Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Supposedly German is the largest ancestry group in the US, but those with some British (English and Scottish) ancestry might be unreported. Most of those who identify as just 'American' likely have British and Irish ancestry. Still, I wonder why the US isn't as dominated by people of British ancestry like Australia, NZ and a lesser extent Canada, since it began as a British colony or colonies. Those 3 nations also received a lot of Irish, especially since Ireland was until British rule until 1916, although the US did too. How come cities like New York, Boston, Philly are more known for Italians, Irish or even Jews than British/English/Scottish Americans? Weirdly, someone with the last name 'Smith' in NYC is most likely black.
Not that Australia didn't receive a ton of other immigrants, but it seems English Americans especially seem either unreported or strangely underrepresented in the States.
In recent years, it is WAY easier for British to emigrate to Australia or Canada. Really easy.
In the historical past, I guess 100 years ago, the U.S. was really thriving, and a lot of people from all around Europe, really wanted to be a part of it. So way more nationalies from Europe had the U.S. way higher on their list than OZ, NZ or Canada....a 100 years ago.
People of English ancestry are heavily under-reported in the USA. Many Americans are of mixed European ancestries but will often report the more exotic ancestry be it German, Irish, Italian etc. rather than English. I imagine many who are predominantly of English/British ancestry would simply state they are American.
They would report the most prominent. Saying Americans choose which is most "exotic" sounds arbitrary and subjective.
I know my family is mostly German and French, following closely Irish and British, somewhat Scandinavian, which is our oldest ancestral link to Europe, then we also have significant Eastern European blood, particularly Polish, and some Ashkenazi Jewish, and then a smaller smattering of southern European ancestries, with the most notable being Italian, estimated at 1%-2%, then Spanish and Portuguese, and Greek and Balkan, both at about less than 1%.
They would report the most prominent. Saying Americans choose which is most "exotic" sounds arbitrary and subjective.
I know my family is mostly German and French, following closely Irish and British, somewhat Scandinavian, which is our oldest ancestral link to Europe, then we also have significant Eastern European blood, particularly Polish, and some Ashkenazi Jewish, and then a smaller smattering of southern European ancestries, with the most notable being Italian, estimated at 1%-2%, then Spanish and Portuguese, and Greek and Balkan, both at about less than 1%.
Americans are very mixed.
Sometimes ancestries are lost. My great grandfather was German. During WW1, Germans in Australia were detained in camps. My grandfather changed his name from Conrad to Cornelius, always claimed that his surname was Welsh and that continued until the day he died. Had some in the family not done a little investigation, this knowledge would have been buried.
They would report the most prominent. Saying Americans choose which is most "exotic" sounds arbitrary and subjective.
.
Arbitrary and subjective perhaps but still not that hard to believe.
If you talk to people this type of thing often comes out.
Irish in particular has been a particularly popular ancestry to lay claim to in recent decades. Not just in the U.S. but in much of the new world. Including where I live.
Maybe being a British American isn't a big deal there? Like you said, English Americans probably would identify themselves as 'American' with no strings attached. So maybe that's why they're left unreported. I mean, the majority of Americans seem to have English, Irish and Scottish surnames. It seems like the 'default' there. I'm pretty sure many Americans with Anglo surnames (Cooper, Williams, Smith, Stevens) would have English ancestry. I think it's when these people realize they have non-English speaking ancestries like Italian, Spanish or German they'd be eager to report it, otherwise they'd just put 'American' in the census data.
Just my thoughts...
Six of the seven key founding fathers of the United States were English and Scottish. So were the vast majority of the 145 total founding fathers. Hence they're just "American" from the United States.
People of English ancestry are heavily under-reported in the USA. Many Americans are of mixed European ancestries but will often report the more exotic ancestry be it German, Irish, Italian etc. rather than English. I imagine many who are predominantly of English/British ancestry would simply state they are American.
This is an utterly stupid way of putting it. They do not report the most "exotic" ancestry, they usually report the most prevalent or recent.
Much English and wider British ancestry, where it exists in the US, is old. Britain ceased being the primary sender of immigrants in the very early 1800s (like, the 1810s), and since then, the country has been swamped by multiple waves of immigration. To most Americans, British ancestry isn't very meaningful, and it isn't even apparent physically, often; many of the 45 million African Americans, for example, have British ancestry. For others, they have a list of ancestries that are far more prevalent and/or recent; German, Italian, Jewish, Irish, French, Polish, Czech, Slovak/Slovene, Greek, Scandinavian, Hungarian, Macedonian, Dutch, Romani, Russian, Native, any number of Latino or Hispanic ethnicities, such as Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Guatemalan, Salvadoran, etc, all of which are countries of massive ethno-racial mixes themselves (Puerto Rican also being subsumed under the American identity) - so the US isn't lily-white British, and less so than Australia, New Zealand, and even Canada are.
It's weird: I had an old high school friend with the last name "Doney", and her family doesn't look Irish at all. All of the kids look straight up Nordic: all of them have white blond hair and blue eyes.
I also know of an old football player friend of mine from high school who had the last name "Biancalana". He's dark haired and tan, and looks really Sicilian/Italian...and apparently has 0.3% British ancestry. That's what I mean. It's just much less visible these days than other ethnicities.
People of English ancestry are heavily under-reported in the USA. Many Americans are of mixed European ancestries but will often report the more exotic ancestry be it German, Irish, Italian etc. rather than English. I imagine many who are predominantly of English/British ancestry would simply state they are American.
'More exotic' ancestry!? How sad that as an Englishman I appear to be the 'least exotic' person in the world! Oh well perhaps next time someone asks me where I'm from I can 'pretend' to be really 'exotic' and tell them I'm Belgian or Mongolian or something!
Until recently, British subjects (citizens) automatically carry the right to vote in Canadian provincial and municipal elections, without needing to have Canadian citizenship.
As recent as 1995, British citizens could vote in provincial elections in New Brunswick. Up until 1985, British citizens could also vote in municipal and school board elections in Ontario.
Even today, some British citizens are entitled to vote in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan provided that they were eligible voters on or before the provincial election of 1971.
I would argue that it wasn't so much that there was less migration from England to the US compared to Australia and New Zealand. Instead, the US later received a greater migration from elsewhere (Germany, Italy, Mexico, etc).
Supposedly German is the largest ancestry group in the US, but those with some British (English and Scottish) ancestry might be unreported. Most of those who identify as just 'American' likely have British and Irish ancestry. Still, I wonder why the US isn't as dominated by people of British ancestry like Australia, NZ and a lesser extent Canada, since it began as a British colony or colonies. Those 3 nations also received a lot of Irish, especially since Ireland was until British rule until 1916, although the US did too. How come cities like New York, Boston, Philly are more known for Italians, Irish or even Jews than British/English/Scottish Americans? Weirdly, someone with the last name 'Smith' in NYC is most likely black.
Not that Australia didn't receive a ton of other immigrants, but it seems English Americans especially seem either unreported or strangely underrepresented in the States.
What? Did people forget that despite the US has no official language, English is the language of most and the language used in the government, in television, the predominant one in print, etc? Sure, in places like much of Florida the architecture has evident Spanish influence and generally Americans keep part of the culture that dominated different places for a long time. Visit parts of the US that belong to Spain for a long time and the general architecture has a very Spanish undercurrent. In Hawaii the Polynesian influence is more apparent in the designs of the homes than the Spanish. However, visit areas traditionally American and British based architecture are a dime a dozen. There's even a region of the US that is named New England. In NYC the most common architecture, which is something proper of NYC, is based on things such as using lots of bricks, something that has been common among the English.
That's only the tip of the iceberg. England is very present in Americans today. Things that are thought to be Americans generally are English and people don't know it or are based on something English and has morphed into something else thanks to subsequent influences from elsewhere. Just look at the typical houses where most Americans live in, they are mostly based on English architecture more often than not, even the new ones.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
