DNA Lady
"On this day in 1776, the Declaration of
Independence was approved by Congress, setting the 13 colonies on the road to
freedom as a sovereign nation" according the U.S. Census Bureau website
www.census.gov. If our ancestors had only maintained better family records along
the way, we wouldn't have the burgeoning business of DNA testing. Luckily your ancestors left clues in your DNA
that can determine your deep ancestral origins.
Your local DNA collections expert can provide access to a database of
DNA collected around the world. Who
would think that Genealogical and DNA testing would become such an important past
time in the United States and the world?
Genealogical tests are dedicated to helping families find lost relatives,
build family trees, establish roots and discover your true past. DNA tests allow you to determine what region
of the world your family is descended from including true Native American
ancestry.
In July 1776, the nation's population was
estimated to be 2.5 million mostly from European backgrounds but without true
genetic testing, we're only guessing.
Approximately, 14 years later the first official census was taken by
U.S. Marshals on horseback (the first mobile collectors - although they didn't
collect DNA then) and the population grew to 3.9 million people which by then
were of Native American, European, African and Asian descent. However, it was not until the Census taken in
1870 (a full 100 years later) that all inhabitants were counted as whole
persons. There has been a census taken
every 10 years since 1790. The estimate
headcount for the 2010 Census is 306,800,505 inhabitants in the United States,
DC, PR and the Islands and whose descent is from all regions of the world. The estimated world population is
6,768,138,476 (looks like and IP address)!
The U.S. Census information collected from individuals is not made
public for 72 years after the census is taken.
For businesses, the information becomes public after 30 years.
The census is a count of everyone
residing in the United States - but you don't have to be an American to be
counted. If you live or sleep most of the year in any of the 50
states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Island Areas you must be
counted. This includes people of all
ages, races, ethnic groups, citizens and non-citizens. Prior to 1999,
the data extracted from the Census was used for congressional
apportionment. Because it was recognized
in the 1990 Census that there was a net under-count (non-response) and a statistical
adjustment was created, the Supreme Court ruled before the 2000 Census was
taken that the population data could not be used for congressional
apportionment.
The difference in 2010's census vs.
previous years is that all addresses will receive a short form questionnaire,
whereas in the past everyone received a short form and one in six households
received a long form with socioeconomic questions. The socioeconomic information is now gathered
by a separate survey conducted (ACS) every 3 years on a rolling basis from
approximately 250,000 addresses per month.
The Census Bureau submits population totals to the office of the
President of the United States.
Here are some facts taken from recent
(last 100 years) Census:
FACTOIDS
FROM PREVIOUS CENSUS:
Most
Common Surnames Occurring in 2000 Census
Smith
Johnson
Williams
Brown
Jones
Miller
Davis
Garcia
Rodriguez
Wilson
** Names with similar
spellings are combined to create one common surname, as in Smith, Smithie,
Smyth, Smythy etc. Many of these top
occurring surnames have genealogical projects in progress available to
join. If your DNA profile is genetically
close to someone with a similar surname, perhaps you are related. Ask your local DNA collections expert, if they
have a surname project in your name that you can join to trace the migration of
your family to the United States and beyond.
Ancestry testing has become a family reunion favorite activity over the
last 10 years. The common genetic
profiles found among family members - both close and distant - keeps families
talking and communicating all year until the next family reunion.
Most
Common Spanish Surnames Occurring in the 1990 Census
Garcia
Martinez
Rodriguez
Lopez
Hernandez
Gonzalez
Perez
Sanchez
Rivera
Ramirez
Torres
Gonzales
Spanish surnames can
originate in Europe, South, Latin or Central America. You can find out the family's migration by
having your ancestral Y-DNA or Mt DNA analyzed and mapped. For fun, you can then log onto a website to
find others with similar genetic profiles and surnames and are also searching
for their relatives and ancestry. Y-DNA
is the paternal side of the family and is passed only from father to son; thus
we can perform very conclusive Paternity Tests especially in a father/son test. MtDNA is passed from a mother to all of her
offspring. To gain a complete picture of
your ancestral origins, have a male's DNA collected from each generation. For example, have one male tested to obtain a
history of his father's family via Y-DNA testing, which will exclude any
influence from the female side of the family.
Then have the same male tested to obtain a history of his MtDNA which
will exclude any influences from his father's side of the family. The end result will be a genetic profile and
map of the individuals in a generation (and therefore his sisters and brothers)
both paternal and maternal migration over the past 50,000 to 150,000
years. Make sure you explain to your
local DNA collections expert the exact relativity of everyone being tested and
if you are interested in logging onto an internet site to find other people in
the world with similar genetic profiles.
Leading Country of Birth of a Foreign Born Inhabitant in the
1930 Census
Italy
** Indicates that the
individual was born in Italy, but not necessarily of Italian descent. To find out if you are truly from Italy, why
not have your DNA tested to determine what genetic markers you possess that are
in common with other "native born Italians" in our database.
Leading Country of birth of a Foreign Born Inhabitant in the
2000 Census
Mexico, followed by
China
Philippines
India
El Salvador and
Vietnam
Korea
Cuba
Canada
Dominican Republic
Arabic Population in the 2000 Census
Is your genetic
profile more closely related to Abdullah I bin al-Hussein, King of
Jordan or Muhammad Anwar Al Sadat, 3rd
President of Egypt?
30% of the inhabitants
of the United States in the 2000 Census reported they were of Arab
descent. Arab descent includes
individuals from Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Morocco, Iraq, Arab
or Arabic and "other" Arabic countries.
42% of the population
reported having more than one Arab ancestry.
Ethnic questions are based on one's place of origin, descent, roots, heritage
and it is usually only asked on Census questionnaires to establish that the
respondent had a connection to or self-identified with a particular ethnic
group. However, as we have found many
times, our connection to a particular ethnic group, does not always include our
entire ancestral roots.
There is a number of
DNA Ancestry testing options that can outline your ancestral origins. A local
DNA collections expert will be able to sort through the testing options most
suited for your interests. A recent activity at many family reunions, is
to have a local DNA collections expert available for anyone in the family who
would like to trace their ancestry and prove the genetic relationship.
To find out more
about the current U.S. population, visit the www.census.gov site which provides a host of information in various
formats (pdf and xls). All the facts and
figures presented here are taken the from the www.census.gov website. The
information is meant to inform the reader that we all have our roots in the
cultures and traditions of our childhood whether that was in the United States
or somewhere else. Each of us has the
right to be proud of our culture and we should be able to share our traditions
and indeed find the similarities in our traditions with other cultures. However, for today July 4th, let
everyone know you are an American, with a proud history of independence,
opportunity, privacy and the responsibility to protect those rights.
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