Ancestry for Saluda County, SC

Saluda 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:

11.78

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)

Saluda County	19,688	1,479	50	0	198	1,849	990	38	130	2,608	850	817
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
Lexington County	316,772	23,822	900	193	4,701	12,390	3,781	2,270	620	31,109	8,991	5,742
Aiken County	181,387	21,626	523	83	2,786	5,546	2,447	816	694	27,784	7,781	6,736
Greenwood County	70,528	3,995	98	37	935	2,807	347	319	277	14,243	3,686	3,382
Newberry County	39,461	2,407	89	2	550	2,237	553	72	57	7,194	2,018	1,905
Edgefield County	30,148	2,892	76	7	208	953	40	178	282	5,494	2,063	1,741

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Saluda County	11.78	7.51	0.25	0.00	1.01	9.39	5.03	0.19	0.66	13.25	4.32	4.15
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
Lexington County	10.48	7.52	0.28	0.06	1.48	3.91	1.19	0.72	0.20	9.82	2.84	1.81
Aiken County	10.50	11.92	0.29	0.05	1.54	3.06	1.35	0.45	0.38	15.32	4.29	3.71
Greenwood County	13.98	5.66	0.14	0.05	1.33	3.98	0.49	0.45	0.39	20.19	5.23	4.80
Newberry County	12.18	6.10	0.23	0.01	1.39	5.67	1.40	0.18	0.14	18.23	5.11	4.83
Edgefield County	12.42	9.59	0.25	0.02	0.69	3.16	0.13	0.59	0.94	18.22	6.84	5.77

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

Saluda County		112.86	82.55	0.00	69.43	276.69	497.23	24.04	182.06	79.28	109.27	111.02
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
Lexington County		112.98	92.35	105.88	102.45	115.24	118.03	89.25	53.97	58.77	71.84	48.50
Aiken County		179.13	93.72	79.52	106.04	90.08	133.40	56.03	105.50	91.67	108.57	99.35
Greenwood County		85.10	45.17	91.17	91.52	117.26	48.65	56.33	108.29	120.86	132.28	128.29
Newberry County		91.64	73.31	8.81	96.22	167.02	138.57	22.73	39.83	109.11	129.43	129.16
Edgefield County		144.12	81.94	40.35	47.63	93.13	13.12	73.54	257.91	109.06	173.20	154.50

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

Saluda County		185.64	39.39	0.00	30.48	82.92	279.23	14.27	61.48	175.60	188.73	198.54
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
Lexington County		185.84	44.06	33.39	44.97	34.53	66.28	52.97	18.22	130.19	124.08	86.73
Aiken County		294.63	44.72	25.08	46.54	26.99	74.91	33.25	35.62	203.05	187.53	177.68
Greenwood County		139.98	21.55	28.75	40.17	35.14	27.32	33.43	36.57	267.71	228.47	229.43
Newberry County		150.73	34.98	2.78	42.24	50.05	77.82	13.49	13.45	241.67	223.56	230.97
Edgefield County		237.05	39.10	12.72	20.91	27.91	7.37	43.64	87.09	241.58	299.14	276.30

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

Saluda County	19,688	54	1,085	67	59	779	150	42	82	627	3	109
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
Lexington County	316,772	829	23,913	1,555	2,854	25,495	4,823	2,820	3,278	25,115	807	8,259
Aiken County	181,387	376	11,813	680	1,580	9,022	2,811	999	1,250	11,551	743	3,694
Greenwood County	70,528	57	3,487	208	381	2,284	570	257	165	4,053	4	975
Newberry County	39,461	86	1,923	118	226	2,936	298	71	103	1,510	91	412
Edgefield County	30,148	48	1,476	22	176	1,120	286	78	332	1,134	34	303

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Saluda County	11.78	0.27	5.51	0.34	0.30	3.96	0.76	0.21	0.42	3.18	0.02	0.55
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
Lexington County	10.48	0.26	7.55	0.49	0.90	8.05	1.52	0.89	1.03	7.93	0.25	2.61
Aiken County	10.50	0.21	6.51	0.37	0.87	4.97	1.55	0.55	0.69	6.37	0.41	2.04
Greenwood County	13.98	0.08	4.94	0.29	0.54	3.24	0.81	0.36	0.23	5.75	0.01	1.38
Newberry County	12.18	0.22	4.87	0.30	0.57	7.44	0.76	0.18	0.26	3.83	0.23	1.04
Edgefield County	12.42	0.16	4.90	0.07	0.58	3.72	0.95	0.26	1.10	3.76	0.11	1.01

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

Saluda County		100.83	84.13	106.02	38.89	81.53	45.55	29.22	55.04	46.56	7.67	25.33
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
Lexington County		96.21	115.24	152.93	116.92	165.83	91.03	121.93	136.76	115.92	128.16	119.27
Aiken County		76.21	99.42	116.79	113.04	102.48	92.65	75.43	91.08	93.11	206.07	93.16
Greenwood County		29.71	75.48	91.88	70.10	66.73	48.32	49.91	30.92	84.02	2.85	63.24
Newberry County		80.12	74.39	93.16	74.32	153.30	45.15	24.64	34.50	55.95	116.01	47.76
Edgefield County		58.53	74.74	22.73	75.76	76.54	56.72	35.44	145.54	55.00	56.74	45.98

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

Saluda County		69.73	104.69	63.90	28.25	54.97	28.97	15.69	23.95	53.00	4.59	19.87
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
Lexington County		66.53	143.41	92.18	84.92	111.81	57.89	65.48	59.51	131.95	76.69	93.58
Aiken County		52.70	123.72	70.39	82.10	69.10	58.93	40.51	39.63	105.98	123.31	73.10
Greenwood County		20.55	93.92	55.38	50.92	44.99	30.73	26.80	13.45	95.64	1.71	49.62
Newberry County		55.41	92.57	56.15	53.98	103.36	28.71	13.23	15.01	63.68	69.42	37.47
Edgefield County		40.48	93.01	13.70	55.02	51.61	36.07	19.03	63.33	62.60	33.95	36.07

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

Saluda County	19,688	1	33	6	1	0	0	2	9	15	3,617	3,938
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
Lexington County	316,772	1,026	582	155	355	353	3,595	610	232	1,147	49,146	65,304
Aiken County	181,387	190	279	259	126	351	465	52	121	246	28,673	29,284
Greenwood County	70,528	221	25	103	90	19	108	84	63	33	9,335	17,880
Newberry County	39,461	43	48	10	0	3	0	4	51	55	6,775	7,614
Edgefield County	30,148	12	0	10	2	30	1	6	58	51	5,470	5,565

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Saluda County	11.78	0.01	0.17	0.03	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.01	0.05	0.08	18.37	20.00
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
Lexington County	10.48	0.32	0.18	0.05	0.11	0.11	1.13	0.19	0.07	0.36	15.51	20.62
Aiken County	10.50	0.10	0.15	0.14	0.07	0.19	0.26	0.03	0.07	0.14	15.81	16.14
Greenwood County	13.98	0.31	0.04	0.15	0.13	0.03	0.15	0.12	0.09	0.05	13.24	25.35
Newberry County	12.18	0.11	0.12	0.03	0.00	0.01	0.00	0.01	0.13	0.14	17.17	19.30
Edgefield County	12.42	0.04	0.00	0.03	0.01	0.10	0.00	0.02	0.19	0.17	18.14	18.46

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

Saluda County		1.95	61.51	57.37	4.48	0.00	0.00	6.10	34.64	30.55	108.07	114.80
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
Lexington County		124.14	67.42	92.11	98.81	65.12	199.91	115.69	55.50	145.20	91.26	118.32
Aiken County		40.15	56.44	268.79	61.25	113.08	45.16	17.22	50.55	54.39	92.99	92.66
Greenwood County		120.10	13.01	274.91	112.51	15.74	26.97	71.55	67.69	18.76	77.86	145.50
Newberry County		41.77	44.64	47.70	0.00	4.44	0.00	6.09	97.94	55.89	100.99	110.74
Edgefield County		15.26	0.00	62.44	5.85	58.15	0.58	11.96	145.79	67.84	106.73	105.94

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

Saluda County		0.39	19.11	13.19	1.13	0.00	0.00	2.12	12.76	13.55	133.26	134.62
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
Lexington County		24.92	20.95	21.18	24.96	20.00	71.45	40.23	20.45	64.38	112.54	138.75
Aiken County		8.06	17.54	61.82	15.47	34.72	16.14	5.99	18.62	24.11	114.66	108.66
Greenwood County		24.11	4.04	63.23	28.42	4.83	9.64	24.88	24.94	8.32	96.01	170.63
Newberry County		8.38	13.87	10.97	0.00	1.36	0.00	2.12	36.08	24.78	124.53	129.86
Edgefield County		3.06	0.00	14.36	1.48	17.86	0.21	4.16	53.71	30.08	131.61	124.24

Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025