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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)

Clay County	12,203	1,092	39	5	93	247	7	105	14	137	13	13
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
Macon County	39,003	4,470	159	6	685	2,684	126	192	103	178	149	37
Cherokee County	31,332	5,703	361	0	362	475	68	27	98	325	73	60
Union County	27,850	3,094	69	0	240	410	233	0	82	139	13	13
Rabun County	17,902	2,314	30	1	147	1,150	73	57	45	104	16	15
Towns County	13,301	1,544	28	3	162	214	11	48	13	138	3	32

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Clay County	16.92	8.95	0.32	0.04	0.76	2.02	0.06	0.86	0.11	1.12	0.11	0.11
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
Macon County	13.38	11.46	0.41	0.02	1.76	6.88	0.32	0.49	0.26	0.46	0.38	0.09
Cherokee County	15.06	18.20	1.15	0.00	1.16	1.52	0.22	0.09	0.31	1.04	0.23	0.19
Union County	15.16	11.11	0.25	0.00	0.86	1.47	0.84	0.00	0.29	0.50	0.05	0.05
Rabun County	15.07	12.93	0.17	0.01	0.82	6.42	0.41	0.32	0.25	0.58	0.09	0.08
Towns County	13.65	11.61	0.21	0.02	1.22	1.61	0.08	0.36	0.10	1.04	0.02	0.24

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

Clay County		134.70	34.62	63.46	39.67	36.09	3.06	95.99	24.44	8.14	3.10	3.67
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
Macon County		172.51	44.17	23.82	91.41	122.71	17.22	54.92	56.25	3.31	11.11	3.26
Cherokee County		273.98	124.83	0.00	60.14	27.03	11.57	9.61	66.62	7.52	6.78	6.59
Union County		167.23	26.84	0.00	44.85	26.25	44.60	0.00	62.71	3.62	1.36	1.61
Rabun County		194.57	18.16	8.65	42.74	114.55	21.74	35.52	53.54	4.21	2.60	2.88
Towns County		174.73	22.81	34.93	63.39	28.69	4.41	40.26	20.82	7.52	0.66	8.28

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

Clay County		221.14	49.57	22.45	23.09	17.87	3.19	63.60	10.68	14.88	4.66	5.10
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
Macon County		283.21	63.22	8.43	53.22	60.76	17.94	36.38	24.59	6.05	16.70	4.54
Cherokee County		449.80	178.69	0.00	35.01	13.38	12.05	6.37	29.12	13.75	10.19	9.16
Union County		274.53	38.42	0.00	26.11	13.00	46.46	0.00	27.41	6.62	2.04	2.23
Rabun County		319.42	25.99	3.06	24.88	56.71	22.64	23.53	23.40	7.70	3.91	4.01
Towns County		286.86	32.65	12.36	36.91	14.20	4.59	26.67	9.10	13.75	0.99	11.51

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

Clay County	12,203	49	1,289	37	135	823	433	88	146	1,441	31	248
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
Macon County	39,003	100	4,135	329	572	2,318	976	313	468	5,299	47	793
Cherokee County	31,332	114	3,410	220	429	2,103	532	214	327	3,532	0	466
Union County	27,850	98	3,754	428	311	2,337	574	179	565	3,802	0	1,147
Rabun County	17,902	27	2,075	137	133	808	173	111	149	1,947	22	534
Towns County	13,301	50	1,885	87	143	1,059	291	114	175	2,017	101	365

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Clay County	16.92	0.40	10.56	0.30	1.11	6.74	3.55	0.72	1.20	11.81	0.25	2.03
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
Macon County	13.38	0.26	10.60	0.84	1.47	5.94	2.50	0.80	1.20	13.59	0.12	2.03
Cherokee County	15.06	0.36	10.88	0.70	1.37	6.71	1.70	0.68	1.04	11.27	0.00	1.49
Union County	15.16	0.35	13.48	1.54	1.12	8.39	2.06	0.64	2.03	13.65	0.00	4.12
Rabun County	15.07	0.15	11.59	0.77	0.74	4.51	0.97	0.62	0.83	10.88	0.12	2.98
Towns County	13.65	0.38	14.17	0.65	1.08	7.96	2.19	0.86	1.32	15.16	0.76	2.74

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

Clay County		159.52	149.67	83.38	162.22	139.23	221.89	108.75	164.88	183.75	128.73	101.31
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
Macon County		101.86	150.22	231.97	215.05	122.69	156.48	121.02	165.35	211.41	61.06	101.36
Cherokee County		144.55	154.21	193.10	200.77	138.57	106.18	103.00	143.82	175.41	0.00	74.14
Union County		139.79	190.99	422.63	163.75	173.24	128.88	96.93	279.57	212.43	0.00	205.31
Rabun County		59.92	164.24	210.45	108.94	93.18	60.43	93.51	114.70	169.23	62.27	148.70
Towns County		149.34	200.81	179.88	157.65	164.37	136.81	129.25	181.31	235.96	384.78	136.80

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

Clay County		102.08	200.66	56.93	104.27	93.69	134.92	53.04	68.81	196.53	76.47	72.94
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
Macon County		65.18	201.40	158.39	138.23	82.56	95.15	59.02	69.01	226.11	36.28	72.97
Cherokee County		92.50	206.75	131.85	129.05	93.24	64.56	50.24	60.02	187.61	0.00	53.38
Union County		89.46	256.06	288.57	105.25	116.58	78.37	47.27	116.67	227.20	0.00	147.82
Rabun County		38.34	220.19	143.70	70.02	62.70	36.74	45.60	47.87	181.00	36.99	107.06
Towns County		95.57	269.22	122.82	101.33	110.61	83.19	63.04	75.66	252.37	228.59	98.49

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

Clay County	12,203	7	0	0	5	0	0	38	12	21	1,531	4,104
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
Macon County	39,003	83	0	67	1	56	25	10	55	57	4,288	10,222
Cherokee County	31,332	2	36	13	0	20	0	1	99	10	3,871	8,381
Union County	27,850	0	44	7	0	0	0	2	24	60	2,019	8,206
Rabun County	17,902	2	2	0	4	0	88	2	10	12	2,702	5,012
Towns County	13,301	13	0	4	0	5	10	6	7	16	1,568	3,189

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Clay County	16.92	0.06	0.00	0.00	0.04	0.00	0.00	0.31	0.10	0.17	12.55	33.63
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
Macon County	13.38	0.21	0.00	0.17	0.00	0.14	0.06	0.03	0.14	0.15	10.99	26.21
Cherokee County	15.06	0.01	0.11	0.04	0.00	0.06	0.00	0.00	0.32	0.03	12.35	26.75
Union County	15.16	0.00	0.16	0.03	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.01	0.09	0.22	7.25	29.46
Rabun County	15.07	0.01	0.01	0.00	0.02	0.00	0.49	0.01	0.06	0.07	15.09	28.00
Towns County	13.65	0.10	0.00	0.03	0.00	0.04	0.08	0.05	0.05	0.12	11.79	23.98

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

Clay County		11.64	0.00	0.00	19.18	0.00	0.00	117.23	38.24	56.66	78.49	196.72
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
Macon County		43.18	0.00	228.97	1.20	43.72	4.77	9.65	54.84	48.12	68.78	153.30
Cherokee County		1.30	41.72	55.30	0.00	19.44	0.00	1.20	122.88	10.51	77.29	156.47
Union County		0.00	57.37	33.50	0.00	0.00	0.00	2.70	33.51	70.93	45.35	172.35
Rabun County		2.27	4.06	0.00	10.46	0.00	36.55	4.21	21.72	22.07	94.42	163.77
Towns County		19.83	0.00	40.08	0.00	11.45	5.59	16.98	20.47	39.60	73.75	140.24

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

Clay County		4.41	0.00	0.00	9.12	0.00	0.00	65.06	27.46	30.60	91.00	226.35
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
Macon County		16.37	0.00	74.37	0.57	25.76	4.04	5.36	39.37	25.98	79.75	176.39
Cherokee County		0.49	13.10	17.96	0.00	11.45	0.00	0.67	88.22	5.67	89.62	180.03
Union County		0.00	18.01	10.88	0.00	0.00	0.00	1.50	24.06	38.30	52.58	198.31
Rabun County		0.86	1.27	0.00	4.98	0.00	30.95	2.33	15.60	11.92	109.48	188.43
Towns County		7.52	0.00	13.02	0.00	6.75	4.73	9.42	14.69	21.39	85.51	161.37

Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025

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