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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)

Alleghany County	11,555	2,740	31	6	192	965	165	9	11	81	34	18
North Carolina (in 000's)	11,200	744	103	7	215	628	210	100	53	1,546	385	326
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
Surry County	71,692	10,435	93	13	703	7,342	189	48	309	1,594	486	451
Wilkes County	66,182	17,711	73	3	564	2,553	1,012	13	363	1,554	510	458
Ashe County	27,768	8,153	42	10	254	1,103	93	109	32	148	32	28
Grayson County	15,300	4,144	18	1	243	231	65	27	21	677	76	80

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Alleghany County	15.28	23.71	0.27	0.05	1.66	8.35	1.43	0.08	0.10	0.70	0.29	0.16
North Carolina	9.68	6.64	0.92	0.06	1.92	5.61	1.88	0.90	0.47	13.80	3.44	2.91
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
Surry County	15.42	14.56	0.13	0.02	0.98	10.24	0.26	0.07	0.43	2.22	0.68	0.63
Wilkes County	16.44	26.76	0.11	0.00	0.85	3.86	1.53	0.02	0.55	2.35	0.77	0.69
Ashe County	17.25	29.36	0.15	0.04	0.91	3.97	0.33	0.39	0.12	0.53	0.12	0.10
Grayson County	17.08	27.08	0.12	0.01	1.59	1.51	0.42	0.18	0.14	4.42	0.50	0.52

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

Alleghany County		356.94	29.07	80.42	86.49	148.92	76.12	8.69	20.28	5.08	8.56	5.36
North Carolina		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		60.91	69.86	282.62	171.76	201.97	95.99	150.93	228.76	54.67	66.52	71.91
Surry County		219.09	14.05	28.08	51.04	182.61	14.05	7.47	91.80	16.11	19.71	21.64
Wilkes County		402.82	11.95	7.02	44.36	68.79	81.51	2.19	116.82	17.02	22.41	23.81
Ashe County		441.96	16.39	55.77	47.61	70.83	17.85	43.79	24.54	3.86	3.35	3.47
Grayson County		407.70	12.75	10.12	82.67	26.92	22.65	19.69	29.23	32.07	14.45	17.99

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

Alleghany County		585.98	41.61	28.45	50.35	73.73	79.30	5.76	8.86	9.29	12.86	7.45
North Carolina		164.17	143.15	35.38	58.22	49.51	104.17	66.25	43.71	182.92	150.32	139.06
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Surry County		359.69	20.12	9.94	29.72	90.42	14.64	4.95	40.13	29.47	29.63	30.10
Wilkes County		661.31	17.11	2.48	25.82	34.06	84.91	1.45	51.07	31.13	33.69	33.11
Ashe County		725.56	23.46	19.73	27.72	35.07	18.60	29.01	10.73	7.07	5.04	4.82
Grayson County		669.32	18.25	3.58	48.13	13.33	23.59	13.04	12.78	58.66	21.71	25.02

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

Alleghany County	11,555	12	1,137	71	45	620	123	24	52	850	0	134
North Carolina (in 000's)	11,200	28	790	41	76	543	179	74	81	720	22	225
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
Surry County	71,692	82	7,469	261	437	2,902	650	314	258	4,689	129	1,063
Wilkes County	66,182	59	6,317	291	391	3,173	503	143	260	4,777	249	728
Ashe County	27,768	74	2,663	110	236	1,788	468	134	169	2,740	0	454
Grayson County	15,300	21	1,638	55	37	860	138	30	57	1,024	142	171

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Alleghany County	15.28	0.10	9.84	0.61	0.39	5.37	1.06	0.21	0.45	7.36	0.00	1.16
North Carolina	9.68	0.25	7.06	0.36	0.68	4.84	1.60	0.66	0.73	6.43	0.20	2.01
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
Surry County	15.42	0.11	10.42	0.36	0.61	4.05	0.91	0.44	0.36	6.54	0.18	1.48
Wilkes County	16.44	0.09	9.54	0.44	0.59	4.79	0.76	0.22	0.39	7.22	0.38	1.10
Ashe County	17.25	0.27	9.59	0.40	0.85	6.44	1.69	0.48	0.61	9.87	0.00	1.63
Grayson County	17.08	0.14	10.71	0.36	0.24	5.62	0.90	0.20	0.37	6.69	0.93	1.12

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

Alleghany County		41.26	139.42	168.98	57.11	110.77	66.57	31.32	62.02	114.46	0.00	57.81
North Carolina		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		156.27	74.59	146.45	155.57	148.61	164.46	205.04	239.62	93.50	168.33	138.89
Surry County		45.44	147.62	100.12	89.38	83.57	56.70	66.05	49.59	101.77	91.18	73.92
Wilkes County		35.42	135.24	120.92	86.63	98.98	47.53	32.59	54.14	112.31	190.65	54.84
Ashe County		105.87	135.89	108.94	124.62	132.93	105.39	72.78	83.87	153.54	0.00	81.50
Grayson County		54.53	151.70	98.86	35.46	116.04	56.40	29.57	51.34	104.14	470.30	55.72

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

Alleghany County		26.40	186.93	115.38	36.71	74.54	40.47	15.28	25.88	122.43	0.00	41.62
North Carolina		63.99	134.07	68.28	64.28	67.29	60.80	48.77	41.73	106.96	59.41	72.00
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Surry County		29.08	197.91	68.36	57.45	56.23	34.47	32.21	20.70	108.85	54.17	53.22
Wilkes County		22.66	181.32	82.56	55.68	66.60	28.90	15.89	22.59	120.13	113.26	39.48
Ashe County		67.75	182.18	74.39	80.11	89.45	64.08	35.49	35.00	164.22	0.00	58.68
Grayson County		34.89	203.38	67.50	22.79	78.09	34.30	14.42	21.43	111.39	279.39	40.11

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

Alleghany County	11,555	0	32	0	0	0	13	1	0	0	1,515	2,674
North Carolina (in 000's)	11,200	55	31	8	24	37	151	30	29	34	1,790	1,915
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
Surry County	71,692	50	32	6	21	121	11	38	129	124	10,633	20,610
Wilkes County	66,182	92	12	17	109	0	53	3	64	14	8,144	15,969
Ashe County	27,768	6	20	4	2	51	2	0	26	0	2,411	6,406
Grayson County	15,300	0	2	0	23	0	57	0	8	20	1,510	3,924

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Alleghany County	15.28	0.00	0.28	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.11	0.01	0.00	0.00	13.11	23.14
North Carolina	9.68	0.49	0.28	0.08	0.21	0.33	1.34	0.27	0.26	0.30	15.99	17.10
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
Surry County	15.42	0.07	0.04	0.01	0.03	0.17	0.02	0.05	0.18	0.17	14.83	28.75
Wilkes County	16.44	0.14	0.02	0.03	0.16	0.00	0.08	0.00	0.10	0.02	12.31	24.13
Ashe County	17.25	0.02	0.07	0.01	0.01	0.18	0.01	0.00	0.09	0.00	8.68	23.07
Grayson County	17.08	0.00	0.01	0.00	0.15	0.00	0.37	0.00	0.05	0.13	9.87	25.65

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

Alleghany County		0.00	100.56	0.00	0.00	0.00	8.37	3.26	0.00	0.00	82.02	135.37
North Carolina		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		263.73	318.45	307.88	210.19	169.70	118.10	180.19	139.29	185.18	86.25	86.91
Surry County		14.15	16.21	11.16	13.71	51.40	1.14	19.95	69.98	56.95	92.78	168.16
Wilkes County		28.21	6.58	34.24	77.09	0.00	5.95	1.71	37.61	6.96	76.98	141.14
Ashe County		4.38	26.15	19.20	3.37	55.93	0.54	0.00	36.41	0.00	54.32	134.95
Grayson County		0.00	4.75	0.00	70.37	0.00	27.70	0.00	20.33	43.04	61.74	150.02

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

Alleghany County		0.00	31.58	0.00	0.00	0.00	7.08	1.81	0.00	0.00	95.10	155.75
North Carolina		37.92	31.40	32.48	47.58	58.93	84.68	55.50	71.79	54.00	115.95	115.06
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Surry County		5.37	5.09	3.62	6.52	30.29	0.97	11.07	50.24	30.75	107.58	193.49
Wilkes County		10.70	2.07	11.12	36.68	0.00	5.04	0.95	27.00	3.76	89.26	162.40
Ashe County		1.66	8.21	6.24	1.60	32.96	0.45	0.00	26.14	0.00	62.98	155.27
Grayson County		0.00	1.49	0.00	33.48	0.00	23.46	0.00	14.60	23.24	71.59	172.61

Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025

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