California Ancestry and Population Demographic Data
On this page, you'll find details on the largest ethnic ancestries in California, with links to ancestry pages to research more data.
Below, we'll show you the full list of different ancestries reported in California for the past 6 years. These start from the latest figures from the Census Bureau for , back to -5.
To make the surfacing of this data easier, we've listed it in descending order based on the most recent year of data available, which means that past years may not be in the correct descending order.
All ancestry labels below are the grouping terms used by the U.S. Census Bureau and are not labels that Name Census has provided.
California Ancestry Data
Ancestry |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
White |
23,747,013 |
23,680,584 |
23,607,242 |
23,529,068 |
23,453,222 |
22,053,721 |
Hispanic or Latino |
14,750,686 |
14,903,982 |
15,105,860 |
15,221,577 |
15,327,688 |
15,380,929 |
Mexican |
12,274,907 |
12,400,437 |
12,555,044 |
12,621,844 |
12,687,312 |
12,635,258 |
Asian |
5,261,978 |
5,354,608 |
5,503,672 |
5,604,339 |
5,692,423 |
5,834,312 |
Some Other Race |
4,974,791 |
5,133,600 |
5,329,952 |
5,415,410 |
5,481,792 |
5,623,747 |
African American |
2,265,387 |
2,261,835 |
2,263,222 |
2,267,875 |
2,274,108 |
2,250,962 |
Chinese |
1,327,305 |
1,370,374 |
1,418,254 |
1,462,778 |
1,498,431 |
1,513,688 |
Filipino |
1,247,073 |
1,255,672 |
1,275,057 |
1,279,680 |
1,288,414 |
1,281,691 |
American |
929,971 |
897,928 |
869,284 |
841,607 |
836,054 |
797,330 |
German |
834,788 |
804,105 |
768,138 |
722,073 |
664,261 |
624,340 |
Salvadoran |
685,635 |
688,637 |
698,239 |
713,703 |
715,553 |
719,841 |
English |
657,491 |
623,600 |
583,824 |
539,882 |
507,619 |
536,069 |
Asian Indian |
635,718 |
666,480 |
712,532 |
752,127 |
781,878 |
810,043 |
Irish |
617,461 |
601,411 |
583,356 |
558,012 |
531,113 |
510,839 |
Italian |
520,089 |
506,779 |
489,715 |
471,295 |
447,684 |
431,190 |
Korean |
463,977 |
461,305 |
466,313 |
467,380 |
464,242 |
470,978 |
Guatemalan |
407,022 |
416,208 |
418,854 |
428,452 |
436,896 |
434,671 |
European |
399,858 |
412,689 |
432,252 |
483,203 |
533,604 |
536,775 |
Japanese |
278,354 |
274,797 |
276,302 |
274,239 |
269,696 |
264,054 |
Armenian |
212,193 |
210,753 |
207,038 |
206,050 |
202,496 |
199,886 |
Puerto Rican |
209,771 |
210,940 |
215,163 |
215,961 |
221,536 |
227,838 |
Total Arab |
202,311 |
204,657 |
207,447 |
211,457 |
213,689 |
209,838 |
Subsaharan African |
199,397 |
199,037 |
204,052 |
205,361 |
207,413 |
211,800 |
American Indian |
193,315 |
190,954 |
198,197 |
201,310 |
209,360 |
213,841 |
All other Hispanic or Latino |
188,106 |
199,137 |
218,431 |
240,279 |
257,886 |
313,814 |
Russian |
169,890 |
168,102 |
163,827 |
155,949 |
148,883 |
139,572 |
Iranian |
169,633 |
172,318 |
174,057 |
168,141 |
166,994 |
166,016 |
Spaniard |
162,431 |
158,368 |
156,704 |
159,495 |
161,411 |
168,020 |
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander |
150,370 |
150,908 |
152,027 |
153,366 |
155,290 |
149,636 |
Portuguese |
149,579 |
148,974 |
143,510 |
137,270 |
131,908 |
126,804 |
Two or more Asian |
146,290 |
150,535 |
158,340 |
163,631 |
174,261 |
215,736 |
Scottish |
140,283 |
137,682 |
134,459 |
128,506 |
120,633 |
112,856 |
Polish |
137,444 |
134,783 |
131,347 |
127,361 |
123,449 |
118,419 |
Norwegian |
119,779 |
116,435 |
110,899 |
107,494 |
102,503 |
95,581 |
Nicaraguan |
118,154 |
117,993 |
120,827 |
120,164 |
117,505 |
112,896 |
African |
116,485 |
112,128 |
113,375 |
111,457 |
110,217 |
106,972 |
French |
116,058 |
115,661 |
111,774 |
107,953 |
101,402 |
99,140 |
Peruvian |
105,586 |
108,966 |
110,504 |
108,200 |
108,165 |
110,053 |
Spanish |
103,350 |
103,266 |
102,318 |
101,701 |
99,596 |
114,564 |
Swedish |
98,316 |
95,465 |
92,521 |
86,811 |
82,297 |
76,061 |
Cambodian |
95,126 |
93,001 |
94,746 |
90,601 |
89,352 |
92,953 |
Dutch |
93,981 |
90,759 |
88,589 |
83,801 |
80,564 |
75,878 |
Hmong |
91,705 |
94,354 |
94,454 |
95,361 |
95,672 |
99,591 |
Cuban |
91,274 |
93,974 |
96,754 |
98,404 |
99,206 |
105,913 |
Honduran |
88,486 |
92,033 |
92,701 |
88,569 |
92,011 |
91,216 |
Scotch-Irish |
79,030 |
75,948 |
72,021 |
69,263 |
66,507 |
62,912 |
British |
77,113 |
78,623 |
83,602 |
90,773 |
95,949 |
90,719 |
Colombian |
75,361 |
75,364 |
78,425 |
81,055 |
83,932 |
91,707 |
Laotian |
68,481 |
66,873 |
67,331 |
66,461 |
62,098 |
56,678 |
Taiwanese |
66,709 |
67,327 |
68,567 |
72,314 |
75,678 |
86,674 |
Ukrainian |
60,514 |
59,957 |
60,829 |
62,549 |
61,866 |
62,158 |
Greek |
54,145 |
52,710 |
51,251 |
50,553 |
48,979 |
44,794 |
Pakistani |
52,695 |
54,928 |
59,744 |
63,038 |
64,938 |
67,044 |
Thai |
52,676 |
52,986 |
52,915 |
52,791 |
52,517 |
50,885 |
Argentinean |
50,611 |
49,358 |
49,678 |
51,073 |
53,316 |
53,778 |
West Indian (except Hispanic groups) |
46,661 |
47,593 |
49,410 |
48,341 |
49,505 |
49,704 |
Danish |
45,441 |
43,050 |
42,932 |
40,010 |
37,903 |
34,699 |
Canadian |
43,877 |
42,322 |
41,717 |
41,014 |
39,015 |
35,920 |
Ecuadorian |
42,971 |
42,981 |
43,370 |
41,678 |
42,094 |
42,251 |
Eastern European |
42,274 |
43,481 |
47,018 |
53,158 |
59,809 |
64,337 |
French Canadian |
41,340 |
41,215 |
40,748 |
38,409 |
35,666 |
34,082 |
Hungarian |
39,319 |
38,330 |
36,794 |
35,583 |
33,560 |
31,299 |
Other Arab |
37,634 |
40,781 |
40,583 |
43,514 |
46,896 |
47,219 |
Egyptian |
37,513 |
37,505 |
37,440 |
36,409 |
36,981 |
39,568 |
Afghan |
37,482 |
35,998 |
38,722 |
42,304 |
49,166 |
50,896 |
Northern European |
36,713 |
38,512 |
41,068 |
46,219 |
51,047 |
51,577 |
Romanian |
36,617 |
35,499 |
35,659 |
34,653 |
33,802 |
32,374 |
Arab |
34,338 |
31,982 |
32,633 |
31,982 |
31,053 |
26,663 |
Lebanese |
30,295 |
30,447 |
30,319 |
29,743 |
29,673 |
30,096 |
Welsh |
29,383 |
28,900 |
27,865 |
25,056 |
23,600 |
21,759 |
Scandinavian |
28,818 |
29,132 |
29,306 |
31,562 |
33,160 |
33,641 |
Indonesian |
28,184 |
29,030 |
29,716 |
28,753 |
28,314 |
28,980 |
Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac |
27,784 |
28,608 |
27,153 |
24,259 |
22,319 |
21,107 |
Chilean |
27,686 |
28,363 |
28,665 |
29,405 |
29,063 |
30,531 |
Ethiopian |
26,514 |
29,545 |
29,267 |
29,545 |
31,142 |
31,227 |
Costa Rican |
25,212 |
25,594 |
26,037 |
26,345 |
26,114 |
26,627 |
Nigerian |
23,728 |
24,324 |
24,675 |
26,477 |
26,539 |
31,213 |
Other Asian, not specified |
23,434 |
23,450 |
23,649 |
25,318 |
26,957 |
31,011 |
Swiss |
23,005 |
23,551 |
22,673 |
21,536 |
21,451 |
20,380 |
Czech |
22,659 |
21,961 |
21,936 |
20,879 |
19,839 |
18,524 |
Brazilian |
20,876 |
21,832 |
22,998 |
23,270 |
25,277 |
26,284 |
Israeli |
20,797 |
20,201 |
20,024 |
18,968 |
18,761 |
18,909 |
Panamanian |
19,890 |
19,332 |
20,077 |
19,621 |
19,090 |
20,116 |
Croatian |
18,466 |
18,487 |
18,035 |
17,767 |
16,895 |
16,495 |
Iraqi |
18,397 |
18,643 |
18,695 |
18,667 |
18,330 |
16,222 |
Austrian |
17,531 |
17,440 |
16,710 |
15,339 |
14,089 |
13,375 |
Finnish |
16,976 |
16,791 |
15,960 |
15,047 |
13,470 |
11,522 |
Jamaican |
16,588 |
16,761 |
16,757 |
17,242 |
17,703 |
19,346 |
Dominican |
16,489 |
16,385 |
17,007 |
17,391 |
17,281 |
17,808 |
Other Central American |
16,337 |
15,817 |
16,388 |
15,896 |
15,372 |
13,431 |
Burmese |
16,324 |
16,407 |
16,620 |
15,858 |
16,043 |
15,899 |
Lithuanian |
15,343 |
14,542 |
13,966 |
13,792 |
13,784 |
12,398 |
Turkish |
15,176 |
16,127 |
16,218 |
16,370 |
17,588 |
18,095 |
Syrian |
14,868 |
16,352 |
16,813 |
17,115 |
17,000 |
17,952 |
Belizean |
14,288 |
14,807 |
15,644 |
14,733 |
15,499 |
14,493 |
Venezuelan |
14,145 |
13,743 |
13,133 |
13,860 |
15,277 |
19,181 |
Bolivian |
13,800 |
14,104 |
13,983 |
14,780 |
15,553 |
15,292 |
Yugoslavian |
13,649 |
13,685 |
12,738 |
12,213 |
11,667 |
10,446 |
Palestinian |
13,047 |
13,676 |
15,021 |
16,346 |
16,482 |
15,379 |
Sri Lankan |
12,006 |
11,855 |
11,679 |
11,127 |
11,144 |
10,965 |
Jordanian |
10,390 |
9,906 |
10,625 |
12,060 |
12,189 |
11,668 |
Nepalese |
9,611 |
11,015 |
12,384 |
13,572 |
15,231 |
14,040 |
Bangladeshi |
9,580 |
10,205 |
10,748 |
11,355 |
11,404 |
11,491 |
Serbian |
9,429 |
9,430 |
9,320 |
9,176 |
8,852 |
9,652 |
Bulgarian |
9,312 |
9,624 |
8,870 |
8,901 |
8,598 |
8,919 |
Czechoslovakian |
8,850 |
8,828 |
8,203 |
8,300 |
7,614 |
7,814 |
Australian |
8,659 |
8,994 |
8,692 |
8,339 |
8,513 |
8,405 |
Slovak |
8,271 |
7,668 |
7,775 |
7,726 |
7,629 |
7,137 |
Belgian |
7,674 |
8,089 |
7,712 |
7,689 |
7,682 |
7,867 |
Basque |
7,067 |
7,422 |
7,199 |
7,145 |
7,055 |
7,035 |
South African |
6,224 |
6,110 |
6,704 |
5,958 |
6,482 |
6,157 |
Other Subsaharan African |
6,057 |
6,296 |
7,780 |
9,268 |
9,768 |
10,936 |
Moroccan |
5,829 |
5,365 |
5,318 |
5,621 |
5,085 |
5,071 |
Other South American |
5,793 |
5,150 |
5,316 |
5,698 |
5,406 |
4,960 |
Mongolian |
5,142 |
5,405 |
5,531 |
5,832 |
5,864 |
6,244 |
Haitian |
4,967 |
5,393 |
6,481 |
6,912 |
7,670 |
7,090 |
Somali |
4,934 |
4,952 |
4,928 |
4,770 |
5,027 |
4,313 |
Slavic |
4,780 |
4,746 |
5,337 |
5,827 |
4,918 |
4,461 |
Latvian |
4,436 |
4,371 |
4,003 |
3,953 |
3,793 |
3,681 |
Kenyan |
4,407 |
4,418 |
5,007 |
4,652 |
4,859 |
5,296 |
Ghanaian |
4,208 |
4,673 |
4,913 |
4,736 |
4,439 |
4,950 |
Malaysian |
3,846 |
4,223 |
4,097 |
3,764 |
3,818 |
3,479 |
Trinidadian and Tobagonian |
3,679 |
3,361 |
3,400 |
3,208 |
2,839 |
3,201 |
West Indian |
3,646 |
3,800 |
3,895 |
3,258 |
3,161 |
2,702 |
Uruguayan |
3,493 |
4,125 |
4,543 |
4,569 |
4,869 |
6,620 |
Maltese |
3,209 |
2,860 |
2,764 |
2,754 |
2,592 |
2,295 |
Slovene |
3,154 |
2,921 |
2,836 |
2,946 |
3,025 |
2,976 |
Celtic |
2,712 |
2,504 |
2,439 |
2,256 |
1,872 |
1,571 |
Albanian |
2,485 |
2,242 |
2,579 |
2,369 |
2,780 |
2,692 |
Spanish American |
2,440 |
1,982 |
2,031 |
1,755 |
1,580 |
3,110 |
Pennsylvania German |
2,327 |
2,493 |
2,424 |
2,464 |
2,455 |
2,114 |
New Zealander |
2,271 |
2,206 |
2,169 |
2,533 |
2,349 |
1,970 |
Guyanese |
2,140 |
2,593 |
2,960 |
2,705 |
2,529 |
2,361 |
Alaska Native tribes |
2,127 |
2,373 |
2,573 |
2,497 |
2,519 |
2,507 |
Icelander |
1,753 |
1,945 |
2,009 |
2,076 |
1,984 |
1,752 |
Paraguayan |
1,736 |
1,725 |
1,668 |
1,679 |
1,664 |
1,433 |
Estonian |
1,566 |
1,594 |
1,909 |
1,782 |
1,763 |
1,727 |
Macedonian |
1,513 |
1,396 |
1,482 |
1,413 |
1,528 |
1,476 |
Cape Verdean |
1,452 |
1,473 |
1,556 |
1,787 |
1,645 |
1,438 |
Sudanese |
1,386 |
1,283 |
1,446 |
1,952 |
1,980 |
3,671 |
Cajun |
1,213 |
1,242 |
1,169 |
855 |
914 |
953 |
German Russian |
1,153 |
1,325 |
1,141 |
1,132 |
915 |
806 |
Ugandan |
1,138 |
1,187 |
1,463 |
1,633 |
2,032 |
2,032 |
Other Asian, specified |
1,079 |
1,185 |
1,318 |
1,488 |
1,582 |
24,010 |
Barbadian |
989 |
1,065 |
919 |
850 |
701 |
628 |
British West Indian |
972 |
965 |
848 |
841 |
809 |
1,118 |
Liberian |
936 |
936 |
1,082 |
1,128 |
1,000 |
1,662 |
Zimbabwean |
912 |
627 |
598 |
735 |
742 |
333 |
Luxembourger |
676 |
642 |
578 |
374 |
368 |
380 |
Sierra Leonean |
521 |
660 |
750 |
867 |
1,077 |
921 |
Dutch West Indian |
497 |
437 |
441 |
317 |
219 |
217 |
Senegalese |
495 |
425 |
508 |
396 |
464 |
679 |
United States Virgin Islander |
363 |
205 |
199 |
114 |
93 |
121 |
Cypriot |
312 |
404 |
436 |
458 |
464 |
579 |
Bhutanese |
295 |
406 |
399 |
367 |
229 |
301 |
Bahamian |
267 |
322 |
370 |
488 |
502 |
490 |
Okinawan |
225 |
188 |
218 |
274 |
316 |
370 |
Other West Indian |
213 |
246 |
218 |
255 |
208 |
197 |
Soviet Union |
196 |
236 |
244 |
326 |
304 |
271 |
Bermudan |
192 |
231 |
238 |
123 |
101 |
101 |
Alsatian |
184 |
217 |
265 |
257 |
247 |
159 |
Carpatho Rusyn |
116 |
104 |
140 |
69 |
61 |
72 |
Data Source(s)
All of the data on this page is sourced from the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, from the United States Census Bureau. The latest year for the ACS is currently .
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"California Ancestry and Population Demographic Data". NameCensus.com. Accessed on September 28, 2023. https://namecensus.com/ancestry/state/california/.
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"California Ancestry and Population Demographic Data". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/ancestry/state/california/. Accessed 28 September, 2023
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California Ancestry and Population Demographic Data. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/ancestry/state/california/.