–

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)

Hughes County	13,279	1,942	2,490	14	34	724	8	9	17	525	76	86
Oklahoma (in 000's)	4,117	225	305	8	28	390	37	16	22	185	53	46
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
Pontotoc County	38,237	2,122	6,444	12	20	2,103	6	50	138	545	185	133
Pittsburg County	43,306	1,841	6,051	37	161	1,957	66	5	150	609	249	253
Seminole County	23,389	2,216	4,118	7	29	1,007	101	5	57	538	202	200
McIntosh County	19,782	1,160	3,233	4	1	537	0	0	13	300	112	152
Okfuskee County	11,404	586	2,439	0	29	308	8	3	22	384	149	158
Coal County	5,462	469	1,022	0	17	184	4	2	15	2	2	15

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Hughes County	15.08	14.62	18.75	0.11	0.26	5.45	0.06	0.07	0.13	3.95	0.57	0.65
Oklahoma	11.59	5.47	7.42	0.19	0.67	9.46	0.89	0.39	0.53	4.48	1.30	1.12
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
Pontotoc County	13.68	5.55	16.85	0.03	0.05	5.50	0.02	0.13	0.36	1.43	0.48	0.35
Pittsburg County	15.35	4.25	13.97	0.09	0.37	4.52	0.15	0.01	0.35	1.41	0.57	0.58
Seminole County	15.83	9.47	17.61	0.03	0.12	4.31	0.43	0.02	0.24	2.30	0.86	0.86
McIntosh County	15.10	5.86	16.34	0.02	0.01	2.71	0.00	0.00	0.07	1.52	0.57	0.77
Okfuskee County	17.23	5.14	21.39	0.00	0.25	2.70	0.07	0.03	0.19	3.37	1.31	1.39
Coal County	14.95	8.59	18.71	0.00	0.31	3.37	0.07	0.04	0.27	0.04	0.04	0.27

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

Hughes County		267.41	252.87	56.19	38.22	57.61	6.78	17.32	24.26	88.18	44.11	57.91
Oklahoma		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		73.99	8.70	97.26	492.57	119.68	202.70	345.74	203.52	168.25	176.32	186.88
Pontotoc County		101.48	227.26	16.73	7.81	58.12	1.77	33.42	68.39	31.79	37.29	31.10
Pittsburg County		77.73	188.42	45.54	55.49	47.75	17.15	2.95	65.63	31.37	44.32	52.24
Seminole County		173.24	237.43	15.95	18.51	45.49	48.61	5.46	46.18	51.30	66.57	76.46
McIntosh County		107.22	220.39	10.78	0.75	28.68	0.00	0.00	12.45	33.82	43.64	68.70
Okfuskee County		93.96	288.41	0.00	37.96	28.54	7.90	6.72	36.55	75.10	100.71	123.88
Coal County		157.01	252.32	0.00	46.46	35.60	8.24	9.36	52.04	0.82	2.82	24.56

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

Hughes County		361.40	2,908.14	57.77	7.76	48.14	3.35	5.01	11.92	52.41	25.02	30.99
Oklahoma		135.15	1,150.07	102.82	20.30	83.55	49.33	28.92	49.13	59.44	56.71	53.51
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Pontotoc County		137.14	2,613.69	17.20	1.59	48.56	0.87	9.67	33.60	18.89	21.15	16.64
Pittsburg County		105.05	2,167.01	46.82	11.27	39.90	8.46	0.85	32.25	18.64	25.14	27.95
Seminole County		234.13	2,730.59	16.40	3.76	38.01	23.98	1.58	22.69	30.49	37.75	40.91
McIntosh County		144.91	2,534.65	11.08	0.15	23.97	0.00	0.00	6.12	20.10	24.75	36.76
Okfuskee County		126.98	3,316.93	0.00	7.71	23.84	3.90	1.94	17.96	44.64	57.12	66.29
Coal County		212.19	2,901.89	0.00	9.43	29.74	4.07	2.71	25.57	0.49	1.60	13.14

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

Hughes County	13,279	6	514	42	51	448	57	10	33	635	5	80
Oklahoma (in 000's)	4,117	6	254	22	32	270	35	16	39	265	13	69
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
Pontotoc County	38,237	62	3,730	101	292	2,075	420	51	306	3,431	97	308
Pittsburg County	43,306	44	2,325	377	239	2,456	1,099	174	304	3,476	95	395
Seminole County	23,389	20	1,069	130	112	864	119	45	108	1,387	11	178
McIntosh County	19,782	7	1,123	159	190	1,225	137	79	139	1,670	75	273
Okfuskee County	11,404	14	399	53	48	508	83	20	26	463	38	143
Coal County	5,462	19	232	37	60	341	98	11	41	465	15	43

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Hughes County	15.08	0.05	3.87	0.32	0.38	3.37	0.43	0.08	0.25	4.78	0.04	0.60
Oklahoma	11.59	0.14	6.18	0.53	0.78	6.56	0.86	0.39	0.95	6.43	0.31	1.66
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
Pontotoc County	13.68	0.16	9.75	0.26	0.76	5.43	1.10	0.13	0.80	8.97	0.25	0.81
Pittsburg County	15.35	0.10	5.37	0.87	0.55	5.67	2.54	0.40	0.70	8.03	0.22	0.91
Seminole County	15.83	0.09	4.57	0.56	0.48	3.69	0.51	0.19	0.46	5.93	0.05	0.76
McIntosh County	15.10	0.04	5.68	0.80	0.96	6.19	0.69	0.40	0.70	8.44	0.38	1.38
Okfuskee County	17.23	0.12	3.50	0.46	0.42	4.45	0.73	0.18	0.23	4.06	0.33	1.25
Coal County	14.95	0.35	4.25	0.68	1.10	6.24	1.79	0.20	0.75	8.51	0.27	0.79

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

Hughes County		31.42	62.64	59.53	49.34	51.45	49.94	19.49	26.19	74.38	12.30	36.19
Oklahoma		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		273.52	85.18	100.24	136.29	109.78	305.96	351.89	183.25	93.45	108.55	167.36
Pontotoc County		112.75	157.86	49.72	98.10	82.76	127.79	34.52	84.34	139.56	82.89	48.39
Pittsburg County		70.65	86.88	163.86	70.90	86.49	295.23	103.99	73.98	124.84	71.68	54.79
Seminole County		59.46	73.96	104.62	61.52	56.34	59.19	49.80	48.66	92.23	15.37	45.71
McIntosh County		24.61	91.86	151.29	123.38	94.44	80.57	103.36	74.05	131.30	123.89	82.90
Okfuskee County		85.37	56.62	87.48	54.07	67.93	84.67	45.39	24.03	63.15	108.88	75.32
Coal County		241.89	68.73	127.51	141.12	95.21	208.73	52.12	79.11	132.41	89.74	47.29

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

Hughes County		11.49	73.53	59.39	36.20	46.87	16.32	5.54	14.29	79.58	11.33	21.62
Oklahoma		36.56	117.39	99.76	73.37	91.10	32.68	28.42	54.57	107.00	92.13	59.75
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Pontotoc County		41.22	185.31	49.60	71.98	75.39	41.77	9.81	46.02	149.33	76.37	28.91
Pittsburg County		25.83	101.99	163.47	52.02	78.79	96.49	29.55	40.37	133.58	66.04	32.74
Seminole County		21.74	86.83	104.37	45.13	51.32	19.35	14.15	26.56	98.69	14.16	27.32
McIntosh County		9.00	107.84	150.93	90.53	86.03	26.33	29.37	40.41	140.50	114.13	49.53
Okfuskee County		31.21	66.47	87.27	39.67	61.88	27.67	12.90	13.11	67.57	100.31	45.01
Coal County		88.44	80.69	127.20	103.54	86.73	68.22	14.81	43.17	141.68	82.67	28.26

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

Hughes County	13,279	20	1	0	0	0	1	9	14	3	3,027	2,398
Oklahoma (in 000's)	4,117	12	8	2	5	22	20	14	12	11	798	878
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
Pontotoc County	38,237	54	139	2	21	62	46	41	17	38	8,881	6,305
Pittsburg County	43,306	16	68	1	21	70	5	20	46	9	8,868	11,819
Seminole County	23,389	13	10	4	41	0	2	6	1	42	4,464	6,283
McIntosh County	19,782	15	3	1	16	0	69	1	12	5	4,498	4,573
Okfuskee County	11,404	14	0	0	27	5	0	0	19	5	2,348	3,105
Coal County	5,462	0	1	4	1	15	0	0	2	0	1,232	1,113

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Hughes County	15.08	0.15	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.01	0.07	0.11	0.02	22.80	18.06
Oklahoma	11.59	0.30	0.20	0.05	0.12	0.52	0.49	0.33	0.30	0.26	19.39	21.33
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
Pontotoc County	13.68	0.14	0.36	0.01	0.05	0.16	0.12	0.11	0.04	0.10	23.23	16.49
Pittsburg County	15.35	0.04	0.16	0.00	0.05	0.16	0.01	0.05	0.11	0.02	20.48	27.29
Seminole County	15.83	0.06	0.04	0.02	0.18	0.00	0.01	0.03	0.00	0.18	19.09	26.86
McIntosh County	15.10	0.08	0.02	0.01	0.08	0.00	0.35	0.01	0.06	0.03	22.74	23.12
Okfuskee County	17.23	0.12	0.00	0.00	0.24	0.04	0.00	0.00	0.17	0.04	20.59	27.23
Coal County	14.95	0.00	0.02	0.07	0.02	0.27	0.00	0.00	0.04	0.00	22.56	20.38

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

Hughes County		50.82	3.74	0.00	0.00	0.00	1.54	20.44	35.36	8.53	117.58	84.65
Oklahoma		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		438.49	435.29	439.40	363.10	106.22	324.91	144.34	120.13	212.37	71.11	69.65
Pontotoc County		47.65	180.43	9.95	44.41	30.91	24.61	32.34	14.91	37.52	119.81	77.29
Pittsburg County		12.47	77.94	4.39	39.21	30.81	2.36	13.93	35.63	7.85	105.63	127.93
Seminole County		18.75	21.22	32.53	141.74	0.00	1.75	7.74	1.43	67.80	98.45	125.92
McIntosh County		25.58	7.53	9.62	65.40	0.00	71.35	1.52	20.35	9.54	117.29	108.36
Okfuskee County		41.42	0.00	0.00	191.44	8.36	0.00	0.00	55.88	16.55	106.20	127.63
Coal County		0.00	9.09	139.31	14.80	52.35	0.00	0.00	12.28	0.00	116.35	95.52

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

Hughes County		11.59	0.86	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.47	14.16	29.44	4.02	165.35	121.54
Oklahoma		22.81	22.97	22.76	27.54	94.14	30.78	69.28	83.25	47.09	140.62	143.58
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Pontotoc County		10.87	41.45	2.26	12.23	29.10	7.57	22.40	12.41	17.67	168.47	110.98
Pittsburg County		2.84	17.90	1.00	10.80	29.01	0.73	9.65	29.66	3.69	148.53	183.68
Seminole County		4.28	4.88	7.40	39.04	0.00	0.54	5.36	1.19	31.93	138.44	180.80
McIntosh County		5.83	1.73	2.19	18.01	0.00	21.96	1.06	16.94	4.49	164.93	155.59
Okfuskee County		9.45	0.00	0.00	52.72	7.87	0.00	0.00	46.52	7.80	149.34	183.25
Coal County		0.00	2.09	31.70	4.08	49.28	0.00	0.00	10.22	0.00	163.61	137.15

Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025

Advertisers