German ancestry is #1, English ancestry is #2

[King of Kensington]

Although English ancestry topped the list when the ancestry question was first asked, German has topped the list since.  The number reporting English ancestry was halved by 2000 (falling from 50 million to 24.5 million) Looks like there's been a reversal in the decline of English ancestry and now edges out (or basically on par with) Irish ancestry.

2021 ACS (1-year estimates)

German  42,220,180  12.7%
English  31,825,171  9.6%
Irish  31,495,897  9.5%

It's most likely English is tops when one counts all those "American" ancestry responses (a majority of whom are of British Isles ancestry).

[Bismarck]

I wonder what’s driving the recent uptick in English identification? More people taking DNA tests and realizing they’re not Irish? Less people identifying as American? I answer English on the census and I know most people from my hometown have English ancestry but the ACS shows self English ID at less than 15%.

[Del Tachi]

I wonder what’s driving the recent uptick in English identification? More people taking DNA tests and realizing they’re not Irish? Less people identifying as American? I answer English on the census and I know most people from my hometown have English ancestry but the ACS shows self English ID at less than 15%.

English ancestry is so ubiquitous among White Americans that no one considers it very notable, so you're liklier to have White people know about/identity with their more "exotic" Irish or German heritage.  Whites who literally don't care just put "American."  

I believe Utah is the most "English" state in America, although that is almost certainly a function of Mormons' interest in genealogy and family history.  I would not expect Mormon ancestry to differ that much from White Americans, so they may be a good group to look at.  

[Sir Mohamed]

I thought that was the case for most of time throughout US history?

[Bismarck]

I wonder what’s driving the recent uptick in English identification? More people taking DNA tests and realizing they’re not Irish? Less people identifying as American? I answer English on the census and I know most people from my hometown have English ancestry but the ACS shows self English ID at less than 15%.

English ancestry is so ubiquitous among White Americans that no one considers it very notable, so you're liklier to have White people know about/identity with their more "exotic" Irish or German heritage.  Whites who literally don't care just put "American."  

I believe Utah is the most "English" state in America, although that is almost certainly a function of Mormons' interest in genealogy and family history.  I would not expect Mormon ancestry to differ that much from White Americans, so they may be a good group to look at.  

Yes I know that. In this new data though English identification has actually increased though.

[King of Kensington]

From the 2000 census:

German  42.8 million
Irish  30.5 million
English  24.5 million

German and Irish basically the same, English ancestry up.

[Del Tachi]

It's kind of ironic that the vast majority of Americans with German ancestry vote Republican while that party wouldn't get 20% of the vote here. The Republican Party is pretty much seen as a joke here, even among a lot of conservatives.

That's not "ironic" unless you think politics is somehow hereditary LOL

[King of Kensington]

English ancestry

Alabama  613,556  12.2%
Arizona  724,763  10%
Arkansas  356,361  11.8%
California  2,523,128  6.4%
Colorado  729,850  12.6%
Connecticut  330,489  9.2%
Delaware  99,499  9.9%
Florida  1,823,374  8.4%
Georgia  1,161,528  10.8%
Idaho  370,596  19.5%
Illinois  882,448  7%
Indiana  787,185  11.6%
Iowa  330,528  10.4%
Kansas  382,918  13%
Kentucky  681,168  15.1%
Louisiana  338,376  7.4%
Maine  313,944  22.9%
Maryland  536,568  8.7%
Massachusetts  682,203  9.8%
Michigan  1,077,828  10.7%
Minnesota  384,865  6.7%
Missouri  736,445  11.9%
Montana  143,162  13%
Nebraska  183,874  9.4%
Nevada  273,613  9.3%
New Hampshire  246,307  17.7%
New Jersey  452,137  4.9%
New Mexico  175,635  8.3%
New York  1,127,170  5.7%
North Carolina  1,369,470  13%
Ohio  1,324,874  11.2%
Oklahoma  454,596  11.4%
Oregon  619,918  14.6%
Pennsylvania  1,071,276  8.3%
Rhode Island  117,615  10.8%
South Carolina  641,310  12.4%
Tennessee  940,489  13.5%
Texas  2,309,873  7.8%
Utah  965,421  28.9%
Virginia  1,035,264  12%
Washington  969,180  12.5%
Wisconsin  396,490  6.7%

American ancestry

Alabama  646,627  12.8%
Arizona  279,718  3.8%
Arkansas  232,059  7.7%
California  1,074,862  2.8%
Colorado  199,105  3.4%
Connecticut  129,238  3.6%
Delaware  48,242  4.8%
Florida  1,799,505  8.3%
Georgia  785,566  7.3%
Idaho  107,829  5.7%
Illinois  410,552  3.2%
Indiana  456,786  6.7%
Iowa  139,437  4.4%
Kansas  178,975  6.1%
Kentucky  513,872  11.4%
Louisiana  306,914  6.6%
Maine  77,060  5.6%
Maryland  245,255  4%
Massachusetts  250,540  3.6%
Michigan  405,977  4%
Minnesota  183,524  3.2%
Missouri  388,411  6.2%
Montana  59,617  5.4%
Nebraska  71,724  3.6%
Nevada  96,504  3.1%
New Hampshire  61,404  4.4%
New Jersey  334,739  3.6%
New Mexico  78,749  3.7%
New York  815,512  4.1%
North Carolina  899,504  8.5%
Ohio  645,601  5.5%
Oklahoma  237,440  6%
Oregon  182,600  4.3%
Pennsylvania  573,997  4.4%
Rhode Island  46,810  4.3%
South Carolina  446,888  8.6%
Tennessee  817,015  11.7%
Texas  1,354,526  4.6%
Utah  133,801  4%
Virginia  778,101  9%
Washington  270,721  3.5%
Wisconsin  187,551  3.2%

[King of Kensington]

^ Increase in English ancestry responses corresponds with decline in "American" responses (data not available for all states).

[Suburbia]

Did any German Americans own any slaves from the 1600s to 1865? Were German Americans involved in the Civil War?

[TDAS04]

It's kind of ironic that the vast majority of Americans with German ancestry vote Republican while that party wouldn't get 20% of the vote here. The Republican Party is pretty much seen as a joke here, even among a lot of conservatives.

It’s even more extreme with Dutch-Americans.

[King of Kensington]

German ancestry

Alabama  335,647  6.7%
Arizona  916,084  12.6%
Arkansas  292,213  9.7%
California  2,794,110  7.1%
Colorado  1,024,780  20.4%
Connecticut  293,430  8.1%
Delaware  128,684  12.8%
Florida  1,951,581  9%
Georgia  703,816  6.5%
Idaho  310,222  16.3%
Illinois  2,112,629  16.7%
Indiana  1,369,189  20.1%
Iowa  999,949  31.3%
Kansas  683,530  23.3%
Kentucky  615,140  13.6%
Louisiana  329,328  7.1%
Maine  106,464  7.8%
Maryland  720,846  11.7%
Massachusetts  379,343  5.4%
Michigan  1,780,230  17.7%
Minnesota  1,684,951  29.5%
Missouri  1,350,440  21.9%
Montana  256,210  23.2%
Nebraska  623,462  31.7%
Nevada  293,465  9.2%
New Hampshire  110,506  8%
New Jersey  818,757  8.8%
New Mexico  192,615  9.1%
New York  1,735,084  8.7%
North Carolina  1,024,469  9.7%
Ohio  2,647,117  22.5%
Oklahoma  488,694  12.3%
Oregon  705,380  16.6%
Pennsylvania  2,824,532  21.8%
Rhode Island  49,586  4.5%
South Carolina  494,209  9.5%
Tennessee  677,696  9.7%
Texas  2,436,718  8.3%
Utah  342,087  10.2%
Virginia   903,339  10.5%
Washington  1,148,464  14.8%
Wisconsin  2,128,574  36.1%

[Bismarck]

Did any German Americans own any slaves from the 1600s to 1865? Were German Americans involved in the Civil War?

Of course some German Americans owned slaves but the majority of Germans were in the north and fought for the union. Actually a decent proportion of the Union army were German immigrants.

[gerritcole]

It's kind of ironic that the vast majority of Americans with German ancestry vote Republican while that party wouldn't get 20% of the vote here. The Republican Party is pretty much seen as a joke here, even among a lot of conservatives.

No German Americans voted for the nsdap while Germany did in 1933! See how stupid your comparison is

[King of Kensington]

The Midwest and Pennsylvania is clearly the German American heartland, while most southern whites are of British ancestry.

[Suburbia]

The Midwest and Pennsylvania is clearly the German American heartland, while most southern whites are of British ancestry.

Aha, Southern British American slavers........with a new accent than back home, in England/Scotland...

[ottermax]

Was there a geographic pattern in the increase in English ancestry identification?

[King of Kensington]

Yes, the increases were in the South, while elsewhere more or less the same.  American responses declined.

2021 ACS:

Alabama  12.2%
Arkansas  11.8%
Kentucky  15.1%
North Carolina  13%
South Carolina  12.4%
Tennessee  13.5%

2000 Census:

Alabama  7.8%
Arkansas  7.9%
Kentucky  9.7%
North Carolina  9.2%
South Carolina  8.2%
Tennessee  9.1%

[King of Kensington]

In the 2000 United States Census, 6.9% of the American population chose to self-identify itself as having "American ancestry.  The four states in which a plurality of the population reported American ancestry were Arkansas (15.7%), Kentucky (20.7%), Tennessee (17.3%), and West Virginia (18.7%). Sizable percentages of the populations of Alabama (16.8%), Mississippi (14.0%), North Carolina (13.7%), South Carolina (13.7%), Georgia (13.3%), and Indiana (11.8%) also reported American ancestry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_ancestry

[Alben Barkley]

English ancestry is the actual most common ancestry among white Americans, it’s just obscured by those saying they are of “American” ancestry and those who focus on other parts of their ancestry because it stands out more to them. Probably something to DNA tests making more Americans aware of just how English they are in recent years.

[Torie]

My theory is that one is far more likely for people to tag their English ancestry if it was via New England as opposed to the South. I assume my Virginia branch from which I get my mostly English surname were from England, but there is no record of when and from where they arrived in America because they were very low SES. They just surface in the records around 1750. The rest of the clan lines, some high SES, are through New England, and very well documented, and thanks to the Mormons, go back as far as about 1250 AD. With that kind of documentation, you find you can document your relationship with millions or people.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

My theory is that one is far more likely for people to tag their English ancestry if it was via New England as opposed to the South.

Stated 'English' ancestry in the US census has for a long time mostly indicated known ancestry from New England, which is why the patterns are interesting even if they don't show what they purport to.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Anyway, nearly every White American* has at least some English ancestry: the exceptions would be from certain groups that retained the status of ethnic groups for longer and have not assimilated in full or were very late to do so. Substantial proportions in the Appalachians and wherever there was significant Appalachian diaspora later will also have Welsh ancestry: now there's your ultimate forgotten ancestral grouping, later migration to Scranton, PA and some Mormons notwithstanding.

_{*And, if we're being honest, most Black Americans, though rather more distantly. It is the way it is.}

[King of Kensington]

Regional distribution:


English ancestry

Northeast  4,470,376
Midwest  6,597,026
South  13,017,354
West  7,740,315

American ancestry

Northeast  2,327,089
Midwest  3,143,033
South  9,604,178
West  2,551,657

German ancestry

Northeast  6,383,529
Midwest  15,961,078
South  11,578,159
West  8,297,414

Irish ancestry

Northeast  7,651,157
Midwest  7,535,454
South  10,354,771
West  5,954,515

Italian ancestry

Northeast  6,513,333
Midwest  2,665,795
South  4,011,238
West  2,756,772

[Alben Barkley]

Substantial proportions in the Appalachians and wherever there was significant Appalachian diaspora later will also have Welsh ancestry: now there's your ultimate forgotten ancestral grouping, later migration to Scranton, PA and some Mormons notwithstanding.

I have significant Welsh ancestry. In fact I'm almost 100% British according to my test results, mix of English, Scottish, and Welsh. (They have updated the results a few times to show Irish or various Scandinavian is also mixed in there a tiny amount, I'm guessing because Vikings in the latter case, but the other three are much larger and constant in every update.) But I didn't even know about the Welsh part prior to taking the DNA test.