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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)

Cotton County	5,548	634	459	8	10	343	4	0	31	41	16	23
Oklahoma (in 000's)	4,117	225	305	8	28	390	37	16	22	185	53	46
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
Wichita County	129,303	6,643	867	129	1,142	22,458	525	241	1,328	8,169	2,763	2,228
Comanche County	121,206	5,310	6,388	794	3,963	10,647	1,008	316	921	10,775	3,755	3,351
Stephens County	43,670	4,556	1,915	12	187	3,007	179	24	209	323	139	223
Clay County	10,603	872	74	0	0	618	38	6	28	57	2	11
Tillman County	6,736	373	163	0	23	1,675	1	0	170	232	109	103
Jefferson County	5,391	419	247	5	21	490	0	0	68	28	5	20

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Cotton County	13.72	11.43	8.27	0.14	0.18	6.18	0.07	0.00	0.56	0.74	0.29	0.41
Oklahoma	11.59	5.47	7.42	0.19	0.67	9.46	0.89	0.39	0.53	4.48	1.30	1.12
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
Wichita County	12.42	5.14	0.67	0.10	0.88	17.37	0.41	0.19	1.03	6.32	2.14	1.72
Comanche County	10.59	4.38	5.27	0.66	3.27	8.78	0.83	0.26	0.76	8.89	3.10	2.76
Stephens County	15.10	10.43	4.39	0.03	0.43	6.89	0.41	0.05	0.48	0.74	0.32	0.51
Clay County	20.60	8.22	0.70	0.00	0.00	5.83	0.36	0.06	0.26	0.54	0.02	0.10
Tillman County	14.79	5.54	2.42	0.00	0.34	24.87	0.01	0.00	2.52	3.44	1.62	1.53
Jefferson County	16.31	7.77	4.58	0.09	0.39	9.09	0.00	0.00	1.26	0.52	0.09	0.37

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

Cotton County		208.95	111.57	76.85	26.90	65.33	8.12	0.00	105.88	16.48	22.23	37.07
Oklahoma		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		73.99	8.70	97.26	492.57	119.68	202.70	345.74	203.52	168.25	176.32	186.88
Wichita County		93.94	9.04	53.17	131.83	183.53	45.70	47.63	194.61	140.91	164.71	154.07
Comanche County		80.11	71.07	349.13	488.04	92.82	93.61	66.62	143.98	198.28	238.79	247.20
Stephens County		190.77	59.14	14.65	63.92	72.76	46.14	14.04	90.69	16.50	24.53	45.66
Clay County		150.38	9.41	0.00	0.00	61.59	40.34	14.46	50.04	11.99	1.45	9.28
Tillman County		101.25	32.63	0.00	50.97	262.75	1.67	0.00	478.21	76.82	124.73	136.72
Jefferson County		142.12	61.79	49.43	58.14	96.04	0.00	0.00	239.01	11.58	7.15	33.17

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

Cotton County		282.39	1,283.09	79.02	5.46	54.58	4.00	0.00	52.02	9.80	12.61	19.83
Oklahoma		135.15	1,150.07	102.82	20.30	83.55	49.33	28.92	49.13	59.44	56.71	53.51
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Wichita County		126.96	103.99	54.67	26.76	153.34	22.55	13.78	95.62	83.75	93.41	82.44
Comanche County		108.26	817.38	358.98	99.08	77.55	46.18	19.27	70.75	117.85	135.43	132.28
Stephens County		257.81	680.09	15.06	12.98	60.79	22.76	4.06	44.56	9.80	13.91	24.43
Clay County		203.23	108.24	0.00	0.00	51.46	19.90	4.18	24.59	7.13	0.82	4.96
Tillman County		136.84	375.29	0.00	10.35	219.54	0.82	0.00	234.97	45.66	70.74	73.16
Jefferson County		192.06	710.57	50.82	11.80	80.25	0.00	0.00	117.44	6.89	4.05	17.75

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

Cotton County	5,548	2	370	82	27	364	33	7	21	431	84	91
Oklahoma (in 000's)	4,117	6	254	22	32	270	35	16	39	265	13	69
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
Wichita County	129,303	237	7,042	669	944	8,420	1,170	492	1,177	7,777	387	1,922
Comanche County	121,206	271	4,487	445	955	7,325	1,469	493	742	6,284	404	1,639
Stephens County	43,670	33	3,348	256	455	2,366	314	118	351	3,818	165	608
Clay County	10,603	28	936	65	85	950	98	43	98	819	0	118
Tillman County	6,736	0	367	43	18	362	24	5	32	373	20	77
Jefferson County	5,391	0	294	45	28	372	20	8	28	438	13	63

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Cotton County	13.72	0.04	6.67	1.48	0.49	6.56	0.59	0.13	0.38	7.77	1.51	1.64
Oklahoma	11.59	0.14	6.18	0.53	0.78	6.56	0.86	0.39	0.95	6.43	0.31	1.66
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
Wichita County	12.42	0.18	5.45	0.52	0.73	6.51	0.90	0.38	0.91	6.01	0.30	1.49
Comanche County	10.59	0.22	3.70	0.37	0.79	6.04	1.21	0.41	0.61	5.18	0.33	1.35
Stephens County	15.10	0.08	7.67	0.59	1.04	5.42	0.72	0.27	0.80	8.74	0.38	1.39
Clay County	20.60	0.26	8.83	0.61	0.80	8.96	0.92	0.41	0.92	7.72	0.00	1.11
Tillman County	14.79	0.00	5.45	0.64	0.27	5.37	0.36	0.07	0.48	5.54	0.30	1.14
Jefferson County	16.31	0.00	5.45	0.83	0.52	6.90	0.37	0.15	0.52	8.12	0.24	1.17

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

Cotton County		25.07	107.92	278.20	62.52	100.06	69.20	32.66	39.89	120.83	494.74	98.53
Oklahoma		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		273.52	85.18	100.24	136.29	109.78	305.96	351.89	183.25	93.45	108.55	167.36
Wichita County		127.45	88.13	97.39	93.79	99.31	105.27	98.48	95.93	93.55	97.80	89.29
Comanche County		155.47	59.91	69.11	101.22	92.16	141.00	105.27	64.52	80.64	108.92	81.23
Stephens County		52.55	124.06	110.34	133.85	82.62	83.65	69.94	84.71	135.98	123.46	83.63
Clay County		183.63	142.85	115.39	102.98	136.64	107.53	104.96	97.41	120.14	0.00	66.85
Tillman County		0.00	88.17	120.16	34.33	81.96	41.45	19.21	50.07	86.13	97.02	68.67
Jefferson County		0.00	88.25	157.12	66.72	105.23	43.16	38.41	54.74	126.37	78.80	70.20

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

Cotton County		9.16	126.69	277.53	45.87	91.15	22.62	9.28	21.77	129.29	455.78	58.87
Oklahoma		36.56	117.39	99.76	73.37	91.10	32.68	28.42	54.57	107.00	92.13	59.75
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Wichita County		46.60	103.46	97.15	68.81	90.46	34.41	27.99	52.35	100.10	90.10	53.35
Comanche County		56.84	70.33	68.94	74.26	83.96	46.08	29.92	35.21	86.28	100.34	48.53
Stephens County		19.21	145.64	110.08	98.20	75.27	27.34	19.87	46.22	145.50	113.74	49.97
Clay County		67.14	167.70	115.11	75.56	124.47	35.14	29.83	53.15	128.55	0.00	39.94
Tillman County		0.00	103.50	119.87	25.19	74.66	13.55	5.46	27.32	92.16	89.38	41.03
Jefferson County		0.00	103.60	156.74	48.95	95.86	14.11	10.91	29.87	135.22	72.59	41.94

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

Cotton County	5,548	0	0	1	14	0	0	1	0	12	1,086	1,353
Oklahoma (in 000's)	4,117	12	8	2	5	22	20	14	12	11	798	878
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
Wichita County	129,303	137	535	107	170	612	545	574	155	174	21,227	28,337
Comanche County	121,206	217	807	141	883	304	388	162	141	139	26,406	19,876
Stephens County	43,670	2	37	0	25	54	0	58	47	19	8,821	12,001
Clay County	10,603	15	47	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	1,404	4,188
Tillman County	6,736	0	0	0	0	0	6	23	0	6	1,357	1,174
Jefferson County	5,391	0	2	0	0	0	0	8	7	0	1,286	1,476

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Cotton County	13.72	0.00	0.00	0.02	0.25	0.00	0.00	0.02	0.00	0.22	19.57	24.39
Oklahoma	11.59	0.30	0.20	0.05	0.12	0.52	0.49	0.33	0.30	0.26	19.39	21.33
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
Wichita County	12.42	0.11	0.41	0.08	0.13	0.47	0.42	0.44	0.12	0.13	16.42	21.92
Comanche County	10.59	0.18	0.67	0.12	0.73	0.25	0.32	0.13	0.12	0.11	21.79	16.40
Stephens County	15.10	0.00	0.08	0.00	0.06	0.12	0.00	0.13	0.11	0.04	20.20	27.48
Clay County	20.60	0.14	0.44	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.02	0.00	13.24	39.50
Tillman County	14.79	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.09	0.34	0.00	0.09	20.15	17.43
Jefferson County	16.31	0.00	0.04	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.15	0.13	0.00	23.85	27.38

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

Cotton County		0.00	0.00	34.29	204.04	0.00	0.00	5.44	0.00	81.66	100.97	114.32
Oklahoma		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		438.49	435.29	439.40	363.10	106.22	324.91	144.34	120.13	212.37	71.11	69.65
Wichita County		35.75	205.36	157.42	106.31	90.22	86.22	133.88	40.20	50.81	84.68	102.73
Comanche County		60.41	330.46	221.30	589.07	47.81	65.48	40.31	39.02	43.30	112.38	76.87
Stephens County		1.55	42.05	0.00	46.29	23.57	0.00	40.05	36.10	16.43	104.19	128.82
Clay County		47.73	220.01	17.94	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	6.33	0.00	68.30	185.15
Tillman County		0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	18.22	102.97	0.00	33.63	103.92	81.70
Jefferson County		0.00	18.41	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	44.75	43.55	0.00	123.05	128.34

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

Cotton County		0.00	0.00	7.80	56.20	0.00	0.00	3.77	0.00	38.45	141.98	164.14
Oklahoma		22.81	22.97	22.76	27.54	94.14	30.78	69.28	83.25	47.09	140.62	143.58
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Wichita County		8.15	47.18	35.83	29.28	84.93	26.54	92.75	33.47	23.92	119.08	147.50
Comanche County		13.78	75.92	50.36	162.24	45.01	20.15	27.92	32.48	20.39	158.03	110.37
Stephens County		0.35	9.66	0.00	12.75	22.19	0.00	27.75	30.05	7.74	146.52	184.96
Clay County		10.89	50.54	4.08	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	5.27	0.00	96.05	265.84
Tillman County		0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	5.61	71.34	0.00	15.84	146.13	117.30
Jefferson County		0.00	4.23	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	31.00	36.25	0.00	173.03	184.27

Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025

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