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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)

Boone County	20,784	2,953	28	0	33	56	7	0	15	70	24	21
West Virginia (in 000's)	1,777	198	3	0	9	14	5	3	5	40	11	10
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
Kanawha County	173,412	16,794	331	48	721	1,237	236	150	249	7,169	2,607	2,250
Raleigh County	72,477	7,581	117	24	450	384	15	81	252	3,475	961	777
Logan County	30,692	4,290	26	0	50	160	0	0	22	234	218	100
Lincoln County	19,179	3,014	26	0	10	81	63	0	5	23	0	0
Wyoming County	20,249	2,485	28	1	23	49	18	0	26	79	15	16

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Boone County	31.92	14.21	0.13	0.00	0.16	0.27	0.03	0.00	0.07	0.34	0.12	0.10
West Virginia	17.22	11.14	0.17	0.02	0.51	0.81	0.28	0.18	0.26	2.27	0.63	0.54
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
Kanawha County	16.95	9.68	0.19	0.03	0.42	0.71	0.14	0.09	0.14	4.13	1.50	1.30
Raleigh County	15.77	10.46	0.16	0.03	0.62	0.53	0.02	0.11	0.35	4.79	1.33	1.07
Logan County	33.08	13.98	0.08	0.00	0.16	0.52	0.00	0.00	0.07	0.76	0.71	0.33
Lincoln County	36.15	15.72	0.14	0.00	0.05	0.42	0.33	0.00	0.03	0.12	0.00	0.00
Wyoming County	23.87	12.27	0.14	0.00	0.11	0.24	0.09	0.00	0.13	0.39	0.07	0.08

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

Boone County		127.50	80.67	0.00	31.36	33.47	11.90	0.00	27.70	14.84	18.20	18.83
West Virginia		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		36.31	386.09	777.71	651.84	1,406.96	636.38	759.45	412.18	332.39	360.63	389.56
Kanawha County		86.91	114.29	117.97	82.13	88.61	48.09	48.55	55.10	182.16	237.00	241.83
Raleigh County		93.87	96.66	141.13	122.64	65.81	7.31	62.73	133.43	211.26	209.03	199.82
Logan County		125.44	50.72	0.00	32.18	64.76	0.00	0.00	27.51	33.59	111.98	60.73
Lincoln County		141.03	81.17	0.00	10.30	52.46	116.08	0.00	10.00	5.28	0.00	0.00
Wyoming County		110.13	82.80	21.05	22.44	30.06	31.41	0.00	49.27	17.19	11.68	14.73

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

Boone County		351.10	20.89	0.00	4.81	2.38	1.87	0.00	6.72	4.46	5.05	4.83
West Virginia		275.37	25.90	12.86	15.34	7.11	15.71	13.17	24.26	30.09	27.73	25.67
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Kanawha County		239.32	29.60	15.17	12.60	6.30	7.56	6.39	13.37	54.80	65.72	62.08
Raleigh County		258.48	25.04	18.15	18.81	4.68	1.15	8.26	32.37	63.56	57.96	51.29
Logan County		345.41	13.14	0.00	4.94	4.60	0.00	0.00	6.67	10.11	31.05	15.59
Lincoln County		388.35	21.02	0.00	1.58	3.73	18.24	0.00	2.43	1.59	0.00	0.00
Wyoming County		303.27	21.45	2.71	3.44	2.14	4.94	0.00	11.95	5.17	3.24	3.78

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

Boone County	20,784	0	1,618	93	55	908	220	50	94	1,500	0	444
West Virginia (in 000's)	1,777	2	184	12	13	174	50	18	11	181	3	41
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
Kanawha County	173,412	168	18,827	1,246	1,245	12,314	3,360	941	968	17,083	187	3,756
Raleigh County	72,477	99	16,458	310	510	4,307	1,558	423	232	6,075	37	894
Logan County	30,692	0	2,166	206	99	1,143	352	50	34	2,454	46	436
Lincoln County	19,179	0	1,500	138	33	511	98	35	39	1,269	0	145
Wyoming County	20,249	0	4,837	173	33	802	323	87	144	1,593	24	429

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Boone County	31.92	0.00	7.78	0.45	0.26	4.37	1.06	0.24	0.45	7.22	0.00	2.14
West Virginia	17.22	0.12	10.34	0.66	0.75	9.79	2.84	1.01	0.60	10.16	0.18	2.30
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
Kanawha County	16.95	0.10	10.86	0.72	0.72	7.10	1.94	0.54	0.56	9.85	0.11	2.17
Raleigh County	15.77	0.14	22.71	0.43	0.70	5.94	2.15	0.58	0.32	8.38	0.05	1.23
Logan County	33.08	0.00	7.06	0.67	0.32	3.72	1.15	0.16	0.11	8.00	0.15	1.42
Lincoln County	36.15	0.00	7.82	0.72	0.17	2.66	0.51	0.18	0.20	6.62	0.00	0.76
Wyoming County	23.87	0.00	23.89	0.85	0.16	3.96	1.60	0.43	0.71	7.87	0.12	2.12

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

Boone County		0.00	75.30	67.71	35.34	44.61	37.27	23.92	75.10	71.05	0.00	93.03
West Virginia		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		316.88	50.92	80.59	141.70	73.50	92.61	135.21	288.75	59.16	186.29	121.33
Kanawha County		78.05	105.01	108.73	95.89	72.51	68.23	53.97	92.70	96.99	60.47	94.32
Raleigh County		110.04	219.65	64.73	93.98	60.68	75.70	58.04	53.16	82.52	28.63	53.71
Logan County		0.00	68.26	101.57	43.08	38.03	40.39	16.20	18.40	78.72	84.05	61.86
Lincoln County		0.00	75.65	108.88	22.98	27.21	17.99	18.15	33.77	65.14	0.00	32.92
Wyoming County		0.00	231.06	129.29	21.77	40.44	56.17	42.73	118.09	77.45	66.47	92.26

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

Boone County		0.00	147.89	84.02	24.94	60.69	40.25	17.69	26.01	120.11	0.00	76.67
West Virginia		31.56	196.40	124.09	70.57	136.05	107.98	73.96	34.63	169.04	53.68	82.42
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Kanawha County		24.63	206.24	134.92	67.67	98.65	73.67	39.91	32.10	163.95	32.46	77.74
Raleigh County		34.73	431.38	80.32	66.32	82.56	81.74	42.93	18.41	139.50	15.37	44.27
Logan County		0.00	134.06	126.03	30.40	51.74	43.61	11.98	6.37	133.07	45.12	50.99
Lincoln County		0.00	148.58	135.11	16.22	37.01	19.43	13.42	11.69	110.12	0.00	27.14
Wyoming County		0.00	453.79	160.43	15.36	55.02	60.65	31.60	40.90	130.93	35.68	76.04

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

Boone County	20,784	23	1	0	3	0	0	0	8	5	1,568	10,987
West Virginia (in 000's)	1,777	2	2	1	1	1	4	1	1	5	157	613
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
Kanawha County	173,412	181	240	61	71	52	1,062	157	250	1,221	18,412	59,818
Raleigh County	72,477	54	205	2	28	30	167	102	90	226	7,182	19,371
Logan County	30,692	0	0	54	0	10	1	9	9	7	1,866	16,650
Lincoln County	19,179	0	16	0	0	0	0	0	11	3	1,295	10,864
Wyoming County	20,249	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	5	1,082	7,973

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Boone County	31.92	0.11	0.00	0.00	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.04	0.02	7.54	52.86
West Virginia	17.22	0.14	0.14	0.04	0.05	0.06	0.23	0.06	0.08	0.29	8.86	34.51
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
Kanawha County	16.95	0.10	0.14	0.04	0.04	0.03	0.61	0.09	0.14	0.70	10.62	34.49
Raleigh County	15.77	0.07	0.28	0.00	0.04	0.04	0.23	0.14	0.12	0.31	9.91	26.73
Logan County	33.08	0.00	0.00	0.18	0.00	0.03	0.00	0.03	0.03	0.02	6.08	54.25
Lincoln County	36.15	0.00	0.08	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.06	0.02	6.75	56.65
Wyoming County	23.87	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.01	0.00	0.01	0.02	5.34	39.37

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

Boone County		79.11	3.53	0.00	30.54	0.00	0.00	0.00	48.83	8.22	85.18	153.19
West Virginia		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		929.08	642.73	640.41	950.04	936.98	678.86	814.76	454.34	192.23	155.67	43.06
Kanawha County		74.62	101.43	97.53	86.62	50.42	261.75	154.12	182.87	240.64	119.89	99.96
Raleigh County		53.26	207.29	7.65	81.74	69.59	98.48	239.57	157.52	106.57	111.89	77.45
Logan County		0.00	0.00	487.80	0.00	54.78	1.39	49.92	37.20	7.79	68.65	157.20
Lincoln County		0.00	61.14	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	72.75	5.35	76.24	164.15
Wyoming County		0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	4.22	0.00	12.53	8.44	60.33	114.10

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

Boone County		8.51	0.55	0.00	3.21	0.00	0.00	0.00	10.75	4.28	54.72	355.79
West Virginia		10.76	15.56	15.62	10.53	10.67	14.73	12.27	22.01	52.02	64.24	232.26
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Kanawha County		8.03	15.78	15.23	9.12	5.38	38.56	18.92	40.25	125.18	77.01	232.16
Raleigh County		5.73	32.25	1.19	8.60	7.43	14.51	29.40	34.67	55.44	71.88	179.88
Logan County		0.00	0.00	76.17	0.00	5.85	0.21	6.13	8.19	4.05	44.10	365.12
Lincoln County		0.00	9.51	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	16.01	2.78	48.98	381.25
Wyoming County		0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.62	0.00	2.76	4.39	38.76	265.01

Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025

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