I have never heard an American describe themselves as of English ethnicity, although, presumably, there are Americans who are mostly descended from English forebears. I assume this is because of the image of the English (nasty colonials/no particular associations/recognisable habit/unfashionable/take your pick) but don’t really know. What’s the reason?
Hoo boy…let’s see.
On mother’s side: Yugoslav. Well, that’s what it USED to be. I think they were from Croatia. My great-grandfather actually looks like Milosevich.
On father’s side: Slovak. (And crazy, but that’s a whole 'nother discussion…)
“Men are from Earth, women are from Earth. Deal with it.” - George Carlin
Hell, read the posts, android. There’s bunches of us who claim English as part of our ethnic heritage.
Nationality: Canadian.
Ethnic Background: English. Not merely English-speaking; all four of my grandparents came from England.
Actually, I guess that is rather unusual, especially in Toronto these days. Maybe that’s why I was always attracted to just about anyone else–my genes are trying to crossbreed and inject cultural diversity and vigour into my bloodline… 
Nationality: Canadian.
Ethnic Background: English. Not merely English-speaking; all four of my grandparents came from England.
Actually, I guess that is rather unusual, especially in Toronto these days. Maybe that’s why I was always attracted to just about anyone from another ethnic background–my genes are trying to crossbreed and inject cultural diversity and vigour into my bloodline…
I never really understood people who placed such great value on ancestry. Didn’t people leave Europe to escape that sort of thing. That said, I’ll now disclose that my ancestors were Spanish, Scottish, Dutch, Danish, and English. So what the hell am I supposed to call myself? American, but the PC/everyone-should-have-an-ethnic-group-they-can-call-their-own crowd doesn’t appreciate that too much. They like labels.
It’s a long way to heaven, but only three short steps to hell.
Yankee Blue
I was referring to the labels people use.
I’ve heard Americans call themselves many things eg Irish (sounded American to me though), except never English.
I have a passing interest in History, and would like to try to figure out how my family and ancestors fit into it. I’m just getting into genealogy, but unfortunately I don’t have the time or money to travel and really dig into it.
Having said that, here’s what I do know: I’m an American mutt.
From my mother’s side, there’s some German and Cherokee that I’m pretty sure of. Names include Zimmerman, Mullins, Flowers, and West.
From my father’s side, there’s some English, Norwegian, maybe some Swede, possibly some French, perhaps some Pennsylvania Dutch, supposedly some Chautauqua Indian, and the faintest guesses of Welsh. Names include Barber, Hodgdon, Lockwood, Childe/Child/Childs, Hoskins/Haskins, Durrin, Johnson, Hopkins, Millard, and King. Unfortunately, most of my sources were guessing themselves when they tried to document the family history.
Hey, if any of these names and nationalities jibe with yours, check out my homepage! I’m always looking for family
“I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy
As for dominant nationalities, in case the first post wasn’t clear, I guess I tell most people who ask that I’m mostly English and German because they’re the only ones I’m real sure of (though I am pretty sure of the Norwegian, but in my mind it’s not dominant–I think most of my family forgets it’s in there).
“I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy
My father’s side is half English/one-fourth Dutch and one-fourth German.
My mother’s side is a complete unknown.
Supposedly one of my cousins went tracking backwards and found that one of our ancestors on that side was a freed slave.
I wish that I could verify this (she’s not very credible). If so, I could then start wearing dashikis and those little multi-colored round hats to proclaim my African heritage. 
I have a good memory, GripGirl. >g< And you’re absolutely right that being Jewish doesn’t really say much about where you’re family’s from - when I was in Israel, I knew Jews from all over the world, who looked like they were from all over the world. I had friends whose families were originally from Algeria, Morocco, Ethiopia, Kurdistan, Brazil, Mexico, India, etc., etc. However, when I say that my family is Ashkenazi (from a messed up ancient Hebrew word meaning Germany), that has a specific meaning and states that we are from a certain place: Eastern Europe. There are other terms, like Sephardim (Hebrew for Spaniards) are from descendents of people whose families were expelled from Spain in the Inquisition, most of whom ended up in Morocco, and also usually counts Middle Eastern Jews, like the Syrians and Iraqis, although the new PC term for this group is Mizrachi (Hebrew for Easterner). And, of course there are groups that don’t really belong in any of these categories, like the Ethiopians.
I could go on, but I’ll shut up now.
~Kyla
“You couldn’t fool your mother on the foolingest day of your life if you had an electrified fooling machine.”
Me, I’m half English (Dad) and half German (Mom), with a scattering of Scots and Irish. If asked, I usually say English and German, unless I happen to be feeling particularly arrogant, in which case I say “British”, or if I happen to be feeling superlatively arrogant mixed with a “how’d you like to be smashed into a grease spot today”-type attitude, I say German.
“Are thumbs fingers?”
—Jurgen Prochnow, “The English Patient.”
Don’t know the percentages, but my ancestors come from Prince Edward Island; one of them came over in 1630, but another was an Arab rug-merchant from Syria (more than 200 years later of course!)
I have never heard an American describe themselves as of English ethnicity
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Well, duh Android, English is an ethnicity (or maybe Anglo-Saxon is better? :).Actually, I know MANY people who would say they have English as an ethnicity.
I am supposedly 100% Korean. But 90% of people mistake me for Chinese (even other Koreans), and 10% think I’m Mexican, Filipino, or even half Caucasian.
My paternal grandmother is unknown. I hope to someday find my ancestry. I often wonder…
There’s always another beer.
I am an American of 100% Irish stock. My ex-girlfriend was (and heck, probably still is) gorgeous and 1/2 Polish, 1/4 Chinese and 1/4 Hawaiian. I shouldn’t have let her get away, but that’s another story.
Pour me some of that Bushmill’s now.
I’m something like 3/4 English (I occasionally pretend that it’s all/mostly “real” Briton, rather than Angle/Saxon/Jute/etc., but “English” is a pretty muttish heritage to begin with, so I’m sure that’s wrong). The rest is German, with probably a smatter of other stuff farther back than I ever looked.
When I was a kid (say, 4th grade or so), we had to do a big project and trace back our ancestors (I think to great-grandparents) and do presentations on the countries they came from. (It was part of a whole “isn’t it great we’re all immigrants” portion of the curriculum.) So I was all pissed off when it turned out that only one of my great-grandparents was born anywhere other than upstate NY, and he seemed to have just jumped on a ship from England for the hell of it. (A major subtext of this program was to show us impressionable young sprouts how our ancestors braved hardship and loss, leaving behind their hideous, nasty old world countries to come to the One True Land.) So my presentation was, shall we say, less exciting than most of the others.
Anyway, the answer is that I’m one of those WASPs you keep hearing about. If you’re nice to me, I’ll show you the “secret masters of the world” handshake.
(My wife, on the other hand, has a far more interesting mix of nationalities, so our son will have more fun answering questions like this than I do.)
…but when you get blue, and you’ve lost all your dreams, there’s nothing like a campfire and a can of beans!
My heritage is largely Scottish, though I had one Spanish great-grandmother and some of the Scottish was Irish a few generations earlier. I would consider myself Scottish-American, though I agree it doesn’t really matter much. I think the only reason I care is because I get tired of people assuming I’m French-American because of my surname (a Scottish name that looks French).
Also, the Scots-Spanish mix has given many in my family rather unusual coloring (red hair and pale skin, but dark brown eyes and eyebrows), so I do get asked often what my ethnic background is.
My dad was 100% ethnic German (but multiple generation U.S.).
My mom was 1,000% ethnic Irish (and also multiple generation U.S.).
Going back to the OP, I rarely identify myself as either German or Irish, nearly always identifying myself as GermanandIrish (sometimes as a mickraut). (Of course, having only two ethnic strains is easier to spit out than a Heinz57 roll-call.)
Tom~
Like funneefarmer, I am primarily Welsh (the name I go buy is a family name, Ellis and my last name Williams also is originally Welsh), then have a lot of English blood, then some German. There are other things thrown around but those are the primary ones. My great-grandparents supposedly still spoke a smattering of Welsh but not enough to pass it on to the children. I am the first to start relearning the language. Dw i’n dysgu Cymraeg ond dydw i ddim siarad wel, nawr.
HUGS!
Sqrl
Gasoline: As an accompaniement to cereal it made a refreshing change. Glen Baxter