# Have you ever been mistaken for another ethnicity or race? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 25, 2018, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-for-another-ethnicity-or-race/818550 "2018-07-25T14:04:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-for-another-ethnicity-or-race/818550/21 "2018-07-25T18:17:42Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I have been asked if I was an albino a few times. Not real sure if that’s an ethnicity. It’s not, and anyone who would just come out and ask you that has more than a few things to learn about tactfulness. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-for-another-ethnicity-or-race/818550/22 "2018-07-25T18:21:27Z")
I’m Jewish, with German Jewish and Russian Jewish ancestry. I’m occasionally asked if I’m Persian (Iranian), mostly by Persian people. I also have freckles and some rapidly fading red tones in my hair. A few times I’ve been asked if I’m Irish. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-for-another-ethnicity-or-race/818550/23 "2018-07-25T18:24:41Z")
According to my daughter she thought I was black when she was young enough to not understand what it meant. To be fair her mother’s family is very diverse and my Italian complexion means I can get as dark as some of her mixed cousins in the summer. We didn’t discuss race so she came to the conclusion on her own. ---
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-for-another-ethnicity-or-race/818550/24 "2018-07-25T18:30:30Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > People occasionally tell me I “look a little bit Asian”. My ancestry is Greek, Northern Italian, Baltic, and Ashkenazi-Jewish. From the Baltic side, I think, comes a little bit of “Sami” (Finnish) genetics which contribute to the look of the eyes. > > [Here’s my picture,](https://s15.postimg.cc/r5qorcfcr/120916.jpg) you can be the judge. > > Anyone who has any Northeastern European ancestry - Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, or **Icelandic** - can carry ancient genes from Siberian peoples. Just google the [Sami phenotype.](https://www.google.com/search?q=sami+phenotype&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwivnOX43rrcAhVPnKwKHdvYBhQQ_AUICigB&biw=989&bih=593&dpr=1.5#imgrc=qGZblfabHNoYsM:) My bold. Iceland? Traditionally, Sami people live in Norway, Sweden, Russia and Finland, not Iceland. It’s possible some Sami emigrated at some point after (mostly) Norwegians populated Iceland, I guess. And Sami is not synonymous with Finnish: it is a distinct ethnicity. I’m part Sami btw, but I don’t know by how much. At least 25%, as my mother is at least 50%. My maternal grandmother is 100% Sami, my maternal grandfather might have had some in him but it’s hard to know. We do know he was part Russian and part Finnish. My paternal grandfather may also have been part Sami, but there’s no way of knowing as all records were lost by scorched earth when the Germans invaded Finnmark. His family did spend time living in a traditional Sami-style turf hut, but that hardly proof of anything. I’m frequently being mistaken for being Irish. It probably has something to do with my big red beard and blond hair. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-for-another-ethnicity-or-race/818550/25 "2018-07-25T18:35:00Z")
I’m not saying it’s synonomous with Finnish. I’m not really exactly sure what it is, to be honest, but it definitely seems to overlap genetically with Iceland, the Arctic in general, various peoples of the far north like the Samoyeds and Lapplanders, it’s all interconnected. I know the cultures are distinct. There are people who look like Bjork in iceland, some of them are fairer haired, some are darker hared. ---
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-for-another-ethnicity-or-race/818550/26 "2018-07-25T18:38:03Z")
> [@Plumpudding](#): > > My bold. Iceland? Traditionally, Sami people live in Norway, Sweden, Russia and Finland, not Iceland. It’s possible some Sami emigrated at some point after (mostly) Norwegians populated Iceland, I guess. And Sami is not synonymous with Finnish: it is a distinct ethnicity. > > snip That should have been lived, not live. Now I suspect most Sami and people of Sami descent live in Oslo. ---
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-for-another-ethnicity-or-race/818550/27 "2018-07-25T18:43:39Z")
Iceland were mostly populated by Norwegians and Danes, Germanic peoples. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-for-another-ethnicity-or-race/818550/28 "2018-07-25T18:56:59Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > It’s not, and anyone who would just come out and ask you that has more than a few things to learn about tactfulness. Rude folks. I am a curiosity around these parts. It’s amazing what peeps will say to me. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-for-another-ethnicity-or-race/818550/29 "2018-07-25T20:26:51Z")
In college I worked in one of the University Libraries and nearly every time a student would walk up to me speaking Spanish because they assumed I was Hispanic. During one of my sifts my coworker and I would bet on an over under as to what time it would happen. It almost always happened sooner or later. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-for-another-ethnicity-or-race/818550/30 "2018-07-25T20:31:02Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > Most Americans do not know what “Italian” looks like. Not all Italians look “dark”, have “olive skin”, or bushy eyebrows or whatever else is popularly associated with Italians. Most Americans don’t know what “Italian” looks like because there isn’t one look. Or two. Or three… ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-for-another-ethnicity-or-race/818550/31 "2018-07-25T21:25:24Z")
I don’t know if it counts, but for some reason European street crap vendors and assholes hawking shit in tourist areas seem to consistently think my wife and I are German or Dutch. God knows why- I’d have thought tall, fat white people in jeans, speaking English and carrying camera bags and stuff screams “AMERICANS!” ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2018, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-for-another-ethnicity-or-race/818550/32 "2018-07-26T00:04:37Z")
Constantly. My mother is of Italian descent, and from her family I get my dark complexion,hair and eyes. My father was of Austrian descent and from his family I get my German-sounding surname. I live in NYC - so of course, I must be Jewish. My half-Chinese, half Italian-Austrian son is usually assumed to be Hispanic. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2018, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-for-another-ethnicity-or-race/818550/33 "2018-07-26T00:09:55Z")
My lineage is dominantly Irish. Think of a stereotypical Irish look. That’s pretty much me. If there were color charts for skin like for paint I suspect I would be labeled Celtic white. I’m extra pasty and freckle more than I tan …much more. I’ve got the light green eyes. As a baby, I even had red highlights in my hair although those disappeared quickly. My last name should bash people who know it over the head with the ethnicity of at least my paternal line. There’s no Mc or O in the common anglicization of my name, though. People, even ones who know my name, are still frequently surprised if I mention being Irish-American. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2018, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-for-another-ethnicity-or-race/818550/34 "2018-07-26T00:16:07Z")
I think red i.e. “ginger” hair and a pale freckled complexion are more typical of Scotland than of Ireland. Somehow this look became associated with Ireland, I am not sure how, but I don’t really think there _is_ an Irish look. I see as many Irish people who look like Colin Farrell and Gabriel Byrne, as those who look like you, but then again I have never actually been to Ireland. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2018, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-for-another-ethnicity-or-race/818550/35 "2018-07-26T00:25:02Z")
Yep. I’ve been mistaken for English, Scot, Irish, Welsh and even Canadian! ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2018, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-for-another-ethnicity-or-race/818550/36 "2018-07-26T00:27:28Z")
I have a good tan, dark hair, and mostly dark eyes (one is half green). When I worked in a Latino neighborhood people would come up to me on the street speaking Spanish. My wife thought I could be Jewish when we met. I’m such a mutt I’m sure I have Jewish ancestors, but you’d have to go back 200 years. When I moved to Brooklyn I had to adjust to people identifying with specific ethnic groups, because I have no identification. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2018, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-for-another-ethnicity-or-race/818550/37 "2018-07-26T00:37:53Z")
I am as blonde as can be with blue eyes. My ancestry is predominately English with a touch of German. I’ve quite a few times been mistaken for being Scandinavian. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2018, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-for-another-ethnicity-or-race/818550/38 "2018-07-26T00:41:39Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Never happened to me, but it happened to my son. He is a blue-eyed blond (I might mention that I have blue eyes and, while my hair was nearly black, my grandfather was a pale blond and there are blonds in my wife’s family). When he was living in Boston, waiting for a bus, a woman came up to him and asked if he was Irish. He said no. She insisted he was Irish. No, he explained. As far as I know all my ancestors are Ashkenazi Jews and probably never set foot in Ireland. She shook her head and said, well you sure look Irish. I’ve met her and dozens of her friends over the years. My dad’s people came from England, Scotland and France. Mom’s from Ireland, Bermuda and the Azores (the latter two branches of the family tree being made up of folks Portuguese and/or black). But apparently I’m being mean to argue with people who are sure I’m 100% Irish because I’m a redhead. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2018, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-for-another-ethnicity-or-race/818550/39 "2018-07-26T00:52:46Z")
Interesting to read all these experiences. I’m trying (and failing) to think of a single time when someone thought I was a different ethnicity, and I’m basically a hundred percent sure that no one has ever thought I was any “race” but white. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2018, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-for-another-ethnicity-or-race/818550/40 "2018-07-26T01:06:50Z")
An African American friend likes to call me ‘Whitey’. She says it’s true because most Caucasians are pinkish-tan but I am printer paper white. She gets a big charge outta doing that. I, in turn make fun of her red hair. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-for-another-ethnicity-or-race/818550.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-for-another-ethnicity-or-race/818550.md?page=3)