what percent of the population of the U.S. is of southern extraction?

[freepcrusher]

by that I mean someone who has at least one ancestor whose first point of arrival was in the confederate states before WWII.

Keep in mind that some people outside the south have southern extraction. If I recall, Teddy Roosevelt's mother (who was also the grandmother to Eleanor Roosevelt) was of southern ancestry. Also while many migrants came to California from Oklahoma (which wasn't a confederate state) if one goes back a generation or two further, one will find that they started out in Arkansas or Tennessee.

[kcguy]

It's probably not that uncommon.

As a personal example, my dad was raised in Nebraska.  His family moved there when he was 2 or 3.  He was born in southern Missouri, and I would say that over half my dad's ancestry came from south of 36°30' at some point.

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Among recent presidents, Obama's mother's ancestry is mainly Northern, but there are a few Southerners in there.  http://www.wargs.com/political/obama.html

Southerners are even rarer in the Bushes' ancestry, but Prescott Bush (1894-1972) did have a grandmother born in Savannah.  http://www.wargs.com/political/bush.html

Bill Clinton's ancestry, not surprisingly, is almost entirely Southern.

[I'm not sure how reliable the Wargs website is, but it should be representative enough of reality for the purposes of this discussion.]

[ElectionsGuy]

Probably about 20%. Today it would be about 35%, but back then Texas and Florida were not the states they are today.

[Sol]

Probably about 20%. Today it would be about 35%, but back then Texas and Florida were not the states they are today.

IMO more like 30%. Don't forget blacks, who are almost all of southern extraction.

[Torie]

Oh, if one's ancestors come to the US sufficiently long ago, I suspect the odds are very high. I have never lived in the South, nor have any of my grandparents, but my paternal great grandfather was a Confederate soldier in Virginia, and moved to Brooklyn after the Civil War. My cousin, related to me through my mother, not my father, has her own southern ancestor from Virginia as well, via her paternal great grandmother. She has never lived in the south either. Folks move around. I would guess a majority of Americans who are old stock northern European WASPS have a southern ancestor, along of course as noted with most blacks who are not post civil war immigrants. It's probably over 50%. I mean 25% or so of the population currently lives in the South.

[RI]

Probably 75%+ of the native white population, 90%+ of the native black population. Since we're talking post-WWII, we can rule out most first or second generation immigrants. If I had to guess, I'd say 60%+ have at least one Southern ancestor.

I've never lived in the South, nor have my parents or grandparents (well, one moved to Florida late in life, but I'm not sure if that counts), but I have plenty of British/German ancestors who settled in Virginia or arrived in Maryland (if that counts as the South), plus a few from North Carolina and even French Acadians who first settled in Louisiana.

[bgwah]

Map of largest Protestant denominations in the United States-

With Hispanic-dominated Catholics removed, I think you can definitely see that non-LDS whites are largely of Southern extraction in the Southwest (with significant numbers in the NW as well)