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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)

Lee County	83,662	6,435	91	21	132	2,507	82	5	127	17,640	3,398	3,396
Mississippi (in 000's)	2,976	220	14	1	16	60	16	5	8	736	171	161
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
Pontotoc County	32,399	4,493	64	6	140	1,096	758	15	118	3,211	669	677
Monroe County	33,738	2,901	45	2	12	388	27	20	30	6,766	1,841	1,795
Union County	28,445	3,221	32	0	2	1,290	54	2	29	3,040	629	616
Itawamba County	24,269	3,936	35	0	14	374	0	0	32	1,241	271	252
Prentiss County	25,530	3,351	83	8	51	317	6	0	24	2,032	662	594
Chickasaw County	17,077	1,378	9	0	123	495	9	0	55	4,942	1,286	1,248

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Lee County	14.85	7.69	0.11	0.03	0.16	3.00	0.10	0.01	0.15	21.08	4.06	4.06
Mississippi	13.85	7.39	0.47	0.04	0.55	2.03	0.54	0.18	0.28	24.71	5.76	5.40
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
Pontotoc County	15.94	13.87	0.20	0.02	0.43	3.38	2.34	0.05	0.36	9.91	2.06	2.09
Monroe County	14.50	8.60	0.13	0.01	0.04	1.15	0.08	0.06	0.09	20.05	5.46	5.32
Union County	17.42	11.32	0.11	0.00	0.01	4.54	0.19	0.01	0.10	10.69	2.21	2.17
Itawamba County	23.61	16.22	0.14	0.00	0.06	1.54	0.00	0.00	0.13	5.11	1.12	1.04
Prentiss County	17.63	13.13	0.33	0.03	0.20	1.24	0.02	0.00	0.09	7.96	2.59	2.33
Chickasaw County	17.08	8.07	0.05	0.00	0.72	2.90	0.05	0.00	0.32	28.94	7.53	7.31

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

Lee County		104.12	23.28	70.35	28.74	147.90	18.17	3.41	53.44	85.31	70.57	75.13
Mississippi		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		54.78	138.02	511.41	601.03	559.03	333.79	772.44	378.09	30.52	39.75	38.68
Pontotoc County		187.72	42.28	51.90	78.70	166.96	433.65	26.43	128.20	40.10	35.88	38.67
Monroe County		116.40	28.55	16.61	6.48	56.76	14.83	33.84	31.30	81.14	94.81	98.47
Union County		153.28	24.08	0.00	1.28	223.83	35.19	4.01	35.89	43.24	38.42	40.08
Itawamba County		219.54	30.87	0.00	10.51	76.06	0.00	0.00	46.41	20.69	19.40	19.22
Prentiss County		177.68	69.59	87.82	36.38	61.28	4.36	0.00	33.09	32.20	45.06	43.06
Chickasaw County		109.23	11.28	0.00	131.18	143.06	9.77	0.00	113.37	117.09	130.85	135.26

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

Lee County		190.07	16.87	13.76	4.78	26.46	5.44	0.44	14.13	279.51	177.55	194.21
Mississippi		182.55	72.45	19.55	16.64	17.89	29.96	12.95	26.45	327.63	251.59	258.51
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Pontotoc County		342.69	30.64	10.15	13.09	29.87	129.92	3.42	33.91	131.38	90.27	99.98
Monroe County		212.49	20.69	3.25	1.08	10.15	4.44	4.38	8.28	265.85	238.54	254.55
Union County		279.83	17.45	0.00	0.21	40.04	10.54	0.52	9.49	141.67	96.67	103.61
Itawamba County		400.78	22.37	0.00	1.75	13.61	0.00	0.00	12.28	67.79	48.81	49.68
Prentiss County		324.36	50.42	17.17	6.05	10.96	1.31	0.00	8.75	105.51	113.35	111.32
Chickasaw County		199.41	8.17	0.00	21.83	25.59	2.93	0.00	29.99	383.63	329.20	349.65

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

Lee County	83,662	0	5,566	164	402	2,143	444	96	234	5,368	53	799
Mississippi (in 000's)	2,976	5	165	6	30	73	26	6	11	156	5	31
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
Pontotoc County	32,399	8	1,714	71	160	938	297	24	99	2,358	69	185
Monroe County	33,738	59	3,471	39	144	698	90	58	136	1,709	0	211
Union County	28,445	0	2,105	52	162	577	79	14	119	2,722	0	162
Itawamba County	24,269	27	1,949	37	106	692	108	54	34	1,726	0	132
Prentiss County	25,530	73	1,820	81	212	518	138	58	35	2,054	59	380
Chickasaw County	17,077	12	473	29	37	137	28	9	16	524	0	29

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Lee County	14.85	0.00	6.65	0.20	0.48	2.56	0.53	0.11	0.28	6.42	0.06	0.96
Mississippi	13.85	0.17	5.56	0.20	1.02	2.45	0.88	0.19	0.36	5.24	0.17	1.03
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
Pontotoc County	15.94	0.02	5.29	0.22	0.49	2.90	0.92	0.07	0.31	7.28	0.21	0.57
Monroe County	14.50	0.17	10.29	0.12	0.43	2.07	0.27	0.17	0.40	5.07	0.00	0.63
Union County	17.42	0.00	7.40	0.18	0.57	2.03	0.28	0.05	0.42	9.57	0.00	0.57
Itawamba County	23.61	0.11	8.03	0.15	0.44	2.85	0.45	0.22	0.14	7.11	0.00	0.54
Prentiss County	17.63	0.29	7.13	0.32	0.83	2.03	0.54	0.23	0.14	8.05	0.23	1.49
Chickasaw County	17.08	0.07	2.77	0.17	0.22	0.80	0.16	0.05	0.09	3.07	0.00	0.17

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

Lee County		0.00	119.73	98.50	47.14	104.73	60.51	61.28	77.86	122.34	36.84	92.46
Mississippi		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		235.41	94.73	267.60	104.09	294.30	299.85	726.09	484.03	114.57	193.18	269.73
Pontotoc County		14.78	95.21	110.12	48.45	118.37	104.52	39.56	85.06	138.77	123.85	55.28
Monroe County		104.66	185.15	58.09	41.87	84.59	30.41	91.81	112.21	96.58	0.00	60.55
Union County		0.00	133.18	91.86	55.87	82.93	31.67	26.28	116.45	182.46	0.00	55.14
Itawamba County		66.58	144.53	76.61	42.85	116.58	50.74	118.83	39.00	135.60	0.00	52.66
Prentiss County		171.13	128.29	159.43	81.47	82.95	61.63	121.33	38.16	153.40	134.39	144.10
Chickasaw County		42.06	49.85	85.33	21.26	32.80	18.69	28.15	26.08	58.51	0.00	16.44

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

Lee County		0.00	126.39	36.81	45.29	35.58	20.18	8.44	16.09	106.78	19.07	34.28
Mississippi		42.48	105.56	37.37	96.07	33.98	33.35	13.77	20.66	87.28	51.77	37.07
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Pontotoc County		6.28	100.50	41.15	46.55	40.22	34.86	5.45	17.57	121.13	64.11	20.49
Monroe County		44.46	195.44	21.71	40.23	28.74	10.14	12.64	23.18	84.30	0.00	22.45
Union County		0.00	140.58	34.33	53.68	28.18	10.56	3.62	24.06	159.26	0.00	20.44
Itawamba County		28.28	152.56	28.63	41.17	39.61	16.92	16.37	8.06	118.36	0.00	19.52
Prentiss County		72.69	135.43	59.58	78.27	28.19	20.55	16.71	7.88	133.90	69.57	53.42
Chickasaw County		17.86	52.62	31.89	20.42	11.15	6.23	3.88	5.39	51.07	0.00	6.10

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

Lee County	83,662	12	9	15	110	307	246	63	181	37	13,058	20,521
Mississippi (in 000's)	2,976	5	4	1	1	7	7	3	3	5	501	517
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
Pontotoc County	32,399	0	0	0	4	0	0	1	23	0	5,471	9,730
Monroe County	33,738	4	0	0	0	55	0	0	22	2	5,822	7,391
Union County	28,445	0	0	27	2	0	17	10	14	4	3,906	9,558
Itawamba County	24,269	0	0	0	0	0	58	5	19	2	2,854	10,311
Prentiss County	25,530	19	93	0	0	178	44	3	1	3	3,994	8,639
Chickasaw County	17,077	30	8	15	0	0	0	0	6	0	3,537	2,642

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Lee County	14.85	0.01	0.01	0.02	0.13	0.37	0.29	0.08	0.22	0.04	15.61	24.53
Mississippi	13.85	0.17	0.14	0.04	0.04	0.24	0.25	0.09	0.09	0.15	16.84	17.36
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
Pontotoc County	15.94	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.07	0.00	16.89	30.03
Monroe County	14.50	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.16	0.00	0.00	0.07	0.01	17.26	21.91
Union County	17.42	0.00	0.00	0.09	0.01	0.00	0.06	0.04	0.05	0.01	13.73	33.60
Itawamba County	23.61	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.24	0.02	0.08	0.01	11.76	42.49
Prentiss County	17.63	0.07	0.36	0.00	0.00	0.70	0.17	0.01	0.00	0.01	15.64	33.84
Chickasaw County	17.08	0.18	0.05	0.09	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.04	0.00	20.71	15.47

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

Lee County		8.42	7.94	50.87	295.56	152.13	120.01	83.22	233.55	29.06	92.70	141.32
Mississippi		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		762.78	647.05	655.35	1,009.42	231.04	648.27	528.97	386.65	369.54	81.88	85.60
Pontotoc County		0.00	0.00	0.00	27.75	0.00	0.00	3.41	76.64	0.00	100.29	173.03
Monroe County		6.96	0.00	0.00	0.00	67.58	0.00	0.00	70.39	3.89	102.49	126.22
Union County		0.00	0.00	269.31	15.81	0.00	24.39	38.85	53.13	9.24	81.55	193.59
Itawamba County		0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	97.54	22.77	84.51	5.41	69.84	244.78
Prentiss County		43.68	268.76	0.00	0.00	289.05	70.34	12.99	4.23	7.72	92.91	194.96
Chickasaw County		103.11	34.56	249.21	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	37.93	0.00	123.01	89.14

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

Lee County		1.10	1.23	7.76	29.28	65.85	18.51	15.73	60.40	7.86	113.21	165.09
Mississippi		13.11	15.45	15.26	9.91	43.28	15.43	18.90	25.86	27.06	122.13	116.82
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Pontotoc County		0.00	0.00	0.00	2.75	0.00	0.00	0.64	19.82	0.00	122.49	202.13
Monroe County		0.91	0.00	0.00	0.00	29.25	0.00	0.00	18.21	1.05	125.17	147.44
Union County		0.00	0.00	41.09	1.57	0.00	3.76	7.35	13.74	2.50	99.60	226.15
Itawamba County		0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	15.05	4.30	21.86	1.47	85.30	285.95
Prentiss County		5.73	41.54	0.00	0.00	125.11	10.85	2.46	1.09	2.09	113.48	227.75
Chickasaw County		13.52	5.34	38.03	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	9.81	0.00	150.24	104.13

Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025

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