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Title: "American" Ancestry Post by: Stranger in a strange land on June 15, 2008, 03:49:55 PM The phenomenon of claiming "American" as one's ancestry seems to be very widespread in the South, border states, and Appalachia:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Census-2000-Data-Top-US-Ancestries-by-County.jpg I'm assuming these are the descendants of early settlers. If that's the case, then why do New Englanders more typically identify as "English"? Did more scots and scots-irish settle in the south? Is the American ethnic group basically what the Aussies refer to as "Anglo-Celtic"? Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: Joe Republic on June 15, 2008, 03:53:01 PM I was wondering about this too. I would have thought that their ancestry has been blended from all over, which I guess means that they may well be descended from the settlers.
Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: Alcon on June 15, 2008, 03:53:17 PM I always thought it was more of a "redneck" patriotic identity sort of thing, mostly among working-class Anglos (Scots and Scots-Irish, primarily). The distinction has always been presented to me as more sociocultural than ethnic. Basically, they're white-bread, their families have been here forever, damn it, they're Americans.
Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: nclib on June 15, 2008, 04:16:16 PM I always thought it was more of a "redneck" patriotic identity sort of thing, mostly among working-class Anglos (Scots and Scots-Irish, primarily). The distinction has always been presented to me as more sociocultural than ethnic. Basically, they're white-bread, their families have been here forever, damn it, they're Americans. It does appear to be a sociocultural phenomenon among rural, working-class, conservative whites. There was a thread a while back comparing Kerry/Bush voting with ancestry plurality by county, and an overwhelming percentage of counties with an American ancestry plurality voted for Bush. Perhaps liberals and those in urban areas are more likely to trace ancestry back to Europe and/or identuify with another ethnic/religious/cultural group. Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: jimrtex on June 15, 2008, 08:17:32 PM The phenomenon of claiming "American" as one's ancestry seems to be very widespread in the South, border states, and Appalachia: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Census-2000-Data-Top-US-Ancestries-by-County.jpg I'm assuming these are the descendants of early settlers. If that's the case, then why do New Englanders more typically identify as "English"? Did more scots and scots-irish settle in the south? Is the American ethnic group basically what the Aussies refer to as "Anglo-Celtic"? The name that one uses for "ancestry" may be more one of cultural identity than geneaology. "Irish" may have been adopted to provide a distinction from the coastal "English". While after the US Revolution, these latter groups might not have wanted to emphasize their "Englishness", it would have been OK to be "Irish". This is probably why there are more people who claim German and Irish ancestry than English ancestry in the USA. After Irish Catholics began immigrating to the USA in the mid-19th Century, "Scotch-Irish" became more prevalent. More recently "American" or "USA" has become more common, in part in reaction to hyphenated-Americans. But it might be more accurate. After 10 generations, you may have as many as 1024 8-great-grandparents. If you knew where they were all from, you could give an ancestral breakdown to 1/10 of 1% accuracy. In earlier censuses, people were not asked for their ancestry, but rather where their parents were born. As more and more people started specifiying Ohio or New York or Pennsylvania, the "ancestry" question was added. Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: Sam Spade on June 15, 2008, 10:26:01 PM Threads about the ancestors of Sam Spade always fascinate Sam Spade. :)
jimrtex is generally correct about the evolution of these people - I don't really have that much to add or correct that is worth mentioning. Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: Keystone Phil on June 15, 2008, 10:36:50 PM I noticed this as well. I always figured that they were English. It's funny how this is so common in the south and Appalachia. I was always curious about the ancestry of these types and I'm not shocked at all that these types would insist that they are "American" and nothing else.
Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: Torie on June 15, 2008, 10:39:05 PM The folks who identify themselves as of "English" ancestry tend to be mostly Mormons who know, and in huge numbers came to the States from the rough conditions in the textile mills in the Manchester area in the mid 19th century. My genes appear to come all from the island of Great Britain (English, Welsh and Scottish), so what do I identify myself as? Great British? Yankee WASP seems a better fit, even though one branch were slavers from Virginia, but that little embarrassment need not be cataloged (my great grandfather fled from Norfolk to Brooklyn of all places after the rebel states lost the war ). Ya Spade, my Dad was a Brooklyn boy.
Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: Sam Spade on June 15, 2008, 10:42:15 PM Yankee WASP seems a better fit, even though one branch were slavers from Virginia, but that little embarrassment need not be cataloged (my great grandfather fled from Norfolk to Brooklyn of all places after the rebel states lost the war ). Ya Spade, my Dad was a Brooklyn boy. Makes total sense. I actually know a Brooklyn guy whose ancestors were involved in Southern shipping interests prior to the Civil War and fled to Brooklyn after the war was over. Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: Torie on June 15, 2008, 11:26:20 PM I always thought it was more of a "redneck" patriotic identity sort of thing, mostly among working-class Anglos (Scots and Scots-Irish, primarily). The distinction has always been presented to me as more sociocultural than ethnic. Basically, they're white-bread, their families have been here forever, damn it, they're Americans. Wait a minute. The Scottish who came from Scotland are the richest ethnic group in the US (well maybe the Indians are now, but both are ahead of the Jews), and knew how to make and invest money (the true sons of Adam Smith), and the Scots-Irish were the detritus who were shipped from Scotland by Prince William to Antrim to put down the natives there (thus the moniker "Orange men,") and then were "invited" to the US to "pacify" the natives here. There were skilled with the gun, and had a pugilistic nature. My great, or maybe great great grandfather (probably the latter), was an engineer from Scotland, who moved to Montreal, and fabricated the steam engine that was used for the first steamship (http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/Arrivals/RoyWil33.htm) that crossed the Atlantic. That is where the money gene came from perhaps for my clan. One of my most brilliant professors in law school, and one of the fathers of the uniform commercial code, was Scots-Irish, and an ex fighter pilot (and still looked like a lean, mean fighting machine), and he always wore an orange tie on St. Patrick's day. Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: StateBoiler on June 25, 2008, 09:11:16 PM To be bluntly honest, most whites just don't know where they're from. Or are just such a mutt that it's impossible to tell. My dad's family is supposedly Irish (although we're not sure, there's no family bible and the basis of our ancestry was my great-grandfather who supposedly said once "we're Irish"; most likely I think we're Scotch-Irish) and my mom's family is German. What am I supposed to mark on the census sheet? Plus, my mom's family has been here since before the Revolution, and my dad's family has been here a minimum of 120 years at least. At some point after so many generations you cease being Irish or German or whatever and you just have to put down "American".
I should mark down I'm a Tarheel that is the son of Hoosiers. Quote even though one branch were slavers from Virginia, but that little embarrassment need not be cataloged Don't worry, everyone owned slaves. Even a good number of blacks did in the area I'm from. Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: ilikeverin on June 25, 2008, 10:16:06 PM To be bluntly honest, most whites just don't know where they're from. Or are just such a mutt that it's impossible to tell. My dad's family is supposedly Irish (although we're not sure, there's no family bible and the basis of our ancestry was my great-grandfather who supposedly said once "we're Irish"; most likely I think we're Scotch-Irish) and my mom's family is German. I've found that looking at last names of ancestors helps. My mom claims she's 100% Irish, but based on last names and recollections of accents (and also the fact that my maternal grandmother was Presbyterian before she converted to Catholicism to marry my maternal grandfather) it would seem that she's at most 25% Irish and at least 75% Scotsmen-who-oppressed-the-Irish-and-then-went-to-America-and-blended-in-with-the-other-Irish-Americans. Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: StateBoiler on June 26, 2008, 07:26:57 AM To be bluntly honest, most whites just don't know where they're from. Or are just such a mutt that it's impossible to tell. My dad's family is supposedly Irish (although we're not sure, there's no family bible and the basis of our ancestry was my great-grandfather who supposedly said once "we're Irish"; most likely I think we're Scotch-Irish) and my mom's family is German. I've found that looking at last names of ancestors helps. My mom claims she's 100% Irish, but based on last names and recollections of accents (and also the fact that my maternal grandmother was Presbyterian before she converted to Catholicism to marry my maternal grandfather) it would seem that she's at most 25% Irish and at least 75% Scotsmen-who-oppressed-the-Irish-and-then-went-to-America-and-blended-in-with-the-other-Irish-Americans. Based on my last name, it's either Irish, English, or Welsh. Ooh, I forgot, I also am part Cherokee. :) Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: minionofmidas on June 26, 2008, 08:06:37 AM You're all dead wrong.
Nobody* claims to be of "American Ancestry" on census forms. "American" is just the Census Bureau's catch-all processing category for all the written-in regional terms from within the US, whether it's "Baltimore MD", "Ohio", "Appalachian", "Southern White", "old Yankee stock", or whatever. The ancestry field on the longform census questionnaire is a write-in field, with relative little instructions on use given (see question 10 at the bottom of page 4 (http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/pdf/d02p.pdf)), hence how this happens for people who don't have a clearcut country to jot down. Also note that, no matter how many answers you give, the Bureau only processes the first two. *well, maybe some people have taken their cue from the Census Bureau by now. But not anywhere near most of the people who show up as such on the result sheet. Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: Filuwaúrdjan on June 26, 2008, 10:04:50 AM Based on my last name, it's either Irish, English, or Welsh. What is your last name [qm] Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: Person Man on June 26, 2008, 01:39:50 PM I am going to go with the long-settled jingoist explaination. I guess I would be considered "American" though. I have 2 Italian Grandparents, 1 Huganaut Grandparent and 1 Anglo Grandparent.
Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: StateBoiler on June 27, 2008, 08:27:32 AM Based on my last name, it's either Irish, English, or Welsh. What is your last name [qm] Day. In Ireland, the Days are also spelled Dea and O'Dea, and those are pronounced exactly the same. Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: jimrtex on June 27, 2008, 12:17:12 PM You're all dead wrong. Nobody* claims to be of "American Ancestry" on census forms. "American" is just the Census Bureau's catch-all processing category for all the written-in regional terms from within the US, whether it's "Baltimore MD", "Ohio", "Appalachian", "Southern White", "old Yankee stock", or whatever. The ancestry field on the longform census questionnaire is a write-in field, with relative little instructions on use given (see question 10 at the bottom of page 4 (http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/pdf/d02p.pdf)), hence how this happens for people who don't have a clearcut country to jot down. Also note that, no matter how many answers you give, the Bureau only processes the first two. *well, maybe some people have taken their cue from the Census Bureau by now. But not anywhere near most of the people who show up as such on the result sheet. Another 307 thousand claim USA or United States which is collapsed into American. About 60 thousand claim a specific State (other than Hawaii or Texas) and there are about 6500 Southerners, which are collapsed into "American" Incidentally, there are 32 thousand who boast of Texas ancestry. California and New York are next at 8,000 and 4,000 persons who admit such ancestry. There are 3.4 million of White ancestry, 469 thousand of Anglo ancestry, and 12 thousand of Appalachian ancestry. These are not collapsed into American. There are 3 thousand Aryan ancestry (who are collapsed into Other Groups, along with Manx, Cossack, Ossetian, Lapp, Monegasque, Windish, and Inuit, among many others.) Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: jimrtex on June 27, 2008, 12:26:44 PM The top 100 (includes about 62 million double responses)
Not reported 53,673,566 German 42,839,711 Irish 30,524,799 English 24,509,692 African American 22,575,618 American 20,188,305 Italian 15,635,567 Mexican 14,443,629 Polish 8,977,173 French 8,307,566 Scottish 4,890,581 Dutch 4,539,369 Norwegian 4,477,725 Scotch-Irish 4,319,232 Swedish 3,998,303 American Indian 3,611,064 White 3,349,097 Puerto Rican 2,652,598 Russian 2,652,129 Hispanic 2,451,109 French Canadian 2,349,684 Chinese 2,269,312 Indian 2,174,459 Filipino 2,116,478 Spanish 2,074,216 European 1,968,696 Mexicano 1,839,834 Uncodeable entry 1,789,309 Welsh 1,753,794 Black 1,669,124 Mexican American 1,640,692 Asian Indian 1,451,140 Danish 1,430,724 Hungarian 1,397,991 Native American 1,364,337 Korean 1,190,353 African 1,183,316 Portuguese 1,173,691 Greek 1,153,038 Japanese 1,103,241 Cuban 1,097,594 Religious response 1,089,597 British 1,035,133 Vietnamese 1,029,150 Swiss 910,069 Dominican 908,531 Ukrainian 892,774 Czech 832,843 Salvadoran 802,743 Slovak 797,764 Jamaican 736,513 Cherokee 734,748 Austrian 730,336 Lithuanian 659,992 Mixture 648,620 Canadian 638,548 Finnish 623,519 Colombian 583,986 Haitian 548,199 Afro American 502,792 Anglo 469,772 Guatemalan 463,502 Czechoslovakian 441,403 Lebanese 440,279 Bohemian 425,768 Scandinavian 425,099 Armenian 385,488 Croatian 374,241 Romanian 358,905 Belgian 348,278 Iranian 338,266 Hawaiian 331,540 Ecuadorian 322,965 Mexican State 320,254 United States 307,947 Spaniard 295,067 Taiwanese 293,568 Peruvian 292,991 Honduran 266,848 Pennsylvania German 255,807 Eastern European 253,228 Pakistani 253,193 Asian 238,960 Yugoslavian 230,926 Nicaraguan 230,358 Cambodian 197,093 Brazilian 181,076 Laotian 179,832 Latino 175,772 Slovene 174,833 Northern European 163,657 Guyanese 162,456 Nigerian 161,323 Trinidadian 158,993 West Indian 147,222 Thai 145,290 Syrian 142,897 Egyptian 142,832 Hmong 140,528 Serbian 140,337 Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: jimrtex on June 27, 2008, 12:29:32 PM 101 through 200
Western European 125,300 Arabic 120,665 Panamanian 119,415 Turkish 117,575 Slavic 116,415 Albanian 113,661 Spanish American 111,781 Israeli 106,839 Negro 105,624 Herzogovinian 97,621 Venezuelan 94,825 Samoan 92,142 Latvian 87,564 Argentinean 87,550 Sicilian 85,175 Arab 85,157 Chilean 83,206 Australian 78,544 Costa Rican 77,832 Cape Verdean 77,103 Bangladeshi 74,553 Cajun 74,437 Mexican American Indian 73,368 Palestinian 72,096 Ethiopian 68,001 Chicano 65,883 Celtic 65,638 Indonesian 65,089 East Indian 63,924 Bulgarian 55,489 Bolivian 55,437 Barbadian 54,509 Afghan 53,709 Central American 52,114 British Isles 50,078 Ghanian 49,944 Eskimo 46,706 Luxemburger 45,139 South African 44,991 Icelander 42,716 Assyrian 42,502 Guamanian 42,303 Basque 41,811 Latin 40,379 Maltese 40,159 Jordanian 39,734 Chaldean 39,247 Cantonese 39,166 Moroccan 38,923 Iraqi 37,714 Belizean 37,688 Somalian 36,313 Macedonian 35,523 Dutch West Indian 35,359 Malaysian 34,468 Latin American 33,901 Prussian 33,164 Texas 32,765 North American 32,460 Bahamian 31,984 Tongan 31,891 Central American Indian 30,637 Middle Eastern 28,400 South American 27,990 Grenadian 25,924 Belorussian 25,639 Liberian 25,575 Estonian 24,984 Sri Lankan 24,364 Pacific Islander 23,028 Afro 22,834 Creole 19,020 Eritrean 18,917 Hong Kong 18,450 Okinawan 18,030 Kenyan 17,336 New Zealander 16,628 Burmese 16,411 Uruguayan 16,230 Chamorro 15,741 Alsatian 15,601 Antiguan and Barbudan 15,199 South American Indian 14,966 Sudanese 14,458 Polynesian 13,900 Fijian 13,658 Vincent-Grenadine Islander 13,547 Sierra Leonean 12,410 Aleut 12,364 Eurasian 12,320 Flemish 12,111 Bengali 12,063 Appalachian 11,945 Yemeni 11,654 Punjabi 11,566 Acadian 10,977 St. Lucia Islander 10,364 Rom 10,036 Nepali 10,036 Slavonian 9,817 Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: jimrtex on June 27, 2008, 12:31:02 PM 201 through 300
Paraguayan 9,569 Amerasian 9,467 Central European 9,424 Kurdish 9,423 Micronesian 9,314 Basque, Spanish 9,296 U.S. Virgin Islander 9,175 Algerian 8,752 Cameroonian 8,099 California 8,065 Moldavian 7,859 Mongolian 7,483 Saudi Arabian 7,419 Volga German 7,004 Manx 6,955 Western African 6,810 Basque, French 6,686 Southerner 6,510 Kitts/Nevis Islander 6,368 Georgia CIS 6,298 Marshallese 6,259 Singaporean 6,186 Mulatto 6,171 Senegalese 6,124 Dominica Islander 6,071 Bermudan 6,054 Bavarian 5,728 Azerbaijani 5,553 Cornish 5,446 Newfoundlander 5,376 Tibetan 5,147 Uzbeg 4,842 Trinidad and Tobago Islander 4,798 Tirol 4,792 Castillian 4,744 Tunisian 4,735 Carpatho Rusyn 4,714 Ugandan 4,707 Zimbabwean 4,521 Saxon 4,147 New York 4,002 Pennsylvania 3,990 Cypriot, Greek 3,965 Moravian 3,916 Congolese 3,886 Khmer 3,842 Southern European 3,756 Northern Irelander 3,693 German Russian 3,531 Nova Scotian 3,452 Cypriot 3,337 Part Hawaiian 3,318 Aryan 3,308 Azorean 3,229 North African 3,217 St. Croix Islander 3,190 Kuwaiti 3,162 Frisian 3,125 Ivorian 3,110 Florida 3,101 Canarian 3,065 Gambian 3,035 Georgia 3,026 Guinean 3,016 Ruthenian 3,002 Libyan 2,979 Palauan 2,957 Tanzanian 2,921 Windish 2,870 Surinamese 2,833 Tamil Nadu 2,816 Kentucky 2,798 Singhalese 2,666 St. Thomas Islander 2,615 Montserrat Islander 2,583 Balearic Islander 2,554 Montenegran 2,528 Turkestani 2,477 British West Indian 2,411 Gujarati 2,327 Crimean 2,319 Soviet Union, N.E.C.1 2,265 Tahitian 2,248 New Mexico 2,233 Colored 2,218 Cayman Islander 2,148 Eastern African 2,129 Indiana 2,120 Maori 1,994 Aruba Islander 1,970 Virginia 1,920 Mandarin 1,871 Sorbian/Wend 1,858 Corsican 1,840 Malian 1,790 Oklahoma 1,771 North Carolina 1,759 Tennessee 1,742 Catalonian 1,738 Kashmiri 1,720 Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: jimrtex on June 27, 2008, 12:33:42 PM 301 through 398 (groups with 300 or more).
Togolese 1,716 Angolan 1,642 Ibo 1,615 Zairian 1,602 Montagnard 1,599 South Carolina 1,525 Zambian 1,500 Rwandan 1,480 Alaska 1,468 North Caucasian Turkic 1,347 Galician 1,339 Berber 1,327 Rusyn 1,295 Black Thai 1,287 Yoruba 1,284 Ohio 1,266 Mississippi 1,249 Liechtensteiner 1,244 Illinois 1,222 Fulah 1,143 Cayenne 1,128 West Virginia 1,089 Mauritanian 993 Saipanese 989 Tobagonian 987 Guadeloupe Islander 974 Soviet Central Asia 965 Mauritian 963 Lapp 945 French West Indian 941 Goanese 917 Tajik 905 Tejano 895 Alabama 882 Missouri 867 Louisiana 852 Anguilla Islander 832 Michigan 811 British Virgin Islander 785 Kansas 774 Hessian 762 Magyar 733 Suisse 732 Chuukese 714 Arkansas 705 Arizona 681 Carpathian 674 Ponapean 673 Botswanan 662 Switzer 651 New Jersey 639 Malawian 631 Nigerien (Niger) 629 Indo Chinese 622 Syriac 606 Beninese 605 North Caucasian 596 African Islander exc. Madagascar 588 Turks and Caicos Islander 587 Mozambican 583 Pacific, N.E.C1 567 Pathan 567 West German 554 Oregon 544 Inuit 540 San Marino 538 Minnesota 518 Massachusetts 512 Zulu 509 Afrikaner 504 Yapese 491 Monegasque 486 Iowa 473 Nebraska 465 Rome 464 Burundian 462 Emirati 459 Vermont 457 Pomeranian 456 Madagascan 437 Macao 434 Dobrujan 430 Maryland 428 East German 420 Wisconsin 403 Manchurian 379 Cypriot, Turkish 361 St. Maarten Islander 352 Greenlander 352 Omani 351 Colorado 348 Montana 344 Silesian 339 Breton 338 Tokelauan 336 Cossak 325 Namibian 312 Javanese 310 Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: StateBoiler on June 27, 2008, 12:35:47 PM Another 307 thousand claim USA or United States which is collapsed into American. About 60 thousand claim a specific State (other than Hawaii or Texas) and there are about 6500 Southerners, which are collapsed into "American" Incidentally, there are 32 thousand who boast of Texas ancestry. California and New York are next at 8,000 and 4,000 persons who admit such ancestry. Southerner! In 2010, I'm putting in Southerner. :) Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: jimrtex on June 27, 2008, 12:37:01 PM Other groups, with less than 300 reported.
Abruzzi Aden Aland Islander Amalfian Andalusian Andamanese Andhrapradesh Andorran Apulian Assamese Asturian Australian Aborigine Bahraini Baluchistan Bashkir Basilicata Bedouin Berliner Bhutanese Bioko Borneo Bucovina Calabria Californio Canal Zone Carolinian Central African Central African Republic Ceuta Chadian Channel Islander Chuvash Congo Brazzaville Connecticut Cook Islander Cretan Criollo Cycladic Islander Darfur Delaware Dinka District of Columbia Djibouti East Indies Equatorial Guinean Faroe Islander Finno Ugrian Formosan Friulian Gabonese Gagauz Gallego Gaza Strip Gibraltan Gruziia Guinea Bissau Hamburger Hannover Hausa Idaho Issei Kalmyk Kapingamarangan Karelian Karnatakan Kashubian Keralan Kiribatese Kosraean La Raza Ladin Lemko Lesotho Liburian Livonian Lombardian Lorrainian Lubecker Ma Madeiran Madrasi Maharashtran Maine Maldivian Marche Melanesian Islander Meo Molise Mordovian Muscovite Mysore Nagaland Nauraun Neopolitan Nevada New Caledonian Islander New Guinean New Hampshire Nisei Niuean Nonwhite North Borneo North Dakota Nuer Nuevo Mexicano Occitan Ossetian Papuan Piedmontese Puglia Qatar Rajasthani Rhode Island Rio de Oro Romansch Ryukyu Islander Sardinian Shan Sikkim Solomon Islander South Dakota South Yemen St. John Islander Sudentenlander Suisse Romane Sumatran Swaziland Tanganyikan Tasmanian Tinian Islander Toscana Trentino Trieste Tuvinian Umbrian Union of South Africa Upper Voltan Utah Valencian Valle Daosta Vanuatuan Veddah Venetian Voltan Wallachian Walloon Washington Westphalian Wyoming Yakut Zanzibar Islander Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: Јas on June 27, 2008, 12:41:36 PM Based on my last name, it's either Irish, English, or Welsh. What is your last name [qm] Day. In Ireland, the Days are also spelled Dea and O'Dea, and those are pronounced exactly the same. Actually, unless Day isn't pronounced phonetically, then the pronunciations aren't the same. Dea and O'Dea would normally be pronounced 'dee' as in deep (at least in Ireland). Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: jimrtex on June 27, 2008, 12:44:26 PM Southerner! In 2010, I'm putting in Southerner. :) Saudi Arabian 7,419 Volga German 7,004 Manx 6,955 Western African 6,810 Basque, French 6,686 Southerner 6,510 Kitts/Nevis Islander 6,368 Georgia CIS 6,298 Marshallese 6,259 Singaporean 6,186 Mulatto 6,171 BTW, there may not be a long form in 2010. The American Community Survey may replace it (over a 5 year period, the sample for the ACS is comparable to that used for the long form). Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: minionofmidas on June 27, 2008, 02:46:42 PM Actually 20 million do claim to be "American" which is a valid response if it is the only response given. About 60 thousand claim a specific State (other than Hawaii or Texas) Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: bgwah on June 27, 2008, 08:11:26 PM I'm a tenth generation white American. How the hell am I supposed to identify with any particular European ethnicity?
Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: StateBoiler on June 27, 2008, 09:31:05 PM Based on my last name, it's either Irish, English, or Welsh. What is your last name [qm] Day. In Ireland, the Days are also spelled Dea and O'Dea, and those are pronounced exactly the same. Actually, unless Day isn't pronounced phonetically, then the pronunciations aren't the same. Dea and O'Dea would normally be pronounced 'dee' as in deep (at least in Ireland). That's what a person from Ireland told me beforehand. Asking her if there were any Days in Ireland, she said yes, but they were spelled D-e-a. Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: jimrtex on June 28, 2008, 03:09:00 AM Actually 20 million do claim to be "American" which is a valid response if it is the only response given. About 60 thousand claim a specific State (other than Hawaii or Texas) Ancestry (http://www.census.gov/population/www/ancestry.html) This is the main index. There is also some 1980 and 1990 data. 1980 is the first census with an ancestry question. Previous censuses asked the birthplace of the parent. The 1980 census asked for a single response, but suggested hyphenated descriptions such as German-Irish. The 1980 report had some information on triple specifications. It also noted that 6 million persons had reported "American" ancestry, yet it was not included among the most frequent ancestries. From 1980 to 1990, American, Scotch-Irish, French Canadian, Slovak, and White entered the top 25 ancestries, displacing Czech, Portuguese, Swiss, Greek, and Austrian. Four of these are clearly due to changes in coding. From 1980 to 1990 there were 50% dropoffs in "English" in the South, and "American" became a significant group. Similarly, the number of French in Louisiana dropped significantly replaced by Acadian/Cajuns. Presumably the Scotch-Irish in 1980 were counted as Scottish and Irish. First, Second, and Total Responses to the Ancestry Question by Detailed Ancestry Code: 2000 [73k .xls] (http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/ancestry/ancestry_q_by_DAC_2000.xls) Frequently Asked Questions about Ancestry (http://www.census.gov/population/www/anc-faq.html) 2005 PUMS Code Lists: Ancestry Codes (http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Products/PUMS/C2SS/CodeList/2005/Ancestry.htm) I found some earlier coding lists. "Texas" was included under "American" until 2005, so the 32,000 Texas entries would also have been included in "American" as would the 32,000 "North Americans" who like those from Texas are now a separate group. Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: Brittain33 on June 28, 2008, 06:15:24 PM I'm a tenth generation white American. How the hell am I supposed to identify with any particular European ethnicity? It's not my place to say how you should identify yourself, but... is 10th the furthest you go back, or the most recent? If you have 1,024 ancestors at that level, they likely weren't all born in the U.S., and some branches are more recent. As for me, my family left a country known as Russia, from locations that are now in the countries of Belarus and Lithuania, but spoke neither Russian nor Belarussian nor Lithuanian, nor would have been considered any of those nationalities. Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: Torie on June 28, 2008, 06:25:11 PM I'm a tenth generation white American. How the hell am I supposed to identify with any particular European ethnicity? It's not my place to say how you should identify yourself, but... is 10th the furthest you go back, or the most recent? If you have 1,024 ancestors at that level, they likely weren't all born in the U.S., and some branches are more recent. As for me, my family left a country known as Russia, from locations that are now in the countries of Belarus and Lithuania, but spoke neither Russian nor Belarussian nor Lithuanian, nor would have been considered any of those nationalities. Speaking of the hoard of distant relatives one has, this woman got interested in genealogy, and has so far found (http://www.geocities.com/yosemite/trails/7497/surnames.htm) over 3,000 ancestors (conveniently (http://www.geocities.com/yosemite/trails/7497/names2.htm#James) listed and linked) and relations, in over 1100 family groups. Yes, I found it looking up the name of my great grandfather, and voila it popped up. I think I have a roadmap now to find a hoard of distant relations. In fact, I found my first ancestor from off the British Isles, in Germany, born in the 18th century, with the Anglo name of "James" which is odd. I note just now that "Gingrich" is on the list. I wonder if Newt and I are related. :P Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: bgwah on June 28, 2008, 08:43:03 PM I'm a tenth generation white American. How the hell am I supposed to identify with any particular European ethnicity? It's not my place to say how you should identify yourself, but... is 10th the furthest you go back, or the most recent? If you have 1,024 ancestors at that level, they likely weren't all born in the U.S., and some branches are more recent. As for me, my family left a country known as Russia, from locations that are now in the countries of Belarus and Lithuania, but spoke neither Russian nor Belarussian nor Lithuanian, nor would have been considered any of those nationalities. That's going along the paternal line (where I get my last name from). I only have one recent immigrant among my ancestors, my grandmother. And even then she was some British-Irish mix that I'm not sure about. I'm probably mostly German, English, and Irish, but I don't really know. Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: minionofmidas on June 29, 2008, 11:45:33 AM Oh well. I've been pwned on that one.
Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: jimrtex on June 30, 2008, 02:35:44 AM Oh well. I've been pwned on that one. They may have biased their response by their examples. "German" dropped by 26% after being given as an example in 1990, but not 2000. This was similar to "Irish" which dropped by 21%. "Norwegian" increased by 15% after being included in 2000, while "Swedish" dropped by 15% (never used as an example). Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: ilikeverin on June 30, 2008, 04:33:56 PM Based on my last name, it's either Irish, English, or Welsh. What is your last name [qm] Day. In Ireland, the Days are also spelled Dea and O'Dea, and those are pronounced exactly the same. Actually, unless Day isn't pronounced phonetically, then the pronunciations aren't the same. Dea and O'Dea would normally be pronounced 'dee' as in deep (at least in Ireland). That's what a person from Ireland told me beforehand. Asking her if there were any Days in Ireland, she said yes, but they were spelled D-e-a. Actually, d-é-a according to Wikipedia. Or dé or déi. Title: Re: "American" Ancestry Post by: WalterMitty on July 06, 2008, 09:05:03 PM as far as i know...the last ancestor of mine that came over on a boat was in 1820.
as far as my surname goes...my gggg grandfather was born on the boat coming from england in 1754 what the hell am i supposed to indentify myself as? english? scottish? scots-irish? german? or hell maybe even french...since my great grandmother had a french last name? ill choose american...since i have no strong ties or connections to any group. |