Fewer Americans remembering ancestry

WASHINGTON -- The nation of immigrants is again reshaping its identity. While Hispanic immigration surged in the 1990s, new census figures show a decline in the number of people identifying themselves as Irish, German and other European ancestries.

More people are simply calling themselves "American."

Martha Farnsworth Riche, a former head of the Census Bureau, said, "The longer you are here, the more it makes you American."

Many Americans are descended from Europeans who arrived in the 1800s or early 1900s.

The data come from the 2000 census long form distributed to about 20 million households. One question asked people to write in up to two ancestries that defined their background.

Overall, while the U.S. population rose 13 percent over the decade to 281 million, the total ancestry responses -- based on a sample -- declined from 296 million in 1990 to 287 million in 2000.

Results for a select number of ancestries from the most recent release showed declines mainly in European heritage.

Nearly 43 million people, or 15 percent of the country, reported being "German" in 2000, down 23 percent from nearly 58 million in 1990.

"Irish" or "Celtic" decreased from 38 million (16 percent of the total) to 30 million (11 percent), while "English" decreased from 32 million (13 percent) to 24 million (9 percent).

Some ancestries did see increases, including "Arab" and "sub-Saharan African."