Terri, I agree, a stated number by itself is pretty meaningless.
But having one of those minds that gets lost in the weeds pondering meaningless statistics, I was wonder if there is something useful in there.
I noticed that Keith and I have around the same number of Known patriots and that we are of the same generation. His son, has twice the number because he married someone who also has about the same number from his generation, whereas I married an Irish woman. So his son and my daughter do not have about the same number because of who we married.
So, pondering, could that number be a guide to what generation you are from or if your ancestors married outside of their Colonial roots? Probably not, but fun to think about.
It does get me thinking about this stuff but as an arbitrary number, I can see no practical use.