My mother is of Portuguese, Cape Verdean (which breaks down into more Portuguese and some West African), and Polish ancestry. Culturally however she is very similar to other Portuguese Americans and much of the food she cooks, music she listens to, etc is of Portuguese origin or from the colonies and she identifies herself as a Portuguese American. Thus, this is how I identify her, even though I am aware of and embrace all of her ancestry.
My father is of Sicilian ancestry which, like another user mentioned, breaks down into many other things - in my case I often feel a connection to Greeks, North Africans, Levantines (Syrians, Lebanese and the like) and to all other Italians by virtue of cultural influences left of the island by these people. I know, via DNA testing, that I do have ancestry similar to that found in the Aegean region of Europe (Greece, western Turkey) combined with that I look pretty Greek.
Mother: Dutch
Father: Australian with Scottish ancestors arriving in Australia in the 1850’s
I consider myself Australian with no particular links to either. I would like to travel to each country for a look around but I don’t think that would change my outlook much
American. The family surname came into this country with the North Carolina colony in the late 1600s. From there it goes back to England, but I don’t identify as English and the records of the nationalities of the other branches of the family are not well known.
Irish - My mom’s family are all McGees and McBrides and…something beginning with a ‘K’ that isn’t on any list of Irish last names I’ve run across. What with all the ‘macs’ in there, I suspect we’re bastard Scots anyway.
German** and Slovenian*** on my dad’s side.
I like Irish everything, but I also like Scots everything, so…not that meaningful. My mom’s a redhead naturally, but I’m only one artificially, so…Also, due to what I assume is the Slavic blood, I really don’t burn, and tan pretty easily. Freckles, yes, but very countable. (Still fun counting!!)
For the German and Slavic side…I used to imagine I was romany, and I would not be surprised to find that in there somewhere, but otherwise no real connection to the old countries at all.
*My mom, though supposedly 100 percent Irish, tans brown as a Navajo when she uses vinegar and oil; she’s voiced the suspicion that there was indeed an indian ii the woodpile somewhere.
** Actually we’re Austrian, apparantly, and Germany just took credit. Or some such WW geography fiddle-faddle. Easier to say Germany.
*** I honestly don’t KNOW what part of Yugoslavia we were from, due to the wars and changes and schisms. I know I asked once whether we were Serb or Croatian, and my great-grandmother started cursing up a shitstorm, so…it was one of them, just don’t know which!
Not where I come from: on my mother’s side, I can only climb the tree with full knowledge of first and lastnames up to my great-great-grandparents, but I’ve told before the story of when my 11th grade history teacher made the mistake of asking us to bring our family trees “as far as we could draw them”. We were all discreet (or lazy, depends on your PoV) and stopped in 1700… to go further, we would have needed to open the “blood tests” ordered by Phillip V, which in turn needed to go back to at least the early 1400s, that having been the last time the Parliaments of Navarra and of the Vascongadas had met.
The “blood tests” were Phillip’s attempt to narrow the pool of “people from Navarre and the Vascongadas who are legally permitted to talk to the king/attend Parliament” to something more resembling the French court he came from. He made people prove they were descended from people who’d attended Parliaments in all 4 sides; when that didn’t narrow the pool he tried again with a higher number; when that still didn’t work, he gave up. Any family that went through that shit keeps the original documents in a safe, copies under the care of several relatives, and has someone in charge of tracking births and deaths “in case someone decides to ask for something like that again”.
Aside from woodpile happenings, the father’s side of my family tree reaches to the 10th century.
It sure is! I’m Austrian and Sicilian, and my kids have Chinese added in. My daughter just about loses her mind when she mentions the Austrian part and hears " Oh, I just love koalas"
I identify with the Sicilian part, mostly because I spent more time with that side of the family growing up. Talk about stereotypical- I saw Sicilian relatives who lived three states away more often than the Austrian ones who lived two miles away.
**1) How many ancestral ethnicities do you have?
**That I know of:
Dutch & English on my Mom’s side; English, Indian, Khoi-khoi, Malay on my Father’s.
Likely French, Danish and Swedish on my Mom’s side and Chinese, Black African on my Dad’s (via St Helena) in there too.
But directly, all of my Dad’s side are rolled into the independent ethnicity called “Coloured”. 2) How many of those, if any, do you have a cultural or emotional connection to? In what ways?
Of the “ancestral” ethnicities, the only ones I have any emotional connection to are the English and Khoi - I am an Anglophile and remain fascinated by Khoi culture - but I identify as Coloured and that’s the only ethnicity I consider myself to “be”.
Can’t really do percentages, as the lines blur when you consider ancestry (like, were my Dutch ancestors descended from Germans? Who knows…)
Anyway, I’m predominantly of German heritage, with a good portion of my Maternal line coming from there. My maternal grandfather’s name I can trace back to the late 1600s in Germany, and my great great grandfather was the first to come to the US from Germany. My great grandmother on that side was Dutch, though. My maternal grandmother’s family is essetially all German. We’ve got a little bit of Irish and French sprinkled in there at times, but it’s pretty direct on that side.
On my dad’s side, we’ve got a good bit of Scottish and English on my paternal grandfather’s side (my last name is an English name), but predominantly German and Dutch from my paternal grandmother. She was born in Ontario, though, so I guess you could say I’m 1/4 Canadian.
Of the mix, I pretty much consider myself German and English, but a bit more lopsided on the former. I identify with the German side much more, as I speak the language and lived in Germany for over 3 years.
My mom’s side is Norwegian.
My dad’s side is Irish and Welsh.
2) How many of those, if any, do you have a cultural or emotional connection to? In what ways?
Growing up in rural, north-central Minnesota, pretty much everyone was of Swedish, Norwegian, or Finnish descent. Probably half of my graduating class was named Anderson, Halvorson, Swenson, Olson, Jenson, Olafson, etc. There were annual Midsommarfest parades, tons of Lutheran churches, and other Scandanavian things around. Lefse was a very common food in my house. So, I guess I have an emotional connection with my Norwegian heritage because it reminds me of home.
Since my last name is Welsh, I have a bit of a sweet spot for Wales.
I consider myself American. My family tree goes back more than 5 generations in America with the exception of my maternal great-grandparents who emigrated from Germany in early 1900s.
1) How many ancestral ethnicities do you have? 4 for sure, 2 iffy
Definitely - English, German, Irish, Native American (only based on one picture and my brother has shovel teeth)
Maybe - Welsh, French. At least my dad claims it’s true.
German is largest “known” ratio at 1/4, but I’m pretty sure I have more English than German.
2) How many of those, if any, do you have a cultural or emotional connection to? In what ways?
German - I’ve met one of my third cousins from Germany. Even though my grandma was born in America in 1913, her parents kept in touch with family back home. We also have a cookbook with German recipes from the early 1900s.
I don’t think this is what the OP was going for, but I was born and raised in America, so I can claim American ethnicity if there’s such a thing.
Ancestrally, I commonly refer to my mother’s ethnicity as Irish and my father’s ethnicity as French. But, of course, it’s more complicated than that.
My mother’s mother was pure Irish in descent (as far as I know). But my mother’s father was Irish and English in descent. And my grandfather also claimed he was part American Indian (considering the area, probably some branch of Iroquois). But I’ve always taken that with a grain of salt because it’s the kind of thing grandfather usually tell their young grandchildren.
My father’s family is “French” but not directly from France itself. They emigrated to Quebec a long time ago (17th century) so I suppose Canadien or Quebecois is more accurate than French. But if you tell people you’re “kay-bay-kwa” they usually have no idea what you’re talking about.
I’m 100% an American. The closest ancestry I have that was born out of the USA is at least three generations back, in all family lines. I don’t identify with any other nationality, although I do sometimes say I have the body of a Central European genetic makeup. On my father’s side the family, while in Europe, would sometimes have been French, sometimes German, depending on who won the war that century.
My maternal grandmother’s family was in France and, being Protestant, fled after the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre, to live for a generation or so in what would become Northern Ireland. They emigrated to the colonies in 1722, and sons fought for the Americans during the Revolutionary war.
In spite of the knowledge of where my family came from outside of the USA, I don’t identify at all with anything else other than this country.
Dad’s family is Ukrainian and came here just before WWI. Mom’s family is German, came here when all this was still The Colonies, and self-identifies as Pennsylvania Dutch. I was always closer to the Ukrainian side of the family and married a Ukrainian national, but still think of myself mainly as a Western Pennsylvanian hoopie.
