Where Are the English-Americans?

[SpearBrave]

The English settlers didn't just disappear. They intermarried with the Germans after a point. My great-grandparents were ethnic Germans from Romania and they intermarried with colonial mutts by the second generation.

1980 was half a century after the last German immigrants came, and the English still were the most numerous. The only change is that the narrative of the US being a "nation of immigrants" started being pushed more aggressively by then.

Neither, did the Germans, they are just in bigger numbers in certain areas of the country.

I know for a fact that map is false. I live in PA and at least 75% of the people I've interacted with have had English names.

I have lived in the Midwest most of my life until recently, I can tell you most of the people you will interact with will have Germans names especially in Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin and Ohio, Even in cities such as Indianapolis, St. Louis, Chicago and Milwaukee.

[Etain]

Neither, did the Germans, they are just in bigger numbers in certain areas of the country.

I have lived in the Midwest most of my life until recently, I can tell you most of the people you will interact with will have Germans names especially in Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin and Ohio, Even in cities such as Indianapolis, St. Louis, Chicago and Milwaukee.

And I can tell you that most of the people in PA have English surnames.

I don't doubt that they are bigger in certain areas, but I don't buy for a second that they're the largest ethnic group in almost all of the midwest.

Do you have any white American 23andme results that are over 50% German? I know a lot of people on here aren't fans of DNA testing, but I think it's useful for this purpose. Almost every white American result I've seen that wasn't from an ethnic, was 50%+ British & Irish.

[J.Yaxley]

@Etain, the map shows that Anglo surnames dominate the lower Midwest. The only Midwestern states where English names are a minority are in the upper Midwest and Pennsylvania.

Regarding Pennsylvania, I've driven across it twice and have spent time in Philadelphia. Most of the locals that I met in Eastern PA did not look like Anglos. Eastern PA is basically an extension of New Jersey (demographically speaking, no where is quite as bad as Jersey in terms of culture ROFL).

[Etain]

@Etain, the map shows that Anglo surnames dominate the lower Midwest. The only Midwestern states where English names are a minority are in the upper Midwest and Pennsylvania.

Regarding Pennsylvania, I've driven across it twice and have spent time in Philadelphia. Most of the locals that I met in Eastern PA did not look like Anglos. Eastern PA is basically an extension of New Jersey (demographically speaking, no where is quite as bad as Jersey in terms of culture ROFL).

that map was made by a southern nationalist group. I'll go with census data instead.

The Philly area is a lot more diverse and is a horrible example of the state. Most of the whites you'll see in rural areas look like mutts, but if you would test any of them, they'll probably be like 60% British

[SpearBrave]

And I can tell you that most of the people in PA have English surnames.

I don't doubt that they are bigger in certain areas, but I don't buy for a second that they're the largest ethnic group in almost all of the midwest.

I have met more than a few PA Germans, including my ex wife's family. In PA as with most areas the rural areas are dominated by people of German ancestry. It really doesn't matter what you buy or don't buy, there is too much evidence through migration patterns and surnames that says Germans make up the largest single ethnic group.

No, I don't believe sites like 23andMe or Ancestry as the many of the people who take such test are people unsure of their ancestry, others do it because they are into DNA studies.

For your entertainment the TV show South Park made a parody about DNA testing, its very funny.

[Etain]

I have met more than a few PA Germans, including my ex wife's family. In PA as with most areas the rural areas are dominated by people of German ancestry. It really doesn't matter what you buy or don't buy, there is too much evidence through migration patterns and surnames that says Germans make up the largest single ethnic group.

No, I don't believe sites like 23andMe or Ancestry as the many of the people who take such test are people unsure of their ancestry, others do it because they are into DNA studies.

For your entertainment the TV show South Park made a parody about DNA testing, its very funny.

I've lived here all my life , rural areas are especially British. You just don't come across many rednecks named Schmutzer here.
"In the 1980 Census, over 49 million (49,598,035) Americans claimed English ancestry, at the time around 26.34% of the total population and largest reported group which, even today, would make them the largest ethnic group in the United States."
There's over 20 million Americans today that simply identify as "American" as well.Those are almost certainly people of English stock.

[Etain]

Here is some more proof that German ancestry claims are way overblown. Somehow, the northern half of west virginia are claiming German, even though there is not much German ancestry there at all. Also most of the south claims Irish, even though they are realistically like 70% English.
It just shows people will identify with the most "ethnic" part of them, even if it doesnt exist

[SpearBrave]

Here is some more proof that German ancestry claims are way overblown. Somehow, the northern half of west virginia are claiming German, even though there is not much German ancestry there at all. Also most of the south claims Irish, even though they are realistically like 70% English.
It just shows people will identify with the most "ethnic" part of them, even if it doesnt exist

I just came back from MA/ Boston/ New England area the map is very accurate there and I'm currently doing study of the Dutch area of Michigan and that is also very accurate. I know Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin very well and it spot on in those states. I was surprised how many German surnames I noticed in Upstate New York, I would have never guessed that. Also a fair number of Germans settled in Virginia, due to rifle styles and gun makers there during 18Th century.

After 17776 there have been no major waves of English people compared to other European groups. It only makes sense they are pretty much were they first settled.

[Stanley]

After 17776 there have been no major waves of English people compared to other European groups. It only makes sense they are pretty much were they first settled.

You shouldn't underestimate the contribution of the initial colonists to the current ancestral makeup of the country, though. It's not like they settled on the East coast and just stayed there for the last few hundred years. They multiplied, literally, and were a major portion of the people who migrated to the western parts of the country, including those areas most heavily populated by later-arriving immigrants.

You also have to consider that the areas with German predominance on the map are also precisely the areas that are most sparsely populated. I don't doubt that German is the largest ancestry in many of these counties that appear black (although I only really believe it for less than half of what is showing up as such), but the map, and that other often-posted census map, gives a false impression of German dominance, when in reality colonial British, and even English alone, has a substantially greater genetic footprint on this country than any other ethnicity does.

It may be true that there are more Americans with German ancestry than English, given that I would guess the vast majority of those of colonial descent have some amount of German ancestry and those without are much more likely to be German than English, but if you weight it by percentages, I'm certain English would come out as the main ancestry in this country and it wouldn't be that close.

My cousin has a well-researched family tree that he created which includes my colonial 1/4. I spent some time once calculating the proportion of each ethnicity that makes it up. I know this is just a sample size of one, but my colonial ancestors were from a fairly balanced mix of the different parts of colonial America (except not too much south of Virginia), and the number of ancestors one has this far back gets big quickly, so I suspect it's rather representative. Rounding a little a bit, I came up with 60% English, 15% Scottish, 12% Ulster-Scots (what Southrons often call "Irish"), 12% German, 1% Dutch. I think this is what your typical American looks like. Yet they'll somehow list that they're "German, Irish, Scottish," and may even highlight that insignificant Dutch before they'd ever claim English.

[Æmeric]

What these ancestry maps are showing is the largest ancestry not the majority ancestry. And as I have pointed out many times most Americans do not consider English to be an ethnicity. Ethnic is something other then English because of the dominance of English among the White/European portion of the US population.