Welsh Americans

Welsh Americans
Americanwyr Cymreig (Welsh)
Wales United States
Total population
  • 1,956,225[1]
  • 0.6% of the U.S. population
Regions with significant populations
Languages
English, Welsh
Religion
Protestant and Roman Catholic
Related ethnic groups
Breton Americans, Cornish Americans, English Americans, Scottish Americans, Irish Americans, British Americans, Scotch-Irish Americans, Manx Americans, Welsh Canadians, Welsh Australians

Welsh Americans (Welsh: Americanwyr Cymreig) are an American ethnic group whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Wales, United Kingdom. In the 2008 U.S. Census community survey, an estimated 1.98 million Americans had Welsh ancestry, 0.6% of the total U.S. population. This compares with a population of 3 million in Wales. However, 3.8% of Americans appear to bear a Welsh surname.[2]

There have been several US presidents with Welsh ancestry, including Thomas Jefferson,[3] John Adams, John Quincy Adams, James A. Garfield,[4] Calvin Coolidge, Richard Nixon[5] and Barack Obama.[5] Other prominent figures of Welsh descent in American history include Jefferson Davis, the only president of the Confederate States of America;[6] P. G. T. Beauregard, a top general in the Confederate States Army; Hubert Humphrey, who served as Vice President of the United States; and Colin Powell and Hillary Clinton, who both served as Secretary of State.[citation needed]

The proportion of the American population with a name of Welsh origin ranges from 9.5% in South Carolina to 1.1% in North Dakota. Typically, names of Welsh origin are concentrated in the mid-Atlantic states, New England, the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama and in Appalachia, West Virginia and Tennessee. By contrast, there are relatively fewer Welsh names in the northern Midwest and the Southwest.[2]

  1. ^ Bureau, U.S. Census. "American Community Survey - 2019 - 1-Year Estimates - Table B04006". data.census.gov. Retrieved March 14, 2021. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  2. ^ a b "The Welsh diaspora : Analysis of the geography of Welsh names" (PDF). Wales.gov.uk. Retrieved August 28, 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ "The Presidents: Thomas Jefferson". American Heritage People. AmericanHeritage.com. Archived from the original on August 29, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2008. Ancestry: Welsh and Scotch-English
  4. ^ The Life and Public Services of James A. Garfield, 1881, E.E. Brown, Lothrop publishing, page 23.
  5. ^ a b Williamson, David (July 5, 2008). "Wales link in US presidential candidate's past". Western Mail. Retrieved March 29, 2009.
  6. ^ "The Education of a Southern Gentleman: Jefferson Davis". Lexington History Museum. Lexingtonhistorymuseum.org. Archived from the original on December 31, 2008. Retrieved November 28, 2008. Ancestry: Davis is of Welsh ancestry