Ancestry refers to a person’s ethnic origin or descent, "roots," or heritage, or the place of birth of the person or the person’s parents or ancestors before their arrival in the United States. Some ethnic identities, such as "German" or "Jamaican" can be traced to geographic areas outside the United States, while other ethnicities such as "Pennsylvania Dutch" or "Cajun" evolved in the United States.
The intent of the ancestry question is not to measure the degree of attachment the respondent had to a particular ethnicity. For example, a response of "Irish" might reflect total involvement in an "Irish" community or only a memory of ancestors several generations removed from the individual. A person’s ancestry is not necessarily the same as his or her place of birth, i.e., not all people of German ancestry were born in Germany (in fact, most weren’t).
Both the Census 2000 and the American Community Survey (ACS) question asked "What is your ancestry or ethnic origin?" The question also provides examples of particular ethnic groups, which have changed since 1980. The response options to the question are two blank spaces in which respondents can write in whatever ancestry(ies) they want. We coded up to two ancestries per person. We collect the first two ancestries written, so if a respondent writes in German, Italian, and Scottish, only German and Italian would be coded for that respondent.
See the
Census 2000 question on ancestry
See the entire Census 2000
questionnaire [PDF 501k]
See the ACS
question on ancestry
See the entire ACS
questionnaire [PDF 436k]
In 1990 the question was the same; the examples given were different.
See
the 1990 Census question on ancestry
See the entire 1990 Census questionnaire [PDF 599k]
In 1980 the question was "What is your ancestry?", which is slightly different than in 1990 and 2000 in that it didn’t include the term "ethnic origin". The examples in 1980 were different.
See the
1980 Census question on ancestry
See all previous census forms in "Measuring America: The Decennial Censuses From 1790 to 2000" [PDF 3Mb]
See the entire 1980 Census questionnaire [PDF 549k]
See FAQ #15 for more information about the ancestries listed in the example.
The most recent census data on ancestry come from Census 2000. A set of tables called the Demographic Profile contains a list of 24 ancestries. Another product called the Summary File 3 contains tables with 110 ancestry groups. Summary File 4 contains socio-economic data for 86 ancestry groups. Forthcoming reports and tables will list even more groups.
Ancestry data are also available from the American Community Survey (see Question #11).
Some groups are not listed in our tables because too few people identified with them. There are hundreds of ancestry groups, and we do not have room to show all of them in every product. Issues of confidentiality also arise when the size of groups are too small to show.
Census data on race and Hispanic groups come from the race and Hispanic questions. For the Demographic Profile and Summary File 3 tables, we do not show groups that are shown elsewhere on the race and Hispanic tables. For other products such as the upcoming 2000 Census Brief on Ancestry, we show all ancestry responses.
We do not request people to tell us their religious groups. If people write in a religious group as an ancestry response, it is included under "Other ancestries".
The list below shows all of the ancestries that we collect, along with the code we assign each ancestry. The codes are the same for Census and ACS.
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Products/PUMS/C2SS/CodeList/2005/Ancestry.htm
"First Ancestry" is a designation we use on some data products to show the groups that were reported first in response to the ancestry question. Likewise, "Second Ancestry" is the groups that were reported second. For example, if someone wrote in Jamaican and English, their First Ancestry would be Jamaican, and their Second Ancestry would be English. "Total Ancestry" is the sum of responses, or the number of people with Jamaican ancestry, regardless of whether it was their first or second response.
To further the example, a 1990 table showed that the number of people of Jamaican ancestry was 410,933 for First Ancestry and 24,091 for Second Ancestry. This could be interpreted as "There were an estimated 410,933 people who listed Jamaican first and 24,091 who listed Jamaican second". To get the total number of people who reported Jamaican as either their first or second ancestry, add up the number of Jamaicans from First Ancestry and the Second Ancestry, resulting in 435,024 people (or total ancestry).
Only the first two ancestries are tabulated.
If they do not report an ancestry, their ancestry is classified as "Not Reported." Unlike other census data, ancestry data are not imputed/ filled-in based on other information from the household or neighbors.
Some people identify their ancestry as American. This could be because their ancestors have been in United States for so long or they have such mixed backgrounds that they do not identify with any particular group. Some foreign born or children of the foreign born may report American to show that they are part of American society. There are many reasons people may report their ancestors as American, and the growth in this response has been substantial.
The ancestry question was added to the census form in 1980, therefore the earliest information available from this question is from 1980. Several publications below contain 1980 and 1990 data.
1980
PC80-S1-10 "Ancestry of the Population by State: 1980"
1990
CP-S-1-2, "Detailed Ancestry
Groups for States" [PDF 2M]
CP-2, "Social and
Economic Characteristics," separate reports for the United States,
each state, metropolitan areas, and urbanized areas.
CP-3-2, "Ancestry of the
Population of the United States" [PDF 13M]
Please call 1-866-758-1060 or visit the Census Question & Answer Center.
The Public Information Office can also answer questions about ancestry for media callers (301-763-3030).
This information is available through the American FactFinder in Census 2000 Summary File 3 (SF3)- Sample data. On this web page, you will be able to get data for almost every geographic level including: nation, region, state, county, place, congressional district, etc.. For example, choose a state for geographic type, then highlight which state and select Add. You can do this for as many states that you would like data for. After choosing your desired states, select Next. On the next web page, scroll down and highlight table PCT18 for total ancestry reported (1st plus 2nd) or you can choose table PCT16 or PCT17 if you would only like the numbers for first or second ancestry reported separately. After you have a table(s), select Add and then select Show Table. You will then see a list of detailed ancestry groups for a particular state(s). Remember that the ancestry list will be displayed according to the geographic level you have chosen. You can change the geographic area by selecting Change Selections from the menu near the top of the screen. For more information on first and second ancestry, please refer to question #6.
You can also get data for the nation, states, and some counties and places from the American Community Survey (ACS). Again you will have to select your geography as described above, then select both tables PCT024 and PCT025. ACS does not include a total ancestry reported, so in order to get that number just add the numbers for first and second ancestry together for a particular group.
Census 2000 was the first time the Ancestry question was asked in Puerto Rico. The question was exactly the same in Puerto Rico as it was stateside.
Link to PR
ancestry question
Link to PR Census 2000 form [PDF 468k]
The Census Bureau decided to present data for the groupings of West Indians and Arabs based on discussions with ethnic experts and other advisors about the specific ancestry groups to show in the various census data products. Some data products allow a listing of a limited number of ancestry groups (about 30 to 40), while others allow a detailed listing of over 100 groups. Our advisors recommended that we show the numerically largest groups, such as German and Engish, in all data products with ancestry information. To provide data needed on numerically smaller groups with substantial number of recent immigrants to the United States, the advisors recommended that we combine such smaller groups into aggregate groupings, such as Arab and West Indian. This allows the Census Bureau to balance the data needs for the numerically largest groups with the equally important needs for data on smaller populations, even in our limited ancestry listings. Grouping also helps the Census Bureau avoid issues of confidentiality.
The ancestry lists were developed for the 1990 data products, and was based on historical levels and recent growth trends.
The same list was used in 2000. We collect hundreds of different ancestry reports, but due to space restrictions, for example in the SF3, we only show 110 groups, and we do not show groups that are listed elsewhere in the race or Hispanic origin tables (such as African American or Mexican). If people have interest in seeing ancestry data for race or Hispanic groups, they should look for our upcoming Census Brief on Ancestry. Also, we will eventually place special tabulations on the Internet that will show even more groups.
We plan to re-evaluate this list using Census 2000 data, and use an updated list for future ACS or Census data.
Three types of lists:
The examples listed with the ancestry question are changed for each decade. We included a range of groups from different areas of the world, some with a large presence in the U.S., some with a smaller but growing presence.
The examples are necessary in this question to clarify that we are not asking for simply White, Black, Asian, etc. Space limitations confine the list to the small number of groups that are there. There is a trade off between consistency (keeping the examples the same) and changing the examples around for more balanced treatment, therefore we keep some the same and change others.
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