# 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:** 15\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Wolverine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wolverine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/121 "2010-05-25T16:45:58Z")
We only know my mom’s maternal grandparents for sure, because they came from Germany in 1903. I’m 1/4 German. The other 3 lines (mom’s paternal grandparents, dad’s grandparents) have been in America too long (over 150 years) to have any good idea. What we think (in order of supposed amount): English, Irish, Native American (based on 1 photo), German, and maybe French. With 3 English surnames for those 3 lines, it’s pretty certain English is the most predominant. ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/122 "2010-05-25T20:26:42Z")
Dad: French/Irish Mom: German/Irish ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/123 "2010-07-26T16:29:38Z")
I was born and raised in Britain, but both parents are from western India. ---
**Author:** ![InterestedObserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@InterestedObserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InterestedObserver)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/124 "2010-07-26T18:46:30Z")
As far as I know (as always, a high probablity that there is something else in the mix somewhere ;)): Maternal: Grandmother: Scots-Irish, perhaps a smidge of German Grandfather: French, perhaps also Irish/Scots-Irish 😕 (Not much info on his family, but hers was here for ages) Paternal: Grandfather: Scottish Grandmother: English (both immigrants from the UK, my father was a 1st generation American) ---
**Author:** ![Livardo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/43a26b/32.png) [@Livardo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Livardo)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/125 "2010-07-26T19:12:25Z")
I was born in El Salvador. I know very little about how my relatives came to the country but my mom tells me her grandpa was from Spain. He had a cool ass name too: Santana Villareal. On my dad’s side there’s at least a dude from Sweden that came over in the early 1900s. My gramma on my mom’s side is native indian though. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/126 "2010-07-26T22:36:10Z")
On my mother’s side: Scottish, Welsh and German. On my father’s side: Heinz 57. Irish, German, English, French (from a family whose members fought on different sides during the 30 Years War), Dutch, Welsh, Swedish and Montauk Indian. (The Montauk woman married a Dutch ancestor in the 1650’s, shortly before smallpox killed 2/3 of her tribe.) ---
**Author:** ![J-P\_L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/j-p_l/32/3156_2.png) [@J-P\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J-P_L)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/127 "2010-07-27T00:05:30Z")
French-Canadian. As were both parent. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/128 "2010-07-27T00:30:06Z")
Dad’s side: English, German (via Switzerland,) Italian Mom’s side: English (via United Empire Loyalists,) Welsh, German (via the Pennsylvania Dutch) Swiss isn’t an ethnicity of its own, is it? As I understand it, you have Swiss who are ethnically German, ethnically French, ethnically Italian and so on. If not, then I’m Swiss on my Dad’s side, along with the others. ---
**Author:** ![jsquire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jsquire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsquire)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/129 "2010-07-27T01:48:46Z")
Canadian-American. We have probably 40 or 50 ethnic festivals in my hometown, but none for this particular one. Going a bit further back, it’s English, Scots, (northern) Irish, Welsh, German, Flemish, Dutch, and probably even more WASPy stuff I don’t know about. My great-great grandfather Squire was made a ship’s captain on the condition that he leave England and never return. An annoying lot, we are. Weirdly enough, there’s no Scandinavian. But in my early 20s I was a dead ringer for Benny Andersson (of ABBA), to the point where my own mother mixed up the photos. And every year I see a whole stadium full of people with my exact hair when I watch the Dag Nyheter Galan track meet from Stockholm. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/130 "2010-07-27T02:27:39Z")
Canadian, White (although the Government says I’m “Indian”). Blue eyes, brown hair (blonde when a child). Paternal Grandfather - Irish and Scots. Paternal Grandmother (Maiden name: Meyers) - German, but she would describe it as “Pennsylvania Dutch”. Maternal Grandfather - Scots on his father’s side, Ojibwa and French on his mother’s side… Maternal Grandmother (Maiden name: Tudrick) - “Ukrainian”, but we’re not exactly sure – likely Slavic of some sort for sure, may be White Russian. Apparently she claimed that when she was a little girl (somewhere between 1875-80) there was a war going on and they could hear the cannonfire as they fled from their home. I never knew her, so I can only go on what my mother had to say about it. ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/131 "2010-07-27T11:34:31Z")
Irish Irish And so on, way way back. Cannot rule out a Viking or an Englishman somewhere along the line. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/132 "2010-07-27T15:32:47Z")
1/16 Swiss (my great-great-grandfather being from near St. Gallen) 3/16 German 3/4 Irish (with some Scottish and English thrown in) ---
**Author:** ![TheFaerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@TheFaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFaerie)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/133 "2010-07-27T15:37:50Z")
American Mutt - 99% various European/British/Irish/Scots, 1/64th Native American. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/134 "2010-07-27T16:11:04Z")
My mother is 100% Polish My father is 50% Polish and 50% Bohemian (on his mother’s side) My grandfather used to call us kids “Bohacks” (lBohemian-Polacks) to annoy my grandmother. On both sides, it was my great-grandparents who came over to America. ---
**Author:** ![My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/My_Darn_Snake_Legs)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238/135 "2010-07-27T16:17:59Z")
As far as I can remember I’m: Mostly: Scot Irish Minimally: English French Jewish (some really small %, but I like to toss it in.) I know my grandmother could rattle off the litany of our ancestor’s lineage, and it’s way longer than I have there, but I can’t remember all of it. I’m a mutt with Celtic influences. Both sets of great grandparents came over from Europe. One side via Canada (I think he was a lumberjack for a while) and I don’t know how the other set got here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-ethnic-background/540238.md?page=6)