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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)

Marshall County	38,249	9,038	113	8	74	2,026	199	126	90	1,024	494	385
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
Rutherford County	384,314	26,984	858	236	6,324	21,770	8,644	5,054	1,700	45,095	7,165	5,269
Williamson County	272,520	18,899	405	118	3,066	8,912	2,198	1,157	547	7,183	1,897	1,258
Maury County	115,353	21,907	247	45	1,510	5,957	265	582	477	5,945	4,490	1,877
Bedford County	54,966	8,573	123	9	288	5,794	1,702	230	158	2,603	687	566
Lincoln County	36,974	6,050	109	12	145	901	69	20	248	1,525	386	377
Giles County	31,171	4,900	109	8	137	537	1	53	83	1,647	575	608

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Marshall County	15.78	23.63	0.30	0.02	0.19	5.30	0.52	0.33	0.24	2.68	1.29	1.01
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
Rutherford County	10.63	7.02	0.22	0.06	1.65	5.66	2.25	1.32	0.44	11.73	1.86	1.37
Williamson County	11.19	6.93	0.15	0.04	1.13	3.27	0.81	0.42	0.20	2.64	0.70	0.46
Maury County	13.56	18.99	0.21	0.04	1.31	5.16	0.23	0.50	0.41	5.15	3.89	1.63
Bedford County	13.30	15.60	0.22	0.02	0.52	10.54	3.10	0.42	0.29	4.74	1.25	1.03
Lincoln County	17.81	16.36	0.29	0.03	0.39	2.44	0.19	0.05	0.67	4.12	1.04	1.02
Giles County	15.39	15.72	0.35	0.03	0.44	1.72	0.00	0.17	0.27	5.28	1.84	1.95

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

Marshall County		220.08	141.39	41.18	20.68	137.22	38.45	68.94	68.62	25.85	47.45	46.18
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
Rutherford County		65.40	106.85	120.91	175.86	146.75	166.23	275.20	128.99	113.30	68.50	62.90
Williamson County		64.59	71.12	85.25	120.23	84.72	59.61	88.85	58.53	25.45	25.57	21.18
Maury County		176.89	102.48	76.81	139.89	133.78	16.98	105.58	120.58	49.76	143.00	74.66
Bedford County		145.27	107.09	32.24	56.00	273.07	228.84	87.57	83.82	45.73	45.92	47.24
Lincoln County		152.40	141.09	63.90	41.91	63.13	13.79	11.32	195.59	39.83	38.36	46.78
Giles County		146.41	167.35	50.53	46.97	44.63	0.24	35.58	77.65	51.02	67.77	89.49

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

Marshall County		583.92	45.82	11.46	5.86	46.76	28.89	24.35	21.91	35.49	56.46	48.16
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
Rutherford County		173.51	34.62	33.65	49.87	50.01	124.90	97.20	41.18	155.55	81.50	65.60
Williamson County		171.37	23.05	23.73	34.09	28.87	44.79	31.38	18.69	34.94	30.43	22.09
Maury County		469.31	33.21	21.38	39.67	45.59	12.76	37.29	38.50	68.32	170.16	77.85
Bedford County		385.43	34.71	8.97	15.88	93.06	171.95	30.93	26.76	62.78	54.64	49.27
Lincoln County		404.35	45.72	17.79	11.88	21.51	10.36	4.00	62.45	54.68	45.64	48.78
Giles County		388.46	54.23	14.06	13.32	15.21	0.18	12.57	24.79	70.04	80.64	93.32

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

Marshall County	38,249	41	3,059	238	264	1,642	367	221	258	3,547	0	378
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
Rutherford County	384,314	938	27,871	1,246	2,812	17,149	5,180	2,430	3,287	23,821	615	7,680
Williamson County	272,520	1,096	34,413	1,483	3,236	20,649	6,103	2,443	4,318	27,791	1,161	11,111
Maury County	115,353	365	7,430	431	808	5,305	1,197	714	882	7,577	207	1,831
Bedford County	54,966	130	3,394	215	396	2,497	604	201	337	3,297	24	503
Lincoln County	36,974	90	3,694	323	200	1,279	200	220	186	2,930	55	508
Giles County	31,171	39	3,075	133	183	1,349	222	93	172	2,883	98	451

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Marshall County	15.78	0.11	8.00	0.62	0.69	4.29	0.96	0.58	0.67	9.27	0.00	0.99
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
Rutherford County	10.63	0.24	7.25	0.32	0.73	4.46	1.35	0.63	0.86	6.20	0.16	2.00
Williamson County	11.19	0.40	12.63	0.54	1.19	7.58	2.24	0.90	1.58	10.20	0.43	4.08
Maury County	13.56	0.32	6.44	0.37	0.70	4.60	1.04	0.62	0.76	6.57	0.18	1.59
Bedford County	13.30	0.24	6.17	0.39	0.72	4.54	1.10	0.37	0.61	6.00	0.04	0.92
Lincoln County	17.81	0.24	9.99	0.87	0.54	3.46	0.54	0.60	0.50	7.92	0.15	1.37
Giles County	15.39	0.13	9.86	0.43	0.59	4.33	0.71	0.30	0.55	9.25	0.31	1.45

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

Marshall County		51.03	97.47	133.24	89.72	82.75	77.76	103.28	87.76	118.14	0.00	48.61
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
Rutherford County		116.20	88.38	69.42	95.11	86.02	109.24	113.02	111.28	78.96	95.18	98.30
Williamson County		191.47	153.89	116.53	154.36	146.06	181.50	160.24	206.15	129.91	253.40	200.55
Maury County		150.64	78.50	80.01	91.05	88.65	84.10	110.64	99.48	83.68	106.74	78.08
Bedford County		112.60	75.25	83.76	93.65	87.57	89.06	65.36	79.77	76.41	25.97	45.01
Lincoln County		115.89	121.76	187.06	70.32	66.68	43.84	106.36	65.45	100.95	88.48	67.58
Giles County		59.57	120.22	91.37	76.32	83.43	57.72	53.33	71.79	117.82	187.00	71.17

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

Marshall County		27.25	151.93	116.84	65.06	59.64	36.48	42.50	38.79	154.33	0.00	35.47
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
Rutherford County		62.05	137.77	60.88	68.96	61.99	51.25	46.51	49.19	103.16	48.17	71.73
Williamson County		102.24	239.89	102.18	111.92	105.26	85.15	65.93	91.12	169.72	128.25	146.34
Maury County		80.44	122.36	70.16	66.02	63.89	39.46	45.53	43.97	109.32	54.02	56.97
Bedford County		60.13	117.30	73.45	67.90	63.11	41.78	26.90	35.26	99.83	13.14	32.85
Lincoln County		61.88	189.79	164.04	50.98	48.06	20.57	43.76	28.93	131.88	44.78	49.31
Giles County		31.81	187.40	80.12	55.33	60.12	27.08	21.94	31.73	153.93	94.64	51.93

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

Marshall County	38,249	34	29	0	18	75	0	25	23	32	4,522	9,899
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
Rutherford County	384,314	1,265	1,523	559	480	1,091	1,438	6,930	624	4,575	65,366	78,335
Williamson County	272,520	2,286	746	409	1,230	796	7,611	168	543	1,818	34,683	62,786
Maury County	115,353	89	372	85	59	166	220	14	103	82	14,776	29,338
Bedford County	54,966	94	28	9	6	0	75	118	89	190	8,592	13,434
Lincoln County	36,974	10	62	4	0	46	64	2	20	7	4,709	12,523
Giles County	31,171	50	10	20	3	0	43	10	14	52	4,666	8,947

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Marshall County	15.78	0.09	0.08	0.00	0.05	0.20	0.00	0.07	0.06	0.08	11.82	25.88
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
Rutherford County	10.63	0.33	0.40	0.15	0.12	0.28	0.37	1.80	0.16	1.19	17.01	20.38
Williamson County	11.19	0.84	0.27	0.15	0.45	0.29	2.79	0.06	0.20	0.67	12.73	23.04
Maury County	13.56	0.08	0.32	0.07	0.05	0.14	0.19	0.01	0.09	0.07	12.81	25.43
Bedford County	13.30	0.17	0.05	0.02	0.01	0.00	0.14	0.21	0.16	0.35	15.63	24.44
Lincoln County	17.81	0.03	0.17	0.01	0.00	0.12	0.17	0.01	0.05	0.02	12.74	33.87
Giles County	15.39	0.16	0.03	0.06	0.01	0.00	0.14	0.03	0.04	0.17	14.97	28.70

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

Marshall County		30.62	35.62	0.00	29.11	118.74	0.00	25.07	43.22	20.94	85.45	111.62
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
Rutherford County		113.39	186.18	224.15	77.25	171.91	61.62	691.54	116.70	298.01	122.94	87.91
Williamson County		288.96	128.60	231.28	279.17	176.88	459.94	23.64	143.22	167.00	91.99	99.36
Maury County		26.58	151.51	113.56	31.64	87.14	31.41	4.65	64.18	17.80	92.59	109.69
Bedford County		58.91	23.93	25.23	6.75	0.00	22.47	82.33	116.38	86.53	112.98	105.41
Lincoln County		9.32	78.78	16.67	0.00	75.34	28.51	2.07	38.88	4.74	92.06	146.07
Giles County		55.26	15.07	98.88	5.95	0.00	22.72	12.30	32.28	41.76	108.20	123.79

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

Marshall County		6.84	8.65	0.00	10.48	35.19	0.00	13.66	16.79	14.87	85.75	174.19
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
Rutherford County		25.33	45.19	62.97	27.81	50.94	23.56	376.75	45.33	211.65	123.37	137.19
Williamson County		64.54	31.21	64.97	100.51	52.41	175.84	12.88	55.63	118.60	92.31	155.06
Maury County		5.94	36.77	31.90	11.39	25.82	12.01	2.54	24.93	12.64	92.91	171.18
Bedford County		13.16	5.81	7.09	2.43	0.00	8.59	44.85	45.21	61.46	113.38	164.49
Lincoln County		2.08	19.12	4.68	0.00	22.32	10.90	1.13	15.10	3.37	92.38	227.96
Giles County		12.34	3.66	27.78	2.14	0.00	8.69	6.70	12.54	29.66	108.58	193.18

Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025

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