# Who are your ancestors? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 16, 2002, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancestors/98582 "2002-03-16T05:20:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ringmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9e8a1a/32.png) [@ringmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ringmaster)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancestors/98582/1 "2002-03-16T05:20:19Z")
What nationality were your ancestors? I am mainly French and German. How about you? ---
**Author:** ![Calliope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Calliope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calliope)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancestors/98582/2 "2002-03-16T05:23:54Z")
Polish, Finnish, Welsh, Russian, German. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/838e76/32.png) [@The\_Mick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mick)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancestors/98582/3 "2002-03-16T05:30:04Z")
I’ve a big list of ethnicities: Irish, Danish, Welsh, English, German, and Hebrew. ---
**Author:** ![Osip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4491bb/32.png) [@Osip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osip)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancestors/98582/4 "2002-03-16T05:56:16Z")
my family is dutch. I have the whole family tree back to 1500 at the birth of Paulvus Verspek. They were mainly preachers teachers and one failed political assassin. (I know it was an english king can’t recall who or why he failed) Coldie was nice enough to help translate the titles of a bunch of 17th and 18th century books I inherited. Dutch theology _shudder_ not my favorite topics. ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Kahuna\_Burger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Big\_Kahuna\_Burger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Kahuna_Burger)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancestors/98582/5 "2002-03-16T06:03:33Z")
100% Ukranian Jewish. You’d think that’s boring, but my great-grandfather’s brother was none other than Irving Berlin. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancestors/98582/6 "2002-03-16T06:04:52Z")
I once worked this out really precisely 25% Slovak 12.5% German 12.5% Italian 5.713% English 1.563% Scottish 0.244% French 0.171% Irish Of unknown origins are 25% Pacific Islander/Asian Probably another 10% English 7% Scottish 0.309% Cherokee And that’s 100% 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Palmyra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/57b2e6/32.png) [@Palmyra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palmyra)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancestors/98582/7 "2002-03-16T06:15:32Z")
I’m your basic Anglo mutt: English, Scottish, Irish. Because all four of my mother’s grandparents emigrated from England, she’s technically full English [which makes me half], but looks Scottish. Then you get into my dad’s family, you can follow the surname back 10 generations before you find someone who wasn’t born this side of the Atlantic. Mostly “fathers of our country” types that far back. ---
**Author:** ![Denis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5e9695/32.png) [@Denis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Denis)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancestors/98582/8 "2002-03-16T07:19:57Z")
Three quarters French, one quarter English, according to my family tree dating back to the 1600’s. ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancestors/98582/9 "2002-03-16T08:22:41Z")
Going back to the oldest ancestors I have records for: 1/2 German 3/16 Bohemian 5/16 Irish My surname is Irish (from me dad, duh), but my mom’s family identifies most strongly with the Bohemian part. I guess the German gets lost in the shuffle. As I’ve said to my friends–I come from peasant stock. With a “tavernkeeper” or two thrown in for good measure. ---
**Author:** ![Nichol\_storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Nichol\_storm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nichol_storm)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancestors/98582/10 "2002-03-16T08:37:30Z")
I have a pretty wild mix up in here. From Mom’s side, I get the northern European ancestry that gave me my blonde hair and blue eyes, especially English, Irish, Ulster Scots, Dutch, and French (Huguenot). There is also some Romany (Gypsy) blood a good ways back, along with Cherokee ancestry from my maternal grandmother. Dad bequeathed me a mostly German-French-Swiss heritage, but threw in a Welsh great-grandmother and a Haitian great-great-great-grandmother. Besides this, I also have a French-Choctaw great-great-great-great-grandmother. Both of my parents are also of Melungeon ancestry. How’s that? .:Nichol:. ---
**Author:** ![auRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@auRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auRa)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancestors/98582/11 "2002-03-16T10:58:26Z")
Finnish, Finnish and Finnish. And then one Chchenyan man sometime in the past. I’m boring. ☹ Although one of my ancestors is some king or another. However, that doesn’t really say much since said king (Kaarle Suuri, can’t for the life of me remember how he translates into English) had kids in practically every town, village and shack in his realm… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancestors/98582/12 "2002-03-16T11:11:26Z")
My father was adopted, so I’ve no idea on that half. The mothers side is mostly German (Dornberger) ---
**Author:** ![Illuvatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b38774/32.png) [@Illuvatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuvatar)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancestors/98582/13 "2002-03-16T11:15:41Z")
English Spanish Scottish English Jewish ;j Indian Yeah… that combo makes a whole lotta sense??? **Can we add on the question "Were any of your ancestors famous?"** If so then I can say Neville Chamberlain & some Khan Prince guy from India. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2002, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancestors/98582/14 "2002-03-16T11:26:52Z")
English, Irish, Scottish - and I’m 1/16th German. But most branches of my family have been in Australia since around the 1850’s, some earlier than that. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancestors/98582/15 "2002-03-16T11:31:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Illuvatar \* > \*\ ***Can we add on the question “Were any of your ancestors famous?”** \*\* Yet another lost thread. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancestors/98582/16 "2002-03-16T11:43:59Z")
Mainly Scottish and Welsh. Thrown in there is a little bit of Cherokee, but not enough for me to claim any affiliation with the tribe. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancestors/98582/17 "2002-03-16T15:53:04Z")
One half Netherlander, 3/8 various germanic peoples, 1/8th english. Illustrious ancestors: Adam Ross, fought for the Yankees at Bunker hill Sarah Averill Wildes, hung for witchcraft in Salem, Mass. in 1692 Daniel Clarke, jailed for selling liquor to the indians, 1660’s. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancestors/98582/18 "2002-03-16T16:02:44Z")
Mix a big whopping glob of Scottish and English with a medium glob of Irish, add a smidgen of Native American, and pinch of African American. Then you have ME. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancestors/98582/19 "2002-03-16T17:51:58Z")
My surname derives from a Swiss ancestor. Most others are German and a little English. Not much variety there. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancestors/98582/20 "2002-03-16T18:09:09Z")
Dad’s parents and Mom’s grandparents came to the states in the early 1900s from Poland. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancestors/98582.md?page=2)