# Whats your ethnic background? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 21, 2010, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238 "2010-05-21T11:44:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/21 "2010-05-21T13:52:07Z")
Polish, through and through. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/22 "2010-05-21T13:54:30Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > There is talk that there was a British gentleman somewhere in my ancestry but who really knows? Presumably, if he’s in your ancestry, he was no gentleman 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/23 "2010-05-21T13:58:30Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Presumably, if he’s in your ancestry, he was no gentleman 🙂 No doubt. In the words of Russell Peters, Indian-American comic: “The British were here for 300 years. You don’t think they fucked one or two of us?” ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/24 "2010-05-21T13:59:02Z")
Scottish, Scots Irish, Irish, German, French, and American Indian. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/25 "2010-05-21T14:00:09Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > No doubt. In the words of Russell Peters, Indian-American comic: > > “The British were here for 300 years. You don’t think they fucked one or two of us?” Indian- **Canadian** comic. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/26 "2010-05-21T14:02:32Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > No doubt. In the words of Russell Peters, Indian-American comic: > > “The British were here for 300 years. You don’t think they fucked one or two of us?” It goes both ways sometimes - my aforementioned Indian great-Grandfather was a Lascar, a sailor from Bengal (so would be from what is now either India or Bangladesh - no idea which). ‘Lascar’ sounds damn cool, it has to be said. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/27 "2010-05-21T14:10:46Z")
Canadian on both sides. 😃 Going back a bit further, Mom - Dutch Mennonite. Dad - English. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/28 "2010-05-21T14:14:22Z")
White on white, with a white chaser. Maternal - English, Irish, Scottish - been mucking about on these shores for 400 years. Paternal - French, German (depending on who won the last war), Ukrainian - came through Canada in the late 1800s. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/29 "2010-05-21T14:19:02Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Indian- **Canadian** comic. Oops! I knew that; he riffs on being Canadian too. ---
**Author:** ![CateAyo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@CateAyo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CateAyo)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/30 "2010-05-21T14:28:53Z")
On my Mom’s side: Native American, Scot and Welsh On my dad’s side: Native American, Scot and adopted (probably Greek) ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/31 "2010-05-21T14:30:12Z")
Mostly German from my moms side. I have no information from my bio dads. ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/32 "2010-05-21T14:37:10Z")
My mother is Puerto Rican, born in Ponce. Her family has been traced back to Spain. My father is French-Canadian, born and raised in Louisiana. His great grandparents left Quebec for America. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/33 "2010-05-21T14:40:45Z")
Mom’s side - irish on irish. Dad’s side - irish on german. ---
**Author:** ![Pandora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/eada6e/32.png) [@Pandora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pandora)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/34 "2010-05-21T14:50:21Z")
Dad’s side: German (specifically, PA Dutch. Latest to arrive ancestor came in 1778 and was Hessian, other lines trace back well into the 1600’s in PA. However my dad’s family spoke almost exclusively German dialect until the 1940s and are far more german culturally than they are American. According to oral history they believe they originate from the lower Rhine valley) Mom’s side: Most lines have been traced to at least the late 1700’s in the US. Cultures of origin are primarily German, with a a few Scots/English and native Americans mixed in for fun. (Note: my mom is from Maryland, and my father’s Pennsylvania relatives refer to her as if she were from a foregin country) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/35 "2010-05-21T14:55:16Z")
Mother’s side: English, Irish, Scots, Welsh. Since at least one family line came by way of the Norman Invasion, there must be some Frenchmen in the woodpile, and since one line is traceable through British royalty and hence through many of the European royal families, ethnicity becomes essentially meaningless on that side. And one other line possibly comes from Holland. Father’s side: Prussian, with probable roots in the Slavic countries. Genealogy is a sickness. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/36 "2010-05-21T15:02:02Z")
I’m an American who is: First generation English on my father’s side (he became a US citizen after WWII) Second generation Polish on my mother’s side ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/37 "2010-05-21T15:02:36Z")
Well, my parents, grandparents and all my great grandparents were Australian-born. The earlier ones emigrated to Australia almost exclusively from the UK, the one exception being the branch that came from Prussia (I’m 1/16th Prussian). ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/38 "2010-05-21T15:04:34Z")
I’m the whitest person you’ve ever met, assuming you don’t go to a summer camp for albinos. My dad’s classic Scotch-Irish Southerner, my mom third generation Polish immigrant. But I take after Dad. ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/39 "2010-05-21T15:12:58Z")
Mom: descended from Quakers who came from England to the New World with William Penn. After that, our ancestors intermarried with various groups, most of them of English descent, although one person married a Cherokee. My great-grandfather, though, had an Austrian name, so I guess there’s some of that mixed in, too. Dad: His parents came here from England, so probably mostly English and Welsh (since my surname is primarily Welsh) ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/40 "2010-05-21T15:15:03Z")
In descending proportions, I am: English German Irish Dutch French [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238.md?page=3)