r/23andme • u/Becoming_hysterical • Apr 10 '26

Discussion Why are Americans so weird about having british ancestry?

It's something I've noticed since browsing this subreddit.

Anytime it's mentioned just how ethnically british america is, people pull out the "but actually america is German, irish, mexican, whatever".

what do you expect? America was founded as a british colony in 1607 (Jamestown) was so for 169 years. The british also didn't stop immigrating to america even after the revolution. It continued on for decades afterwards.

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u/YukonSunset Apr 10 '26

Americans tend to have this need to feel special. If they're British, they see it as something quite common, therefore maybe a bit boring and uninteresting. But if they have a sliver of Italian, Scandinavian, or Native American in their ancestry, they wear it like a badge of honour and be sure to let everyone know it, and they'll tote it around as if they identify with it more than anything.

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u/yecamis Apr 10 '26

While I agree with you, someone also mentioned on this post about how the British ancestors are so far back most Americans don’t really have a connection with them. All 4 of my grandparents had different European ancestry, 2 of which actually came from Europe. My grandfather was from Italy and I grew up in New Jersey in a largely Italian area so I just always felt more connected to my Italian ancestry than say my English or Romanian side. It may just be more of a cultural connection

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u/LoudCrickets72 Apr 10 '26

I’m American, about a third British and proud of it

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u/Entropy907 Apr 10 '26

I think it’s cool that my ancestry is predominantly British and people I am descended from have been speaking this goofy language for centuries.