Ancestry for Roberts County, SD - ERSys®
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Roberts County – Ancestry

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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:

21.54

Most common ancestry not including "Unknown" is:

Native American

 
Ancestry Report Part I
DescriptionTotal Population American Native American Hawaiian Caribbean (Latino) Mexican Central American South American Other Hispanic African American Sub- Saharan Caribbean (Black)

Roberts County10,3621033,9230813080662762
South Dakota (in 000's)930347305258131082
National (in 000's)343,25113,8902,21362611,32738,8796,1814,6443,68725,8937,8527,174
Richland County16,7213274272046420848271291315
Grant County7,6833485720388306762300
Day County5,389140512480541000130
Big Stone County5,0921672633298003581
Marshall County4,39966307192292111610
Sargent County3,7316190872170323440
Traverse County3,164982100421270091161
 
Per Cent to Total PopulationDiversity
Index
 

Roberts County21.540.9937.860.000.081.250.770.060.060.260.060.02
South Dakota12.273.667.820.050.552.660.830.140.281.040.830.18
National7.834.050.640.183.3011.331.801.351.077.542.292.09
Richland County18.361.962.550.120.282.510.500.050.160.770.080.09
Grant County19.534.530.740.030.005.050.390.870.080.300.000.00
Day County14.322.609.500.071.481.000.190.000.000.020.060.00
Big Stone County20.453.280.510.060.631.920.000.000.060.100.160.02
Marshall County16.961.506.980.020.205.210.480.020.020.140.020.00
Sargent County18.681.630.240.000.211.930.460.000.080.621.180.00
Traverse County17.013.106.640.001.334.010.000.000.280.350.190.03
 
Comparisons to State Norms % to Total >= 150% % to Total < 50% 

Roberts County 27.18483.880.0014.0147.2393.3541.0420.4424.966.9710.65
South Dakota 100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00
National 110.678.24344.87598.70426.44217.74958.84379.16722.59275.161,153.35
Richland County 53.4832.64226.0549.9194.5760.7433.9157.0073.909.3549.50
Grant County 123.879.4849.200.00190.1347.21618.0327.5728.680.000.00
Day County 71.05121.43140.28269.3337.7322.440.000.001.786.700.00
Big Stone County 89.696.53111.34114.0272.460.000.0020.809.4118.9010.84
Marshall County 41.0389.2042.9637.12195.9957.7216.118.0213.072.730.00
Sargent County 44.713.080.0038.9072.6555.090.0028.3859.05141.860.00
Traverse County 84.7084.830.00240.83151.120.000.00100.4133.3022.8117.44
 
Comparisons to National Norms % to Total >= 150% % to Total < 50% 

Roberts County 24.565,871.600.002.3411.0842.874.285.393.452.530.92
South Dakota 90.361,213.4529.0016.7023.4545.9310.4326.3713.8436.348.67
National 100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00
Richland County 48.33396.0565.558.3422.1827.903.5415.0310.233.404.29
Grant County 111.93115.0614.270.0044.5921.6864.467.273.970.000.00
Day County 64.201,473.4840.6744.998.8510.300.000.000.252.430.00
Big Stone County 81.0579.1932.2919.0416.990.000.005.491.306.870.94
Marshall County 37.081,082.3512.466.2045.9626.511.682.121.810.990.00
Sargent County 40.4037.410.006.5017.0425.300.007.498.1751.550.00
Traverse County 76.541,029.350.0040.2335.440.000.0026.484.618.291.51
 
Ancestry Report Part II
DescriptionTotal Population Canadian British Dutch French German Italian Polish Scandi­navian Scotish/ Irish Spanish Other European

Roberts County10,362914555511,67713831,138241477
South Dakota (in 000's)93024023102157810256228
National (in 000's)343,2511,35018,0691,8283,64224,7089,0274,6675,96920,6251,1409,563
Richland County16,721523281381925,200682593,342572103509
Grant County7,68317179159692,82234611,11029618153
Day County5,3892517449471,30824381,0961580106
Big Stone County5,0922614453471,76416751,074349097
Marshall County4,39999042141,3045519491900140
Sargent County3,73122158233593523571,0071300134
Traverse County3,16466925411,0331948538162033
 
Per Cent to Total PopulationDiversity
Index
 

Roberts County21.540.091.400.530.4916.180.130.8010.982.330.040.74
South Dakota12.270.264.292.501.1223.110.700.8311.006.010.193.02
National7.830.395.260.531.067.202.631.361.746.010.332.79
Richland County18.360.311.960.831.1531.100.411.5519.993.420.623.04
Grant County19.530.222.332.070.9036.730.440.7914.453.850.231.99
Day County14.320.463.230.910.8724.270.048.1320.342.930.001.97
Big Stone County20.450.512.831.040.9234.640.311.4721.096.850.001.90
Marshall County16.960.202.050.950.3229.640.111.1621.574.320.003.18
Sargent County18.680.594.230.620.9425.060.621.5326.993.480.003.59
Traverse County17.010.192.180.791.3032.650.601.5217.005.120.001.04
 
Comparisons to State Norms % to Total >= 150% % to Total < 50% 

Roberts County 33.3632.6421.2443.7970.0217.8896.7899.8738.7220.7224.64
South Dakota 100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00
National 151.07122.8021.3194.4031.14374.71164.2615.81100.03178.3392.37
Richland County 119.4445.7633.03102.17134.5457.94187.14181.7456.95330.69100.92
Grant County 84.9854.3582.8379.91158.9063.0595.93131.3764.14125.7766.02
Day County 178.1775.3236.3977.60105.005.29981.97184.9448.810.0065.21
Big Stone County 196.1065.9741.6682.13149.8744.77177.95191.79114.100.0063.16
Marshall County 78.5847.7338.2128.32128.2416.19140.07196.1771.900.00105.52
Sargent County 226.4698.7924.6783.47108.4287.83184.58245.4358.010.00119.08
Traverse County 72.8350.8731.62115.30141.2485.56183.29154.6285.240.0034.58
 
Comparisons to National Norms % to Total >= 150% % to Total < 50% 

Roberts County 22.0826.5899.6746.39224.834.7758.91631.5938.7111.6226.67
South Dakota 66.1981.43469.17105.93321.1226.6960.88632.4499.9756.07108.26
National 100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00
Richland County 79.0637.26154.97108.23432.0315.46113.931,149.4356.93185.43109.26
Grant County 56.2544.26388.6084.65510.2716.8358.40830.8764.1270.5371.48
Day County 117.9461.34170.7482.20337.191.41597.801,169.6148.790.0070.60
Big Stone County 129.8153.72195.4587.00481.2611.95108.331,212.98114.070.0068.37
Marshall County 52.0138.87179.2830.00411.814.3285.271,240.6571.880.00114.23
Sargent County 149.9180.45115.7688.42348.1423.44112.371,552.1857.990.00128.91
Traverse County 48.2141.43148.37122.14453.5622.83111.58977.8885.210.0037.43
 
Ancestry Report Part III
DescriptionTotal Population Chinese Filipino Japanese Korean Vietnamese South Central Asian South East Asian Other Asian Middle Eastern Other Ancestry Unknown

Roberts County10,36201404005181,628918
South Dakota (in 000's)93012111331284170
National (in 000's)343,2514,4613,0107931,5411,9135,4521,6431,2291,93147,32251,000
Richland County16,721294031006731,1153,247
Grant County7,68301200027005711,243
Day County5,389100000580516652
Big Stone County5,0920112209000186894
Marshall County4,399000000071429526
Sargent County3,731060000054179776
Traverse County3,164000000020300384
 
Per Cent to Total PopulationDiversity
Index
 

Roberts County21.540.000.140.000.040.000.000.050.010.0815.718.86
South Dakota12.270.150.240.060.120.130.330.310.130.189.0418.24
National7.831.300.880.230.450.561.590.480.360.5613.7914.86
Richland County18.360.170.020.000.190.000.000.040.040.026.6719.42
Grant County19.530.000.010.030.000.000.000.350.000.007.4316.18
Day County14.320.020.000.000.000.000.000.090.150.009.5812.10
Big Stone County20.450.000.220.040.040.000.180.000.000.003.6517.56
Marshall County16.960.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.160.029.7511.96
Sargent County18.680.000.160.000.000.000.000.000.130.114.8020.80
Traverse County17.010.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.060.009.4812.14
 
Comparisons to State Norms % to Total >= 150% % to Total < 50% 

Roberts County 0.0056.790.0032.570.000.0015.567.2442.88173.7348.58
South Dakota 100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00
National 842.70368.66410.66378.88418.89485.80154.31268.57312.42152.4581.47
Richland County 112.4610.060.00156.430.000.0011.5731.399.9773.74106.48
Grant County 0.005.4746.280.000.000.00113.300.000.0082.1888.71
Day County 12.030.000.000.000.000.0029.91111.320.00105.8866.34
Big Stone County 0.0090.8169.8333.140.0054.060.000.000.0040.3996.27
Marshall County 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.00119.3212.63107.8465.57
Sargent County 0.0067.600.000.000.000.000.00100.4959.5553.05114.05
Traverse County 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.0047.400.00104.8566.55
 
Comparisons to National Norms % to Total >= 150% % to Total < 50% 

Roberts County 0.0015.410.008.600.000.0010.082.6913.73113.9659.63
South Dakota 11.8727.1324.3526.3923.8720.5864.8037.2332.0165.60122.74
National 100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00
Richland County 13.342.730.0041.290.000.007.5011.693.1948.37130.70
Grant County 0.001.4811.270.000.000.0073.420.000.0053.91108.89
Day County 1.430.000.000.000.000.0019.3841.450.0069.4581.43
Big Stone County 0.0024.6317.008.750.0011.130.000.000.0026.50118.17
Marshall County 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.0044.434.0470.7480.48
Sargent County 0.0018.340.000.000.000.000.0037.4219.0634.80139.98
Traverse County 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.0017.650.0068.7881.68


Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025