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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)

Wayne County	37,662	5,280	45	9	15	148	121	33	10	144	11	60
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
Cabell County	91,118	10,069	174	18	353	631	205	142	218	2,541	877	717
Lawrence County	55,710	6,220	107	9	104	380	0	75	45	625	171	157
Boyd County	47,457	6,910	96	7	139	430	13	19	145	706	240	219
Lincoln County	19,179	3,014	26	0	10	81	63	0	5	23	0	0
Mingo County	21,865	2,857	26	0	0	63	0	16	45	188	124	70
Lawrence County	15,647	2,592	1	4	0	112	0	0	8	14	3	3
Martin County	10,672	2,816	51	3	23	35	0	0	200	812	0	7

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Wayne County	25.40	14.02	0.12	0.02	0.04	0.39	0.32	0.09	0.03	0.38	0.03	0.16
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
Cabell County	17.29	11.05	0.19	0.02	0.39	0.69	0.22	0.16	0.24	2.79	0.96	0.79
Lawrence County	24.56	11.16	0.19	0.02	0.19	0.68	0.00	0.13	0.08	1.12	0.31	0.28
Boyd County	19.43	14.56	0.20	0.01	0.29	0.91	0.03	0.04	0.31	1.49	0.51	0.46
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
Mingo County	38.90	13.07	0.12	0.00	0.00	0.29	0.00	0.07	0.21	0.86	0.57	0.32
Lawrence County	28.20	16.57	0.01	0.03	0.00	0.72	0.00	0.00	0.05	0.09	0.02	0.02
Martin County	23.53	26.39	0.48	0.03	0.22	0.33	0.00	0.00	1.87	7.61	0.00	0.07

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

Wayne County		125.81	71.54	101.84	7.87	48.81	113.54	49.18	10.19	16.85	4.60	29.69
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
Cabell County		99.17	114.34	84.19	76.52	86.02	79.51	87.48	91.81	122.88	151.73	146.66
Lawrence County		100.19	115.00	68.85	36.88	84.73	0.00	75.57	31.00	49.43	48.39	52.53
Boyd County		130.67	121.13	62.86	57.86	112.55	9.68	22.47	117.25	65.55	79.73	86.01
Lincoln County		141.03	81.17	0.00	10.30	52.46	116.08	0.00	10.00	5.28	0.00	0.00
Mingo County		117.26	71.20	0.00	0.00	35.79	0.00	41.08	78.98	37.89	89.41	59.67
Lawrence County		148.66	3.83	108.95	0.00	88.91	0.00	0.00	19.62	3.94	3.02	3.57
Martin County		236.80	286.15	119.80	42.57	40.74	0.00	0.00	719.18	335.26	0.00	12.23

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

Wayne County		346.44	18.53	13.10	1.21	3.47	17.84	6.48	2.47	5.07	1.28	7.62
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
Cabell County		273.08	29.62	10.83	11.74	6.11	12.49	11.52	22.27	36.97	42.08	37.65
Lawrence County		275.91	29.79	8.85	5.66	6.02	0.00	9.95	7.52	14.87	13.42	13.48
Boyd County		359.82	31.37	8.08	8.88	8.00	1.52	2.96	28.45	19.72	22.11	22.08
Lincoln County		388.35	21.02	0.00	1.58	3.73	18.24	0.00	2.43	1.59	0.00	0.00
Mingo County		322.90	18.44	0.00	0.00	2.54	0.00	5.41	19.16	11.40	24.79	15.32
Lawrence County		409.36	0.99	14.01	0.00	6.32	0.00	0.00	4.76	1.19	0.84	0.92
Martin County		652.06	74.12	15.40	6.53	2.90	0.00	0.00	174.48	100.86	0.00	3.14

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

Wayne County	37,662	45	5,359	84	110	1,508	268	164	351	3,167	1	930
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
Cabell County	91,118	63	11,891	429	690	6,324	1,719	463	545	9,606	130	1,851
Lawrence County	55,710	50	5,522	428	413	4,404	650	153	194	5,743	0	659
Boyd County	47,457	8	6,419	307	299	3,172	388	92	192	5,434	24	810
Lincoln County	19,179	0	1,500	138	33	511	98	35	39	1,269	0	145
Mingo County	21,865	0	1,339	73	51	611	203	24	8	1,730	0	106
Lawrence County	15,647	0	1,767	34	70	549	79	29	15	1,381	0	157
Martin County	10,672	0	752	8	21	163	58	0	55	806	0	117

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Wayne County	25.40	0.12	14.23	0.22	0.29	4.00	0.71	0.44	0.93	8.41	0.00	2.47
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
Cabell County	17.29	0.07	13.05	0.47	0.76	6.94	1.89	0.51	0.60	10.54	0.14	2.03
Lawrence County	24.56	0.09	9.91	0.77	0.74	7.91	1.17	0.27	0.35	10.31	0.00	1.18
Boyd County	19.43	0.02	13.53	0.65	0.63	6.68	0.82	0.19	0.40	11.45	0.05	1.71
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
Mingo County	38.90	0.00	6.12	0.33	0.23	2.79	0.93	0.11	0.04	7.91	0.00	0.48
Lawrence County	28.20	0.00	11.29	0.22	0.45	3.51	0.50	0.19	0.10	8.83	0.00	1.00
Martin County	23.53	0.00	7.05	0.07	0.20	1.53	0.54	0.00	0.52	7.55	0.00	1.10

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

Wayne County		96.26	137.63	33.75	39.01	40.89	25.06	43.31	154.76	82.79	1.49	107.53
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
Cabell County		55.70	126.23	71.25	101.14	70.87	66.43	50.53	99.32	103.79	80.01	88.46
Lawrence County		72.30	95.88	116.26	99.01	80.72	41.09	27.31	57.83	101.49	0.00	51.51
Boyd County		13.58	130.83	97.89	84.15	68.25	28.79	19.28	67.18	112.73	28.36	74.33
Lincoln County		0.00	75.65	108.88	22.98	27.21	17.99	18.15	33.77	65.14	0.00	32.92
Mingo County		0.00	59.23	50.52	31.15	28.53	32.69	10.92	6.08	77.90	0.00	21.11
Lawrence County		0.00	109.23	32.88	59.75	35.83	17.78	18.43	15.92	86.89	0.00	43.69
Martin County		0.00	68.16	11.34	26.28	15.60	19.14	0.00	85.58	74.36	0.00	47.74

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

Wayne County		30.38	270.31	41.88	27.53	55.63	27.06	32.03	53.60	139.95	0.80	88.63
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
Cabell County		17.58	247.91	88.41	71.37	96.42	71.73	37.37	34.40	175.45	42.95	72.91
Lawrence County		22.82	188.30	144.26	69.87	109.82	44.36	20.20	20.03	171.56	0.00	42.46
Boyd County		4.29	256.95	121.47	59.38	92.85	31.09	14.26	23.27	190.56	15.22	61.26
Lincoln County		0.00	148.58	135.11	16.22	37.01	19.43	13.42	11.69	110.12	0.00	27.14
Mingo County		0.00	116.34	62.69	21.98	38.82	35.30	8.07	2.10	131.68	0.00	17.40
Lawrence County		0.00	214.53	40.80	42.17	48.74	19.20	13.63	5.51	146.89	0.00	36.01
Martin County		0.00	133.86	14.08	18.55	21.22	20.66	0.00	29.64	125.69	0.00	39.35

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

Wayne County	37,662	3	6	4	4	0	7	2	22	239	2,690	16,822
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
Cabell County	91,118	221	129	54	86	44	453	86	73	307	8,971	31,038
Lawrence County	55,710	24	18	2	45	0	18	128	40	61	4,374	24,891
Boyd County	47,457	12	48	16	4	0	10	70	62	45	4,072	17,049
Lincoln County	19,179	0	16	0	0	0	0	0	11	3	1,295	10,864
Mingo County	21,865	2	0	0	0	0	0	5	10	25	1,209	13,080
Lawrence County	15,647	14	0	0	0	0	0	74	4	2	1,302	7,433
Martin County	10,672	0	8	0	0	0	0	0	4	10	666	4,057

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Wayne County	25.40	0.01	0.02	0.01	0.01	0.00	0.02	0.01	0.06	0.63	7.14	44.67
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
Cabell County	17.29	0.24	0.14	0.06	0.09	0.05	0.50	0.09	0.08	0.34	9.85	34.06
Lawrence County	24.56	0.04	0.03	0.00	0.08	0.00	0.03	0.23	0.07	0.11	7.85	44.68
Boyd County	19.43	0.03	0.10	0.03	0.01	0.00	0.02	0.15	0.13	0.09	8.58	35.93
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
Mingo County	38.90	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.02	0.05	0.11	5.53	59.82
Lawrence County	28.20	0.09	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.47	0.03	0.01	8.32	47.50
Martin County	23.53	0.00	0.07	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.04	0.09	6.24	38.02

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

Wayne County		5.69	11.68	29.45	22.47	0.00	7.94	9.04	74.10	216.88	80.65	129.43
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
Cabell County		173.39	103.75	164.31	199.68	81.19	212.49	160.67	101.63	115.15	111.17	98.71
Lawrence County		30.80	23.68	9.95	170.90	0.00	13.81	391.12	91.08	37.42	88.65	129.47
Boyd County		18.08	74.12	93.47	17.83	0.00	9.01	251.09	165.72	32.41	96.88	104.10
Lincoln County		0.00	61.14	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	72.75	5.35	76.24	164.15
Mingo County		6.54	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	38.93	58.02	39.08	62.43	173.35
Lawrence County		63.96	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	805.06	32.43	4.37	93.96	137.66
Martin County		0.00	54.94	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	47.55	32.02	70.46	110.16

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

Wayne County		0.61	1.82	4.60	2.37	0.00	1.17	1.11	16.31	112.82	51.81	300.62
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
Cabell County		18.66	16.14	25.66	21.02	8.67	31.30	19.72	22.37	59.90	71.41	229.26
Lawrence County		3.31	3.68	1.55	17.99	0.00	2.03	48.00	20.05	19.47	56.95	300.71
Boyd County		1.95	11.53	14.60	1.88	0.00	1.33	30.82	36.48	16.86	62.24	241.79
Lincoln County		0.00	9.51	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	16.01	2.78	48.98	381.25
Mingo County		0.70	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	4.78	12.77	20.33	40.11	402.62
Lawrence County		6.88	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	98.81	7.14	2.27	60.36	319.72
Martin County		0.00	8.55	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	10.46	16.66	45.27	255.86

Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025

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