–

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)

Henderson County	28,446	4,066	45	2	141	485	0	25	128	983	690	304
Tennessee (in 000's)	7,297	783	15	4	68	282	99	35	25	756	199	159
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
Madison County	101,213	6,058	180	14	502	3,151	607	305	391	25,904	5,470	5,093
Carroll County	29,105	8,257	73	6	43	659	9	59	69	1,580	532	451
Hardin County	27,760	4,167	76	0	160	233	8	140	80	270	442	141
Chester County	17,897	2,081	44	0	40	369	10	104	18	597	814	242
Decatur County	11,801	2,161	8	6	110	205	39	0	28	131	130	56

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Henderson County	20.74	14.29	0.16	0.01	0.50	1.70	0.00	0.09	0.45	3.46	2.43	1.07
Tennessee	11.46	10.74	0.21	0.05	0.94	3.86	1.35	0.48	0.34	10.36	2.72	2.18
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
Madison County	14.12	5.99	0.18	0.01	0.50	3.11	0.60	0.30	0.39	25.59	5.40	5.03
Carroll County	16.45	28.37	0.25	0.02	0.15	2.26	0.03	0.20	0.24	5.43	1.83	1.55
Hardin County	22.25	15.01	0.27	0.00	0.58	0.84	0.03	0.50	0.29	0.97	1.59	0.51
Chester County	16.35	11.63	0.25	0.00	0.22	2.06	0.06	0.58	0.10	3.34	4.55	1.35
Decatur County	20.10	18.31	0.07	0.05	0.93	1.74	0.33	0.00	0.24	1.11	1.10	0.47

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

Henderson County		133.13	75.71	13.84	52.97	44.17	0.00	18.39	131.22	33.37	89.12	49.03
Tennessee		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		37.69	308.58	359.30	352.66	293.42	133.09	283.13	313.21	72.84	84.04	95.89
Madison County		55.75	85.11	27.23	53.01	80.65	44.32	63.06	112.65	247.12	198.56	230.87
Carroll County		264.24	120.04	40.59	15.79	58.66	2.29	42.42	69.13	52.42	67.15	71.10
Hardin County		139.81	131.02	0.00	61.60	21.74	2.13	105.54	84.04	9.39	58.50	23.30
Chester County		108.30	117.66	0.00	23.89	53.41	4.13	121.61	29.33	32.21	167.10	62.04
Decatur County		170.56	32.44	100.11	99.62	45.00	24.42	0.00	69.19	10.72	40.47	21.77

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

Henderson County		353.22	24.53	3.85	15.02	15.05	0.00	6.50	41.89	45.81	106.04	51.13
Tennessee		265.32	32.41	27.83	28.36	34.08	75.14	35.32	31.93	137.29	118.99	104.28
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Madison County		147.91	27.58	7.58	15.03	27.49	33.30	22.27	35.97	339.28	236.26	240.75
Carroll County		701.06	38.90	11.30	4.48	19.99	1.72	14.98	22.07	71.96	79.91	74.14
Hardin County		370.94	42.46	0.00	17.47	7.41	1.60	37.28	26.83	12.89	69.60	24.30
Chester County		287.34	38.13	0.00	6.77	18.20	3.10	42.95	9.36	44.22	198.83	64.70
Decatur County		452.52	10.51	27.86	28.25	15.34	18.35	0.00	22.09	14.72	48.16	22.70

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

Henderson County	28,446	42	2,258	146	118	1,060	207	124	138	2,598	24	552
Tennessee (in 000's)	7,297	15	599	34	56	379	90	41	56	573	12	148
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
Madison County	101,213	56	6,177	196	358	2,699	665	303	507	5,005	252	1,475
Carroll County	29,105	45	2,558	97	265	1,064	300	45	112	2,181	8	353
Hardin County	27,760	15	2,087	76	174	1,734	105	61	139	3,028	30	866
Chester County	17,897	44	1,227	27	143	918	271	68	72	1,805	10	822
Decatur County	11,801	4	1,029	41	75	539	206	7	76	1,124	0	249

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Henderson County	20.74	0.15	7.94	0.51	0.41	3.73	0.73	0.44	0.49	9.13	0.08	1.94
Tennessee	11.46	0.21	8.21	0.47	0.77	5.19	1.23	0.56	0.77	7.85	0.17	2.03
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
Madison County	14.12	0.06	6.10	0.19	0.35	2.67	0.66	0.30	0.50	4.95	0.25	1.46
Carroll County	16.45	0.15	8.79	0.33	0.91	3.66	1.03	0.15	0.38	7.49	0.03	1.21
Hardin County	22.25	0.05	7.52	0.27	0.63	6.25	0.38	0.22	0.50	10.91	0.11	3.12
Chester County	16.35	0.25	6.86	0.15	0.80	5.13	1.51	0.38	0.40	10.09	0.06	4.59
Decatur County	20.10	0.03	8.72	0.35	0.64	4.57	1.75	0.06	0.64	9.52	0.00	2.11

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

Henderson County		70.29	96.74	109.90	53.92	71.83	58.98	77.92	63.12	116.35	50.18	95.45
Tennessee		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		187.26	64.15	114.04	137.92	138.76	213.15	243.02	226.23	76.55	197.58	137.05
Madison County		26.34	74.38	41.47	45.98	51.40	53.25	53.51	65.17	63.00	148.09	71.69
Carroll County		73.61	107.11	71.36	118.36	70.47	83.54	27.64	50.07	95.46	16.35	59.66
Hardin County		25.72	91.62	58.62	81.48	120.41	30.65	39.28	65.15	138.96	64.28	153.45
Chester County		117.05	83.55	32.30	103.87	98.88	122.72	67.91	52.34	128.48	33.23	225.93
Decatur County		16.14	106.26	74.40	82.61	88.05	141.47	10.60	83.79	121.34	0.00	103.79

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

Henderson County		37.54	150.79	96.38	39.10	51.77	27.67	32.06	27.90	152.00	25.40	69.65
Tennessee		53.40	155.88	87.69	72.51	72.07	46.92	41.15	44.20	130.64	50.61	72.97
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Madison County		14.07	115.94	36.36	33.34	37.05	24.98	22.02	28.81	82.30	74.95	52.31
Carroll County		39.31	166.96	62.58	85.82	50.79	39.19	11.37	22.13	124.71	8.27	43.53
Hardin County		13.74	142.82	51.41	59.08	86.78	14.38	16.16	28.80	181.53	32.53	111.97
Chester County		62.50	130.24	28.33	75.31	71.26	57.58	27.95	23.14	167.85	16.82	164.85
Decatur County		8.62	165.64	65.24	59.90	63.45	66.37	4.36	37.04	158.51	0.00	75.73

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

Henderson County	28,446	15	0	0	1	0	0	1	39	43	2,918	11,293
Tennessee (in 000's)	7,297	21	16	5	12	12	44	19	10	29	1,010	1,692
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
Madison County	101,213	288	101	80	48	91	243	88	235	127	18,232	16,312
Carroll County	29,105	29	2	0	6	0	27	7	37	20	3,907	6,304
Hardin County	27,760	14	0	1	2	0	0	28	39	21	2,144	11,479
Chester County	17,897	3	8	0	11	0	2	13	15	126	1,941	6,052
Decatur County	11,801	0	17	0	0	0	52	0	5	0	1,116	4,387

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Henderson County	20.74	0.05	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.14	0.15	10.26	39.70
Tennessee	11.46	0.29	0.21	0.06	0.16	0.17	0.61	0.26	0.14	0.40	13.84	23.19
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
Madison County	14.12	0.28	0.10	0.08	0.05	0.09	0.24	0.09	0.23	0.13	18.01	16.12
Carroll County	16.45	0.10	0.01	0.00	0.02	0.00	0.09	0.02	0.13	0.07	13.42	21.66
Hardin County	22.25	0.05	0.00	0.00	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.10	0.14	0.08	7.72	41.35
Chester County	16.35	0.02	0.04	0.00	0.06	0.00	0.01	0.07	0.08	0.70	10.85	33.82
Decatur County	20.10	0.00	0.14	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.44	0.00	0.04	0.00	9.46	37.17

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

Henderson County		18.16	0.00	0.00	2.17	0.00	0.00	1.35	98.54	37.84	74.14	171.21
Tennessee		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		447.69	412.02	355.96	277.75	337.47	261.57	183.56	257.44	140.81	99.65	64.08
Madison County		98.02	46.88	121.81	29.33	54.45	39.54	33.34	166.89	31.41	130.20	69.51
Carroll County		34.32	3.23	0.00	12.75	0.00	15.28	9.22	91.37	17.20	97.03	93.41
Hardin County		17.37	0.00	5.55	4.46	0.00	0.00	38.68	100.98	18.94	55.82	178.34
Chester County		5.77	21.00	0.00	38.02	0.00	1.84	27.86	60.24	176.25	78.39	145.84
Decatur County		0.00	67.68	0.00	0.00	0.00	72.57	0.00	30.45	0.00	68.35	160.32

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

Henderson County		4.06	0.00	0.00	0.78	0.00	0.00	0.73	38.28	26.88	74.41	267.20
Tennessee		22.34	24.27	28.09	36.00	29.63	38.23	54.48	38.84	71.02	100.35	156.06
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Madison County		21.89	11.38	34.22	10.56	16.13	15.12	18.17	64.83	22.31	130.66	108.47
Carroll County		7.67	0.78	0.00	4.59	0.00	5.84	5.02	35.49	12.22	97.37	145.78
Hardin County		3.88	0.00	1.56	1.60	0.00	0.00	21.07	39.22	13.45	56.02	278.31
Chester County		1.29	5.10	0.00	13.69	0.00	0.70	15.18	23.40	125.17	78.67	227.59
Decatur County		0.00	16.43	0.00	0.00	0.00	27.74	0.00	11.83	0.00	68.60	250.20

Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025

Advertisers