This list of people returning to their homelands from exile is part of Jewish history. As such, as Christians in 2026 we don't recognize all the names listed. We don't know their stories. This is similar to a family tree. Your family tree means a lot to you, but it may not mean as much to someone else. But what we do know is that God was faithful and that their exile was a season that eventually would end and God would bring them back home.
Imagine the various reactions to returning to their homeland. For those who had lived there before did it look the same? Was their joy of returning mixed with sadness because it wasn't exactly the same place like they had left? Think about the children who would have been born in Babylon during exile. To them Babylon likely felt like home because it was all they knew. Different people may have different experiences. I think of my own children. We have lived in various places and they have different levels of connection to where they have lived. Except for the youngest. Malachi was only 3 when we moved to Lewistown and for his memories Lewistown is home because it really is all he has known. As the Israelites move back the homeland I imagine some feel like they are back at home and others will feel like they are in a whole new place. For the older the journey may have felt like going home. For the younger there may have been a sense that the journey was them leaving home.