Anonymous wrote:What about Polish?

Included in the "Figure 1" graphic about 1/3 the way down the page linked in the first post.

Anonymous wrote:46.6 million Americans are of English origin. 45 million of German origin. Irish third at 38.6 million.

https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/10/2020-census-dhc-a-white-population.html#:~:text=Among%20those%20who%20identified%20as,2020%20Census%20race%20question%20design

What about Polish?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many of those Germans came here right after WW2?

Almost none. US immigration was very controlled in the mid to late 20th century. The big waves of immigration were earlier.

Right.

E.g., in Indiana: " In Fort Wayne, skilled German workers were recruited for local industries. By the late nineteenth century, that city’s population was said to be 80 percent German." It varied from rural to city, and by occupation, but the big waves were the 1800s. https://immigrationtounitedstates.org/606-indiana.html

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I’m watching too much outlander but I’m surprised the English aren’t from Scotland considering the issues in England at the time and how against the English the Americans were

Scotland is included in the count. In fact, Scotland immigrants are probably included in both English and Irish numbers---the Scotch-Irish came here in massive numbers in the eighteenth century.

On my mom’s side I have English and Irish ancestry from her dad, some can be traced back to Jamestown (English). On my dad’s side everyone is German or Austrian and emigrated here in the 19th century (1870s-90s) to get out of participating in the many wars that were fought in that part of the world before there were unified countries.
My dad grew up in a plains state small town where everyone spoke only German until the us entered WW1 at which time they cut all ties to Germany and started teaching everyone English. By the time he was born all of the younger generations only spoke English, my dad knew a few words, songs and prayers in German but that was it. The town he grew up in is still probably 95% Germanic and most of the people who live there are somehow related to me (my dad’s dad was one of 14 kids, my dad was one of 6…)

Anonymous wrote:How many of those Germans came here right after WW2?

Almost none. US immigration was very controlled in the mid to late 20th century. The big waves of immigration were earlier.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The surprising number is Italian-Americans — i thought there would be a lot more

It’s only 2x Jewish-American

That doesn’t seem right

You probably grew up in NJ like me. When I moved away I realized that not everywhere had lots of Italian and Jewish people. I thought everyone in U.S. had off from school for major Jewish holidays!

Me, too. I had so many Jewish and Italian neighbors and friends.

On the flipside, I grew up in the Midwest and didn’t meet a Jewish person or anyone who identified as Italian-American until I can back East for college.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many of those Germans came here right after WW2?

All my German ancestors came in the 19th century.

Same.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The surprising number is Italian-Americans — i thought there would be a lot more

It’s only 2x Jewish-American

That doesn’t seem right

I think there were a lot more but they intermarried a lot so the ethnicity got "diluted" out. I personally am 25% Italian so I wouldn't feel valid calling myself Italian-American.

There are folks with much less Italian ancestry than that proudly proclaiming themselves Italian-American.

There’s a lot of intermarriage for the English and Irish as well. I compared 23andme results with a coworker. I’m much more Irish than he is, but as a white guy with an Irish last name, no one questions his self-identification as Irish-American.

Ethnicity for whites in the US is really about finding a comfortable spot between acceptable (still white) and interesting. DH is from rural Louisiana. Many people, both white and AA, have documented French ancestry. A whole generation of white children had French beaten out of them in public schools and their grandchildren are only now getting over the shame.

Anonymous wrote:The South = mostly English

Pennsylvania and the Midwest = mostly German

The south has a lot of Scots and Irish

Maybe I’m watching too much outlander but I’m surprised the English aren’t from Scotland considering the issues in England at the time and how against the English the Americans were

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The surprising number is Italian-Americans — i thought there would be a lot more

It’s only 2x Jewish-American

That doesn’t seem right

You probably grew up in NJ like me. When I moved away I realized that not everywhere had lots of Italian and Jewish people. I thought everyone in U.S. had off from school for major Jewish holidays!

Me, too. I had so many Jewish and Italian neighbors and friends.

Anonymous wrote:uh.. yea. I mean, just look at US history.

Lol I came here to post this in response to title.
Seriously is this an actual surprise to anyone? Is it really true that people don’t know anything about US history?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The surprising number is Italian-Americans — i thought there would be a lot more

It’s only 2x Jewish-American

That doesn’t seem right

You probably grew up in NJ like me. When I moved away I realized that not everywhere had lots of Italian and Jewish people. I thought everyone in U.S. had off from school for major Jewish holidays!

NY-er here. I thought the same thing! It was quite shocking to find out that’s not the case. The fall Jewish holidays were the best. No school, but we didn’t have to go to church or do anything else. It was just a free day to hang out and watch tv!

Anonymous wrote:The english count is vastly underestimated due to how long people have been here

English has regained the lead. There used to be an "American" option which a lot of Southerners wrote in. So we were falsely led to believe that there was more German than English. But once that option was removed these respondents moved over to English.