	827	758
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
Sussex County	276,454	340	724	76	248	486	1,054	162	410	912	40,136	45,435
Wicomico County	106,858	725	246	52	683	282	866	53	85	376	17,685	16,182
Accomack County	34,110	126	79	3	4	11	6	38	14	42	4,209	3,896
Somerset County	25,210	75	29	4	6	0	67	12	12	22	3,859	3,863

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Worcester County	9.97	0.36	0.14	0.02	0.13	0.25	0.24	0.19	0.11	0.46	12.32	19.32
Maryland	8.52	1.43	0.82	0.12	0.81	0.45	2.30	0.44	0.30	0.53	13.11	12.02
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
Sussex County	8.95	0.12	0.26	0.03	0.09	0.18	0.38	0.06	0.15	0.33	14.52	16.43
Wicomico County	10.14	0.68	0.23	0.05	0.64	0.26	0.81	0.05	0.08	0.35	16.55	15.14
Accomack County	10.91	0.37	0.23	0.01	0.01	0.03	0.02	0.11	0.04	0.12	12.34	11.42
Somerset County	13.35	0.30	0.12	0.02	0.02	0.00	0.27	0.05	0.05	0.09	15.31	15.32

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

Worcester County		24.91	16.56	13.44	16.63	54.91	10.41	42.44	37.08	87.37	93.93	160.74
Maryland		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		91.05	106.54	187.25	55.53	124.88	69.01	109.17	118.17	107.14	105.15	123.62
Sussex County		8.62	31.82	22.29	11.09	39.40	16.56	13.37	48.93	62.84	110.73	136.74
Wicomico County		47.53	27.97	39.45	79.05	59.14	35.21	11.31	26.24	67.02	126.23	126.00
Accomack County		25.88	28.14	7.13	1.45	7.23	0.76	25.41	13.54	23.45	94.12	95.03
Somerset County		20.84	13.97	12.86	2.94	0.00	11.55	10.86	15.70	16.62	116.75	127.49

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

Worcester County		27.36	15.54	7.18	29.95	43.97	15.08	38.87	31.38	81.55	89.33	130.03
Maryland		109.83	93.86	53.41	180.07	80.07	144.91	91.60	84.62	93.34	95.10	80.89
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Sussex County		9.46	29.86	11.90	19.98	31.55	24.00	12.24	41.41	58.65	105.31	110.61
Wicomico County		52.20	26.25	21.07	142.34	47.35	51.02	10.36	22.21	62.56	120.05	101.92
Accomack County		28.42	26.41	3.81	2.61	5.79	1.11	23.28	11.46	21.89	89.50	76.87
Somerset County		22.89	13.12	6.87	5.30	0.00	16.73	9.95	13.29	15.52	111.03	103.13

Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025