German ancestry is #1, English ancestry is #2

[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.

[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.

[Alben Barkley]

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

This is true, but it probably depends on which part of the Midwest you are talking about. Indiana and Missouri, for example, were largely settled by Southern/Appalachian whites, and therefore are likely also more British to this day. The upper Midwest on the other hand is much more German.

[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.

I'd be a little careful with those as actual measures; among other things they measure your DNA and not your heritage, so that means you might randomly end up with more or less DNA from different branches. I have two friends who are brothers, both half-Ecuadorian and half white American, and they ended up with pretty different ancestry DNA test results -- one had much more African and European ancestry and one had much more Native American ancestry.

It may not be exact, but other close family members have taken the test and have similar results when it comes to strong, double digit showings for all of English, Scottish, and Welsh. Seems pretty clear that all three are in both our heritage and DNA to a significant degree. It's the lower percentage stuff like Irish/Scandinavian that fluctuates between and among us.