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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)

Lavaca County	20,809	756	38	6	82	3,492	21	0	308	622	198	199
Texas (in 000's)	31,782	914	89	29	430	10,041	761	331	754	2,587	710	454
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
Victoria County	91,771	1,507	236	38	733	37,248	813	358	4,045	3,250	1,012	850
Fayette County	25,533	860	51	7	9	5,139	34	17	112	923	320	247
Colorado County	21,435	643	10	0	10	5,289	43	44	801	1,473	428	416
Gonzales County	20,160	372	34	6	121	9,071	73	6	972	717	215	207
DeWitt County	20,325	455	35	5	66	5,966	99	67	991	947	298	281
Jackson County	15,123	586	25	4	2	4,423	181	0	320	597	173	165

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Lavaca County	12.60	3.63	0.18	0.03	0.39	16.78	0.10	0.00	1.48	2.99	0.95	0.96
Texas	14.72	2.87	0.28	0.09	1.35	31.59	2.39	1.04	2.37	8.14	2.23	1.43
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
Victoria County	21.30	1.64	0.26	0.04	0.80	40.59	0.89	0.39	4.41	3.54	1.10	0.93
Fayette County	13.84	3.37	0.20	0.03	0.04	20.13	0.13	0.07	0.44	3.61	1.25	0.97
Colorado County	13.69	3.00	0.05	0.00	0.05	24.67	0.20	0.21	3.74	6.87	2.00	1.94
Gonzales County	25.52	1.85	0.17	0.03	0.60	45.00	0.36	0.03	4.82	3.56	1.07	1.03
DeWitt County	16.31	2.24	0.17	0.02	0.32	29.35	0.49	0.33	4.88	4.66	1.47	1.38
Jackson County	16.05	3.87	0.17	0.03	0.01	29.25	1.20	0.00	2.12	3.95	1.14	1.09

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

Lavaca County		126.37	65.21	31.12	29.13	53.12	4.21	0.00	62.36	36.72	42.58	66.94
Texas		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		140.76	230.24	196.94	243.93	35.85	75.19	130.06	45.26	92.67	102.36	146.29
Victoria County		57.12	91.83	44.69	59.04	128.47	36.99	37.50	185.71	43.50	49.34	64.83
Fayette County		117.16	71.32	29.59	2.61	63.71	5.56	6.40	18.48	44.41	56.08	67.71
Colorado County		104.34	16.66	0.00	3.45	78.10	8.38	19.73	157.45	84.42	89.35	135.84
Gonzales County		64.18	60.22	32.12	44.37	142.42	15.12	2.86	203.15	43.69	47.72	71.87
DeWitt County		77.87	61.49	26.55	24.00	92.91	20.34	31.69	205.44	57.24	65.61	96.77
Jackson County		134.78	59.03	28.55	0.98	92.58	49.97	0.00	89.15	48.49	51.19	76.37

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

Lavaca County		89.78	28.32	15.80	11.94	148.16	5.60	0.00	137.80	39.62	41.60	45.75
Texas		71.04	43.43	50.78	41.00	278.92	133.00	76.89	220.97	107.91	97.70	68.36
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Victoria County		40.58	39.88	22.69	24.20	358.34	49.19	28.83	410.37	46.95	48.21	44.31
Fayette County		83.23	30.98	15.02	1.07	177.70	7.39	4.92	40.84	47.92	54.79	46.28
Colorado County		74.13	7.24	0.00	1.41	217.85	11.14	15.17	347.92	91.10	87.29	92.86
Gonzales County		45.60	26.16	16.31	18.19	397.25	20.11	2.20	448.89	47.15	46.62	49.13
DeWitt County		55.32	26.71	13.48	9.84	259.15	27.05	24.36	453.95	61.77	64.09	66.15
Jackson County		95.76	25.64	14.49	0.40	258.21	66.46	0.00	197.00	52.33	50.01	52.20

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

Lavaca County	20,809	47	730	19	97	3,238	90	196	54	1,249	21	3,288
Texas (in 000's)	31,782	47	1,148	72	205	1,152	237	130	195	1,068	107	442
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
Victoria County	91,771	67	2,670	200	571	5,910	510	467	281	2,778	335	1,978
Fayette County	25,533	33	1,087	61	171	4,884	177	108	193	963	46	2,359
Colorado County	21,435	6	797	33	179	2,773	85	40	127	627	4	980
Gonzales County	20,160	9	432	20	129	1,034	58	103	51	521	1	239
DeWitt County	20,325	12	407	28	133	2,556	85	266	47	621	74	491
Jackson County	15,123	79	525	34	131	1,005	49	81	105	445	22	759

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Lavaca County	12.60	0.23	3.51	0.09	0.47	15.56	0.43	0.94	0.26	6.00	0.10	15.80
Texas	14.72	0.15	3.61	0.23	0.64	3.62	0.75	0.41	0.61	3.36	0.34	1.39
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
Victoria County	21.30	0.07	2.91	0.22	0.62	6.44	0.56	0.51	0.31	3.03	0.37	2.16
Fayette County	13.84	0.13	4.26	0.24	0.67	19.13	0.69	0.42	0.76	3.77	0.18	9.24
Colorado County	13.69	0.03	3.72	0.15	0.84	12.94	0.40	0.19	0.59	2.93	0.02	4.57
Gonzales County	25.52	0.04	2.14	0.10	0.64	5.13	0.29	0.51	0.25	2.58	0.00	1.19
DeWitt County	16.31	0.06	2.00	0.14	0.65	12.58	0.42	1.31	0.23	3.06	0.36	2.42
Jackson County	16.05	0.52	3.47	0.22	0.87	6.65	0.32	0.54	0.69	2.94	0.15	5.02

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

Lavaca County		153.44	97.14	40.57	72.35	429.29	57.96	230.90	42.38	178.54	30.09	1,135.80
Texas		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		267.21	145.76	236.61	164.66	198.59	352.45	333.30	284.01	178.73	99.05	200.27
Victoria County		49.60	80.56	96.83	96.57	177.67	74.48	124.75	50.01	90.04	108.85	154.93
Fayette County		87.80	117.88	106.14	103.94	527.71	92.90	103.69	123.46	112.19	53.72	664.12
Colorado County		19.02	102.96	68.40	129.60	356.90	53.14	45.75	96.77	87.01	5.56	328.64
Gonzales County		30.33	59.34	44.08	99.31	141.50	38.56	125.25	41.32	76.87	1.48	85.22
DeWitt County		40.11	55.45	61.21	101.56	346.94	56.05	320.83	37.77	90.88	108.56	173.65
Jackson County		354.88	96.13	99.89	134.44	183.34	43.42	131.30	113.40	87.53	43.38	360.77

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

Lavaca County		57.42	66.64	17.15	43.94	216.17	16.45	69.28	14.92	99.89	30.38	567.12
Texas		37.42	68.61	42.26	60.73	50.36	28.37	30.00	35.21	55.95	100.96	49.93
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Victoria County		18.56	55.27	40.92	58.64	89.47	21.13	37.43	17.61	50.38	109.89	77.36
Fayette County		32.86	80.87	44.86	63.12	265.73	26.36	31.11	43.47	62.77	54.23	331.61
Colorado County		7.12	70.63	28.91	78.71	179.72	15.08	13.73	34.07	48.68	5.62	164.10
Gonzales County		11.35	40.71	18.63	60.31	71.25	10.94	37.58	14.55	43.01	1.49	42.55
DeWitt County		15.01	38.04	25.87	61.68	174.70	15.90	96.26	13.30	50.85	109.60	86.71
Jackson County		132.81	65.95	42.22	81.65	92.32	12.32	39.39	39.93	48.97	43.79	180.14

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

Lavaca County	20,809	0	51	6	0	0	1	20	13	6	3,038	2,923
Texas (in 000's)	31,782	251	167	27	91	312	671	109	74	109	4,681	3,388
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
Victoria County	91,771	348	147	33	78	278	224	28	94	90	15,157	9,437
Fayette County	25,533	23	0	3	6	0	19	19	9	6	4,585	3,062
Colorado County	21,435	0	7	0	0	23	16	0	48	0	3,633	2,900
Gonzales County	20,160	3	28	0	36	7	0	0	8	2	3,831	1,854
DeWitt County	20,325	0	0	0	0	61	0	0	19	15	4,210	2,090
Jackson County	15,123	16	28	0	0	107	61	1	21	0	3,190	1,988

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Lavaca County	12.60	0.00	0.25	0.03	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.10	0.06	0.03	14.60	14.05
Texas	14.72	0.79	0.53	0.08	0.29	0.98	2.11	0.34	0.23	0.34	14.73	10.66
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
Victoria County	21.30	0.38	0.16	0.04	0.08	0.30	0.24	0.03	0.10	0.10	16.52	10.28
Fayette County	13.84	0.09	0.00	0.01	0.02	0.00	0.07	0.07	0.04	0.02	17.96	11.99
Colorado County	13.69	0.00	0.03	0.00	0.00	0.11	0.07	0.00	0.22	0.00	16.95	13.53
Gonzales County	25.52	0.01	0.14	0.00	0.18	0.03	0.00	0.00	0.04	0.01	19.00	9.20
DeWitt County	16.31	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.30	0.00	0.00	0.09	0.07	20.71	10.28
Jackson County	16.05	0.11	0.19	0.00	0.00	0.71	0.40	0.01	0.14	0.00	21.09	13.15

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

Lavaca County		0.00	46.68	34.00	0.00	0.00	0.23	28.03	26.97	8.43	99.12	131.75
Texas		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		164.48	167.03	272.35	156.45	56.83	75.20	139.56	154.61	164.38	93.60	139.36
Victoria County		47.99	30.51	42.40	29.61	30.89	11.56	8.90	44.22	28.66	112.14	96.45
Fayette County		11.40	0.00	13.85	8.19	0.00	3.52	21.70	15.22	6.87	121.92	112.48
Colorado County		0.00	6.22	0.00	0.00	10.94	3.53	0.00	96.67	0.00	115.08	126.90
Gonzales County		1.88	26.45	0.00	62.22	3.54	0.00	0.00	17.13	2.90	129.02	86.26
DeWitt County		0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	30.60	0.00	0.00	40.35	21.57	140.64	96.45
Jackson County		13.39	35.26	0.00	0.00	72.15	19.10	1.93	59.94	0.00	143.22	123.30

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

Lavaca County		0.00	27.95	12.48	0.00	0.00	0.30	20.08	17.44	5.13	105.90	94.54
Texas		60.80	59.87	36.72	63.92	175.97	132.99	71.65	64.68	60.83	106.83	71.76
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Victoria County		29.18	18.26	15.57	18.93	54.36	15.37	6.37	28.60	17.44	119.80	69.21
Fayette County		6.93	0.00	5.09	5.23	0.00	4.69	15.55	9.84	4.18	130.25	80.71
Colorado County		0.00	3.72	0.00	0.00	19.25	4.70	0.00	62.52	0.00	122.94	91.06
Gonzales County		1.15	15.84	0.00	39.77	6.23	0.00	0.00	11.08	1.76	137.84	61.90
DeWitt County		0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	53.85	0.00	0.00	26.10	13.12	150.24	69.21
Jackson County		8.14	21.11	0.00	0.00	126.96	25.40	1.38	38.77	0.00	153.00	88.47

Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025

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