United States > Race and Ethnicity

Ancestry of U.S. Population by Rank

This page displays the number of people who self-identified ancestry on the 2000 census. See below the table for more information.

2000 Rank Ancestry group Number Percent
1. German 42,841,569 15.2%
2. Irish 30,524,799 10.8
3. African American1 24,903,412 8.8
4. English 24,509,692 8.7
5. American1 20,188,305 7.2
6. Mexican 18,382,291 6.5
7. Italian 15,638,348 5.6
8. Polish 8,977,235 3.2
9. French 8,309,666 3.0
10. American Indian1 7,876,568 2.8
11. Scottish 4,890,581 1.7
12. Dutch 4,541,770 1.6
13. Norwegian 4,477,725 1.6
14. Scotch-Irish 4,319,232 1.5
15. Swedish 3,998,310 1.4
16. White1 3,834,122 1.4
17. Puerto Rican 2,652,598 0.9
18. Russian 2,652,214 0.9
19. Hispanic1 2,451,109 0.9
20. French Canadian 2,349,684 0.8
21. Chinese 2,271,562 0.8
22. Spanish 2,187,144 0.8
23. Filipino 2,116,478 0.8
24. European1 1,968,696 0.7
25. Welsh 1,753,794 0.6
26. Asian Indian 1,546,703 0.5
27. Danish 1,430,897 0.5
28. Hungarian 1,398,702 0.5
29. Czech 1,258,452 0.4
30. Korean 1,190,353 0.4%
31. African1 1,183,316 0.4
32. Portuguese 1,173,691 0.4
33. Greek 1,153,295 0.4
34. Japanese 1,103,325 0.4
35. Cuban 1,097,594 0.4
36. British 1,085,718 0.4
37. Vietnamese 1,029,420 0.4
38. Swiss 911,502 0.3
39. Dominican 908,531 0.3
40. Ukrainian 892,922 0.3
41. Salvadoran 802,743 0.3
42. Slovak 797,764 0.3
43. Jamaican 736,513 0.3
44. Austrian 730,336 0.3
45. Lithuanian 659,992 0.2
46. Canadian 638,548 0.2
47. Finnish 623,559 0.2
48. Colombian 583,986 0.2
49. Haitian 548,199 0.2
50. Guatemalan 463,502 0.2
51. Czechoslovakian 441,403 0.2
52. Lebanese 440,279 0.2
53. Scandinavian 425,099 0.2
54. United States1 404,328 0.1
55. Armenian 385,488 0.1
56. Croatian 374,241 0.1
57. Romanian 367,278 0.1
58. Belgian 348,531 0.1
59. Iranian 338,266 0.1%
60. Hawaiian 334,858 0.1
61. Yugoslavian 328,547 0.1
62. Ecuadorian 322,965 0.1
63. Spaniard 299,948 0.1
64. Taiwanese 293,568 0.1
65. Peruvian 292,991 0.1
66. Honduran 266,848 0.1
67. Pennsylvania German 255,807 0.1
68. Pakistani 253,193 0.1
69. Latin American1 250,052 0.1
70. Asian1 238,960 0.1
71. Nicaraguan 230,358 0.1
72. Arab1 205,822 0.1
73. Cambodian 197,093 0.1
74. Brazilian 181,076 0.1
75. Laotian 179,866 0.1
76. Slovene 176,691 0.1
77. Trinidadian and Tobagonian 164,738 0.1
78. Nigerian 164,691 0.1
79. Northern European1 163,657 0.1
80. Guyanese 162,425 0.1
81. West Indian1 147,222 0.1
82. Thai 146,577 0.1
83. Syrian 142,897 0.1
84. Egyptian 142,832 0.1
85. Hmong 140,528 —
86. Serbian 140,337 —
87. Slavic 127,136 —
88. Western European1 125,300 —
89. Panamanian 119,497 —
90. Turkish 117,575 —
91. Albanian 113,661 —
92. Israeli 106,839 —
  Other ancestries 4,380,380 1.6
NOTES: Ancestry is a broad concept that can mean different things to different people. The ancestry groups listed on this table were self-identified. The Census Bureau defines ancestry as a person's ethnic origin, heritage, descent, or “roots,” which may reflect their place of birth, place of birth of parents or ancestors, and ethnic identities that have evolved within the United States. Many respondents listed more than one area of ancestry; the sum of the persons reporting the ancestry is greater than the total. Ancestries making up at least 0.1% of the population are included in the table. Overall, about 500 different ancestries were reported during Census 2000.
1. Group may encompass several ancestries not listed separately.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Ancestry: 2000, issued June 2004.

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Race and Ethnicity Countries of Birth of the Foreign-Born Population, 1850–2000