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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)

Tippah County	21,833	2,423	32	0	117	815	102	1	50	2,126	646	548
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
Alcorn County	34,478	6,481	61	16	67	656	435	3	64	2,642	678	654
Union County	28,445	3,221	32	0	2	1,290	54	2	29	3,040	629	616
Prentiss County	25,530	3,351	83	8	51	317	6	0	24	2,032	662	594
Hardeman County	25,310	1,530	58	6	74	300	20	56	44	6,551	1,952	1,797
Benton County	7,788	591	5	0	8	154	0	0	5	1,581	648	474

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Tippah County	16.29	11.10	0.15	0.00	0.54	3.73	0.47	0.00	0.23	9.74	2.96	2.51
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
Alcorn County	16.74	18.80	0.18	0.05	0.19	1.90	1.26	0.01	0.19	7.66	1.97	1.90
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
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
Hardeman County	15.84	6.05	0.23	0.02	0.29	1.19	0.08	0.22	0.17	25.88	7.71	7.10
Benton County	13.83	7.59	0.06	0.00	0.10	1.98	0.00	0.00	0.06	20.30	8.32	6.09

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

Tippah County		150.23	31.37	0.00	97.60	184.24	86.59	2.61	80.61	39.40	51.41	46.45
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
Alcorn County		254.45	37.87	130.05	35.39	93.91	233.86	4.97	65.34	31.00	34.17	35.11
Union County		153.28	24.08	0.00	1.28	223.83	35.19	4.01	35.89	43.24	38.42	40.08
Prentiss County		177.68	69.59	87.82	36.38	61.28	4.36	0.00	33.09	32.20	45.06	43.06
Hardeman County		81.83	49.05	66.44	53.25	58.50	14.65	126.32	61.19	104.73	134.01	131.41
Benton County		102.72	13.74	0.00	18.71	97.60	0.00	0.00	22.60	82.14	144.57	112.64

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

Tippah County		274.25	22.73	0.00	16.24	32.96	25.94	0.34	21.32	129.08	129.35	120.09
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
Alcorn County		464.52	27.44	25.43	5.89	16.80	70.06	0.64	17.28	101.58	85.96	90.76
Union County		279.83	17.45	0.00	0.21	40.04	10.54	0.52	9.49	141.67	96.67	103.61
Prentiss County		324.36	50.42	17.17	6.05	10.96	1.31	0.00	8.75	105.51	113.35	111.32
Hardeman County		149.38	35.54	12.99	8.86	10.46	4.39	16.35	16.19	343.11	337.15	339.70
Benton County		187.53	9.96	0.00	3.11	17.46	0.00	0.00	5.98	269.11	363.73	291.20

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

Tippah County	21,833	10	2,043	21	84	623	154	0	24	1,670	13	120
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
Alcorn County	34,478	34	2,485	82	149	965	253	57	98	2,503	21	384
Union County	28,445	0	2,105	52	162	577	79	14	119	2,722	0	162
Prentiss County	25,530	73	1,820	81	212	518	138	58	35	2,054	59	380
Hardeman County	25,310	9	1,056	31	87	490	97	29	51	1,174	5	127
Benton County	7,788	3	848	11	40	128	56	6	28	351	0	20

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Tippah County	16.29	0.05	9.36	0.10	0.38	2.85	0.71	0.00	0.11	7.65	0.06	0.55
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
Alcorn County	16.74	0.10	7.21	0.24	0.43	2.80	0.73	0.17	0.28	7.26	0.06	1.11
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
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
Hardeman County	15.84	0.04	4.17	0.12	0.34	1.94	0.38	0.11	0.20	4.64	0.02	0.50
Benton County	13.83	0.04	10.89	0.14	0.51	1.64	0.72	0.08	0.36	4.51	0.00	0.26

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

Tippah County		27.41	168.40	48.33	37.75	116.66	80.42	0.00	30.60	145.84	34.63	53.21
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
Alcorn County		59.02	129.71	119.51	42.40	114.43	83.66	88.29	79.12	138.42	35.42	107.82
Union County		0.00	133.18	91.86	55.87	82.93	31.67	26.28	116.45	182.46	0.00	55.14
Prentiss County		171.13	128.29	159.43	81.47	82.95	61.63	121.33	38.16	153.40	134.39	144.10
Hardeman County		21.28	75.09	61.55	33.72	79.15	43.70	61.19	56.09	88.44	11.49	48.58
Benton County		23.05	195.96	70.97	50.39	67.20	81.98	41.14	100.08	85.93	0.00	24.86

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

Tippah County		11.64	177.76	18.06	36.26	39.64	26.82	0.00	6.32	127.30	17.92	19.73
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
Alcorn County		25.07	136.92	44.66	40.73	38.88	27.90	12.16	16.35	120.82	18.34	39.97
Union County		0.00	140.58	34.33	53.68	28.18	10.56	3.62	24.06	159.26	0.00	20.44
Prentiss County		72.69	135.43	59.58	78.27	28.19	20.55	16.71	7.88	133.90	69.57	53.42
Hardeman County		9.04	79.26	23.00	32.40	26.90	14.57	8.43	11.59	77.20	5.95	18.01
Benton County		9.79	206.85	26.52	48.41	22.83	27.34	5.67	20.68	75.01	0.00	9.22

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

Tippah County	21,833	20	0	0	1	0	0	1	8	0	3,268	6,913
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
Alcorn County	34,478	21	0	0	1	33	2	8	33	15	5,181	10,396
Union County	28,445	0	0	27	2	0	17	10	14	4	3,906	9,558
Prentiss County	25,530	19	93	0	0	178	44	3	1	3	3,994	8,639
Hardeman County	25,310	2	14	0	0	0	1	89	26	11	4,831	4,792
Benton County	7,788	0	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	1,247	1,565

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Tippah County	16.29	0.09	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.04	0.00	14.97	31.66
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
Alcorn County	16.74	0.06	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.10	0.01	0.02	0.10	0.04	15.03	30.15
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
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
Hardeman County	15.84	0.01	0.06	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.35	0.10	0.04	19.09	18.93
Benton County	13.83	0.00	0.17	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.08	16.01	20.10

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

Tippah County		53.76	0.00	0.00	10.30	0.00	0.00	5.06	39.56	0.00	88.90	182.42
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
Alcorn County		35.75	0.00	0.00	6.52	39.68	2.37	25.64	103.32	28.58	89.25	173.72
Union County		0.00	0.00	269.31	15.81	0.00	24.39	38.85	53.13	9.24	81.55	193.59
Prentiss County		43.68	268.76	0.00	0.00	289.05	70.34	12.99	4.23	7.72	92.91	194.96
Hardeman County		4.64	40.81	0.00	0.00	0.00	1.61	388.62	110.90	28.55	113.36	109.08
Benton County		0.00	123.15	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	50.62	95.10	115.78

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

Tippah County		7.05	0.00	0.00	1.02	0.00	0.00	0.96	10.23	0.00	108.57	213.11
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
Alcorn County		4.69	0.00	0.00	0.65	17.17	0.37	4.85	26.72	7.73	109.00	202.94
Union County		0.00	0.00	41.09	1.57	0.00	3.76	7.35	13.74	2.50	99.60	226.15
Prentiss County		5.73	41.54	0.00	0.00	125.11	10.85	2.46	1.09	2.09	113.48	227.75
Hardeman County		0.61	6.31	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.25	73.47	28.68	7.73	138.45	127.43
Benton County		0.00	19.03	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	13.70	116.14	135.25

Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025

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