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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)

Loudon County	62,864	5,785	86	2	663	4,010	1,002	332	82	514	133	83
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
Knox County	510,876	54,052	1,065	297	4,053	14,818	7,345	2,870	1,644	26,107	8,794	6,254
Blount County	142,652	14,404	302	23	822	3,659	928	225	466	2,306	712	613
McMinn County	56,968	7,088	149	17	267	1,684	260	99	77	1,130	398	337
Roane County	56,606	8,062	155	17	196	714	59	73	154	867	247	234
Monroe County	49,530	6,400	162	2	229	1,733	68	44	106	545	138	156

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Loudon County	14.48	9.20	0.14	0.00	1.05	6.38	1.59	0.53	0.13	0.82	0.21	0.13
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
Knox County	11.36	10.58	0.21	0.06	0.79	2.90	1.44	0.56	0.32	5.11	1.72	1.22
Blount County	17.42	10.10	0.21	0.02	0.58	2.56	0.65	0.16	0.33	1.62	0.50	0.43
McMinn County	16.38	12.44	0.26	0.03	0.47	2.96	0.46	0.17	0.14	1.98	0.70	0.59
Roane County	17.31	14.24	0.27	0.03	0.35	1.26	0.10	0.13	0.27	1.53	0.44	0.41
Monroe County	18.91	12.92	0.33	0.00	0.46	3.50	0.14	0.09	0.21	1.10	0.28	0.31

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

Loudon County		85.71	65.47	6.26	112.71	165.25	117.80	110.52	38.04	7.89	7.77	6.06
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
Knox County		98.54	99.77	114.47	84.78	75.14	106.26	117.56	93.84	49.34	63.24	56.17
Blount County		94.05	101.32	31.75	61.58	66.45	48.08	33.01	95.26	15.61	18.34	19.72
McMinn County		115.89	125.17	58.76	50.09	76.58	33.73	36.37	39.41	19.15	25.67	27.14
Roane County		132.65	131.05	59.13	37.00	32.68	7.70	26.99	79.33	14.79	16.03	18.97
Monroe County		120.35	156.53	7.95	49.41	90.64	10.15	18.59	62.41	10.62	10.24	14.45

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

Loudon County		227.41	21.22	1.74	31.96	56.32	88.51	39.03	12.14	10.84	9.25	6.32
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
Knox County		261.46	32.33	31.86	24.04	25.61	79.84	41.52	29.96	67.74	75.25	58.57
Blount County		249.52	32.83	8.84	17.46	22.65	36.12	11.66	30.41	21.43	21.82	20.56
McMinn County		307.46	40.56	16.35	14.20	26.10	25.34	12.84	12.58	26.29	30.54	28.30
Roane County		351.95	42.47	16.46	10.49	11.14	5.79	9.53	25.33	20.30	19.08	19.78
Monroe County		319.31	50.73	2.21	14.01	30.89	7.62	6.57	19.93	14.59	12.18	15.07

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

Loudon County	62,864	139	6,040	371	613	5,225	1,061	816	717	6,209	245	1,539
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
Knox County	510,876	1,332	48,989	3,200	4,711	34,722	8,045	3,907	4,753	49,440	859	14,758
Blount County	142,652	453	13,849	848	1,530	10,171	1,929	1,170	1,432	16,500	229	3,083
McMinn County	56,968	271	4,745	337	415	4,099	710	265	409	6,070	89	809
Roane County	56,606	304	6,369	618	565	4,036	648	393	534	6,245	0	1,150
Monroe County	49,530	121	3,801	257	504	3,170	410	294	264	4,898	19	765

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Loudon County	14.48	0.22	9.61	0.59	0.98	8.31	1.69	1.30	1.14	9.88	0.39	2.45
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
Knox County	11.36	0.26	9.59	0.63	0.92	6.80	1.57	0.76	0.93	9.68	0.17	2.89
Blount County	17.42	0.32	9.71	0.59	1.07	7.13	1.35	0.82	1.00	11.57	0.16	2.16
McMinn County	16.38	0.48	8.33	0.59	0.73	7.20	1.25	0.47	0.72	10.66	0.16	1.42
Roane County	17.31	0.54	11.25	1.09	1.00	7.13	1.14	0.69	0.94	11.03	0.00	2.03
Monroe County	18.91	0.24	7.67	0.52	1.02	6.40	0.83	0.59	0.53	9.89	0.04	1.54

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

Loudon County		105.27	117.09	126.37	126.76	160.22	136.79	232.02	148.39	125.82	231.81	120.42
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
Knox County		124.13	116.86	134.13	119.87	131.02	127.63	136.70	121.04	123.28	100.01	142.10
Blount County		151.18	118.31	127.29	139.42	137.44	109.59	146.60	130.60	147.35	95.48	106.31
McMinn County		226.48	101.51	126.67	94.70	138.70	101.01	83.15	93.41	135.74	92.92	69.85
Roane County		255.68	137.12	233.78	129.75	137.44	92.78	124.10	122.74	140.54	0.00	99.93
Monroe County		116.31	93.52	111.11	132.27	123.38	67.09	106.10	69.35	125.98	22.82	75.97

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

Loudon County		56.21	182.52	110.82	91.91	115.47	64.17	95.47	65.59	164.38	117.32	87.87
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
Knox County		66.29	182.16	117.62	86.92	94.42	59.88	56.25	53.50	161.06	50.62	103.68
Blount County		80.73	184.43	111.62	101.09	99.05	51.42	60.33	57.73	192.50	48.33	77.57
McMinn County		120.94	158.23	111.08	68.66	99.96	47.39	34.21	41.29	177.33	47.03	50.97
Roane County		136.53	213.74	205.01	94.08	99.05	43.53	51.06	54.25	183.61	0.00	72.92
Monroe County		62.11	145.78	97.43	95.91	88.91	31.48	43.66	30.65	164.58	11.55	55.44

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

Loudon County	62,864	134	214	5	37	39	25	18	80	68	7,813	18,764
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
Knox County	510,876	2,839	1,132	520	1,151	1,163	3,792	660	753	3,253	81,791	111,807
Blount County	142,652	260	87	94	158	7	221	266	139	191	15,773	49,802
McMinn County	56,968	34	65	36	0	0	150	56	125	46	8,815	17,916
Roane County	56,606	17	88	7	51	17	105	18	59	10	5,703	18,891
Monroe County	49,530	34	34	2	0	26	3	45	66	28	7,504	17,702

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Loudon County	14.48	0.21	0.34	0.01	0.06	0.06	0.04	0.03	0.13	0.11	12.43	29.85
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
Knox County	11.36	0.56	0.22	0.10	0.23	0.23	0.74	0.13	0.15	0.64	16.01	21.89
Blount County	17.42	0.18	0.06	0.07	0.11	0.00	0.15	0.19	0.10	0.13	11.06	34.91
McMinn County	16.38	0.06	0.11	0.06	0.00	0.00	0.26	0.10	0.22	0.08	15.47	31.45
Roane County	17.31	0.03	0.16	0.01	0.09	0.03	0.19	0.03	0.10	0.02	10.07	33.37
Monroe County	18.91	0.07	0.07	0.00	0.00	0.05	0.01	0.09	0.13	0.06	15.15	35.74

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

Loudon County		73.43	159.93	12.26	36.41	37.57	6.55	10.98	91.47	27.08	89.83	128.73
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
Knox County		191.43	104.10	156.86	139.36	137.85	122.24	49.54	105.94	159.40	115.72	94.39
Blount County		62.78	28.65	101.55	68.51	2.97	25.51	71.51	70.04	33.52	79.92	150.56
McMinn County		20.56	53.60	97.39	0.00	0.00	43.36	37.70	157.71	20.21	111.84	135.63
Roane County		10.35	73.04	19.06	55.73	18.19	30.55	12.19	74.92	4.42	72.82	143.93
Monroe County		23.65	32.25	6.22	0.00	31.79	1.00	34.84	95.78	14.15	109.51	154.14

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

Loudon County		16.40	38.82	3.44	13.11	11.13	2.50	5.98	35.53	19.23	90.15	200.89
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
Knox County		42.76	25.27	44.07	50.17	40.85	46.73	26.99	41.15	113.21	116.13	147.30
Blount County		14.02	6.95	28.53	24.67	0.88	9.75	38.96	27.21	23.80	80.20	234.97
McMinn County		4.59	13.01	27.36	0.00	0.00	16.58	20.54	61.26	14.36	112.24	211.67
Roane County		2.31	17.73	5.35	20.06	5.39	11.68	6.64	29.10	3.14	73.08	224.61
Monroe County		5.28	7.83	1.75	0.00	9.42	0.38	18.98	37.20	10.05	109.89	240.54

Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025

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