Ancestry for Chester County, SC

Chester County – Ancestry

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:

14.43

Most common ancestry not including "Unknown" is:

African American

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)

Chester County	32,863	3,446	133	17	323	405	67	5	19	7,104	2,252	2,001
South Carolina (in 000's)	5,565	370	17	3	81	189	56	45	20	930	220	208
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
York County	305,604	24,048	1,850	120	5,638	8,624	2,707	2,797	1,112	41,446	7,240	7,405
Lancaster County	114,146	8,582	236	16	1,862	3,338	1,230	1,252	220	15,314	3,148	3,027
Union County	26,917	2,602	68	4	81	184	142	7	55	5,081	1,500	1,492
Fairfield County	20,580	620	59	6	195	68	91	14	64	7,120	2,093	2,053

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Chester County	14.43	10.49	0.40	0.05	0.98	1.23	0.20	0.02	0.06	21.62	6.85	6.09
South Carolina	10.85	6.66	0.31	0.06	1.45	3.39	1.01	0.80	0.36	16.71	3.95	3.74
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
York County	9.99	7.87	0.61	0.04	1.84	2.82	0.89	0.92	0.36	13.56	2.37	2.42
Lancaster County	10.69	7.52	0.21	0.01	1.63	2.92	1.08	1.10	0.19	13.42	2.76	2.65
Union County	15.66	9.67	0.25	0.01	0.30	0.68	0.53	0.03	0.20	18.88	5.57	5.54
Fairfield County	19.77	3.01	0.29	0.03	0.95	0.33	0.44	0.07	0.31	34.60	10.17	9.98

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

Chester County		157.54	131.55	89.90	67.85	36.31	20.16	1.89	15.94	129.37	173.44	162.90
South Carolina		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		60.80	209.59	317.13	227.82	333.71	178.07	168.51	296.16	45.15	57.90	55.92
York County		118.22	196.77	68.24	127.37	83.14	87.59	113.99	100.33	81.17	59.96	64.83
Lancaster County		112.96	67.20	24.36	112.62	86.16	106.55	136.61	53.14	80.29	69.80	70.95
Union County		145.23	82.12	25.82	20.78	20.14	52.17	3.24	56.34	112.97	141.05	148.30
Fairfield County		45.26	93.19	50.67	65.41	9.73	43.72	8.47	85.75	207.06	257.41	266.89

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

Chester County		259.13	62.77	28.35	29.78	10.88	11.32	1.12	5.38	286.56	299.57	291.32
South Carolina		164.48	47.71	31.53	43.89	29.97	56.16	59.34	33.77	221.50	172.72	178.83
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
York County		194.46	93.88	21.52	55.91	24.91	49.19	67.65	33.88	179.78	103.56	115.93
Lancaster County		185.79	32.07	7.68	49.43	25.82	59.84	81.07	17.94	177.85	120.56	126.88
Union County		238.88	39.18	8.14	9.12	6.04	29.30	1.92	19.02	250.23	243.61	265.20
Fairfield County		74.45	44.46	15.98	28.71	2.92	24.55	5.03	28.95	458.63	444.59	477.29

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

Chester County	32,863	45	1,375	57	103	730	155	129	69	1,785	14	123
South Carolina (in 000's)	5,565	15	364	18	43	270	93	41	42	381	11	122
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
York County	305,604	1,204	20,137	1,319	2,355	18,255	6,539	2,770	2,659	27,151	1,357	7,523
Lancaster County	114,146	158	8,438	296	489	5,862	2,275	1,644	858	9,380	195	2,306
Union County	26,917	20	1,045	39	92	645	210	22	113	1,283	31	250
Fairfield County	20,580	8	392	12	59	262	44	15	17	631	14	65

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Chester County	14.43	0.14	4.18	0.17	0.31	2.22	0.47	0.39	0.21	5.43	0.04	0.37
South Carolina	10.85	0.27	6.55	0.32	0.77	4.85	1.67	0.73	0.76	6.84	0.20	2.19
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
York County	9.99	0.39	6.59	0.43	0.77	5.97	2.14	0.91	0.87	8.88	0.44	2.46
Lancaster County	10.69	0.14	7.39	0.26	0.43	5.14	1.99	1.44	0.75	8.22	0.17	2.02
Union County	15.66	0.07	3.88	0.14	0.34	2.40	0.78	0.08	0.42	4.77	0.12	0.93
Fairfield County	19.77	0.04	1.90	0.06	0.29	1.27	0.21	0.07	0.08	3.07	0.07	0.32

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

Chester County		50.34	63.87	54.04	40.67	45.77	28.20	53.76	27.75	79.42	21.43	17.12
South Carolina		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		144.61	80.36	165.91	137.68	148.31	157.24	186.22	229.81	87.85	167.12	127.46
York County		144.84	100.59	134.46	100.00	123.08	127.92	124.15	114.99	129.90	223.38	112.61
Lancaster County		50.89	112.85	80.79	55.59	105.81	119.16	197.27	99.34	120.15	85.94	92.42
Union County		27.32	59.27	45.14	44.36	49.37	46.64	11.19	55.48	69.69	57.94	42.49
Fairfield County		14.29	29.08	18.17	37.20	26.23	12.78	9.98	10.92	44.83	34.22	14.45

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

Chester County		34.81	79.48	32.57	29.54	30.86	17.93	28.87	12.07	90.40	12.82	13.43
South Carolina		69.15	124.44	60.27	72.63	67.42	63.60	53.70	43.51	113.83	59.84	78.46
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
York County		100.16	125.17	81.04	72.63	82.98	81.36	66.67	50.04	147.86	133.67	88.35
Lancaster County		35.19	140.43	48.69	40.38	71.34	75.78	105.93	43.23	136.76	51.43	72.51
Union County		18.89	73.75	27.21	32.22	33.29	29.66	6.01	24.14	79.33	34.67	33.34
Fairfield County		9.88	36.18	10.95	27.02	17.69	8.13	5.36	4.75	51.03	20.48	11.34

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

Chester County	32,863	18	11	0	0	74	10	16	30	4	7,245	5,098
South Carolina (in 000's)	5,565	15	15	3	6	10	32	9	7	14	946	970
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
York County	305,604	735	1,114	89	319	928	4,803	598	407	689	52,765	48,901
Lancaster County	114,146	371	135	38	253	98	1,717	80	35	383	20,108	20,802
Union County	26,917	1	0	6	13	0	24	2	21	0	4,837	7,047
Fairfield County	20,580	4	15	0	8	0	0	0	47	10	4,195	2,399

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Chester County	14.43	0.05	0.03	0.00	0.00	0.23	0.03	0.05	0.09	0.01	22.05	15.51
South Carolina	10.85	0.26	0.27	0.05	0.11	0.17	0.57	0.17	0.13	0.25	17.00	17.42
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
York County	9.99	0.24	0.36	0.03	0.10	0.30	1.57	0.20	0.13	0.23	17.27	16.00
Lancaster County	10.69	0.33	0.12	0.03	0.22	0.09	1.50	0.07	0.03	0.34	17.62	18.22
Union County	15.66	0.00	0.00	0.02	0.05	0.00	0.09	0.01	0.08	0.00	17.97	26.18
Fairfield County	19.77	0.02	0.07	0.00	0.04	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.23	0.05	20.38	11.66

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

Chester County		20.99	12.28	0.00	0.00	131.59	5.36	29.25	69.18	4.88	129.68	89.03
South Carolina		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		498.13	321.83	434.82	395.93	325.67	279.79	287.55	271.42	225.56	81.10	85.27
York County		92.18	133.76	54.82	92.04	177.45	276.85	117.56	100.92	90.41	101.56	91.84
Lancaster County		124.58	43.40	62.67	195.43	50.17	264.97	42.11	23.24	134.56	103.62	104.59
Union County		1.42	0.00	41.96	42.58	0.00	15.71	4.46	59.12	0.00	105.71	150.26
Fairfield County		7.45	26.75	0.00	34.27	0.00	0.00	0.00	173.06	19.49	119.90	66.90

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

Chester County		4.21	3.82	0.00	0.00	40.41	1.92	10.17	25.49	2.16	159.91	104.41
South Carolina		20.08	31.07	23.00	25.26	30.71	35.74	34.78	36.84	44.33	123.31	117.27
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
York County		18.51	41.56	12.61	23.25	54.49	98.95	40.88	37.18	40.08	125.24	107.70
Lancaster County		25.01	13.49	14.41	49.36	15.41	94.71	14.64	8.56	59.65	127.78	122.65
Union County		0.29	0.00	9.65	10.76	0.00	5.61	1.55	21.78	0.00	130.35	176.21
Fairfield County		1.50	8.31	0.00	8.66	0.00	0.00	0.00	63.76	8.64	147.85	78.46

Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025