What do you consider your nationality to be?

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Do you think it’s where you’re born? Or your parentage? Or your grandparentage?

For example, if you were born in Scotland, but your mum was Russian and your dad Venezuelan, what would you class yourself as?

Someone I know says they’re Irish because they have an Irish grandparent, but how far do you got back? AIBU to think only a couple of generations defines your nationality? Or do you think it can be longer?

And how much does it mean to you? I’m generally curious, I live in a place where locals are very fierce about their roots and I am a bit of a mongrol from my heritage and it’s never really bothered me, I just say ‘British’ because I was born and live here.

I think that what you are is whatever you consider yourself to be and where your loyalties lie. Brits are such a mix that it's often hard to pin down ethnicity. Me, my parents and grandparents were born in England, but some great grandparents were Irish and Italian. DH is half Danish but our kids consider themselves to be English or Welsh (all born in Wales).

Apparently on the census there's no box for black English, which seems wrong to me.

British/English. My dm is Irish (born and raised in Ireland to Irish parents) df is English. I have both passports, but I was born and raised in England. I appreciate my dms roots/heritage, but I don't feel any need to claim them as my own, and get all excited about St Patrick's day like some who think they might have an Irish ancestor from 1823 or something daft

English.

Though I have an Irish parent, and I feel close to Ireland as part of my heritage, I was born and bred in England.

English. Generations of...wish it was more exciting

It's Nationality and heritage though. My dad's parents were from an Eastern European country (rescued from German camps by British soldiers, offered British citizenship), he did not speak English till he went to school, but he is British of the Eastern European descent. Our childhood very much included the community of our Gp's, whilst I am British my heritage is half British and half the Eastern European country

I’m Scottish. By blood a mixture of Scottish. English and Welsh, but born and brought up in Scotland. I also have German citizenship, but I don’t consider myself German.

In the US "nationality" often informally means ethnicity, but it is often also referred to as "national origin." Race is a separate concept. So I mark a "race" box and then a "national origin" or "ethnicity" box and depending on the form, sometimes all they want to know about ethnicity is Hispanic or Non-Hispanic.

My parents are from one country, I was born and spent 20 years in another and the next 20 years in Britain. I consider my heritage my parents country but feel very British.

My DH was born in England. He has a British passport. He came to Canada decades ago and his also a Canadian citizen so he has dual nationality.

On his Father's side his heritage is pretty much English back centuries.

His Mum is a mystery. We believe she was born Cork in Ireland. She was placed in a convent at about age 4 probably around 1918. No record of parents and nuns would not tell.

So we have a mystery. DH DNA is basically 50% Irish. We really wish we could figure it all out.

Any genealogists here feel free to PM me and will give more facts.

If I'm ticking a box on a form - British
If someone asks me I say "my family are Welsh"

I was born in England to a Welsh mum and an English dad. Only ever had contact with the Welsh side of my family and I have a Welsh name so I feel I have more allegiance to Wales.

I’m Cornish and proud to be so.

I’d say it’s where you are culturally from. My cousin was born in Manchester but emigrated to Australia aged 5. She has an Australian accent and is culturally Australian in terms of her behaviour. However I went to university with someone who was born and raised in the UK in a Pakistani community and he regarded himself as Pakistani because he was immersed in Pakistani culture. That sort of viewpoint is common among American people who will regard themselves as Italian or Irish because their great grandfather emigrated from there a hundred years ago.

@ElGuardiandenoche

I’m Cornish and proud to be so.

Not really a nation though.

British, because I was born and raised there, though I don't live there now. I suppose I go on passport, as I consider my youngest child to be British even though she wasn't born there and has never even visited (bloody covid!) But she will have a British passport and has two British parents. She does not qualify for citizenship in the country of her birth.

Ethnicity and heritage are much more complicated! I think it's really interesting. For example, Americans who have been there for many generations who identify as Irish or Italian. Chileans who identify as German or Italian despite not speaking the languages. Some Brits identify as other than British even if they're second/third/fourth generation immigrants, while others don't (or include two or more backgrounds in their identity). I suppose it makes a difference how much your family maintain some of the culture of their ancestors, however distant.

My own children are third culture kids, as are many of their friends. So it will be interesting to see how they feel about this question when they're older!

What does ethnicity mean? Is it real (can it be identified or demonstrated / proved in a scientific way)? Or is it made up (a feeling)?

DS has three nationalities (NZ, British, French) but he’d say he’s Scottish because his parents, grandparents etc all are. He’s never lived there.

To those saying nationality is based on your passport what happens when you have citizenship and are entitled to multiple passports from birth? I consider myself to have triple nationality as I was eligible for three passports from birth.

But do you have triple nationality? Do you hold national identity documents or passports for each of those countries (or would you be able to show up at the embassy and apply for one straight away, without extra paperwork to prove it)? Are you on those countries’ records?

‘Entitled to’ and ‘holding’ XYZ nationality aren’t the same thing. In most cases, applying for an additional passport involves months of paperwork and tests and whatnot, it’s a length process especially when you’re being naturalised into one of those countries. And then there is nationality vs citizenship/residency…

One of my passports is through descent - my parents’ county of origin, where I’ve never lived, or been to outside of a few summer holidays. Legally I’m not entitled to an ID card from that country as we have no address there - so when I renew my passport, I need to apply with my ID documents from the other countries and get a ‘non-resident/citizen passport’. Which is a technicality because a passport is a passport, but the address on it is formatted differently. The only records this country have me on is the local embassy books where my parents registered my birth.

I’d actually consider myself more British than the above nationality, because I have residency in the UK, I have lived, studied and paid taxes here, even though I’m not yet entitled to a British passport and won’t be for another couple of years. I’m much more of an UK national - both legally and culturally - than I will ever be of my parents’ country. But I still can’t call myself British in any shape or form.

@workwoes123

What does ethnicity mean? Is it real (can it be identified or demonstrated / proved in a scientific way)? Or is it made up (a feeling)?

DS has three nationalities (NZ, British, French) but he’d say he’s Scottish because his parents, grandparents etc all are. He’s never lived there.

I’d define ethnicity as a mix of biological heritage (eg physical and genetic traits - aka race) and cultural heritage. This is probably completely bonkers but it’s such a complex concept that I don’t find it easy to explain.

I’m white European when it comes to race, and technically I have the same ethnicity as my parents. But I don’t fit in culturally, I don’t have the same customs or expressions or language fluidity as people from that country. I was raised culturally Spanish, even though genetically I have a different heritage. So I’m
Spanish.

It really does depend on how much your family and environment help you keep that heritage alive, and whether it’s a community you can proudly identify with, or would rather not do so openly because let’s face it, people are still racist and judgmental towards specific countries.

An American with Scottish or Norwegian heritage will proudly admit their family’s origins. A British child born to immigrant Polish or Romanian parents, who have raised them in the British culture more than in their own, might not be as inclined to openly admit their heritage. Because it’s a culture that those around them (as a whole) don’t have a lot of respect for. It’s a culture that could get them labelled unnecessarily. It’s a culture that people won’t ever erase from the image they get from them, and that kid will never be British enough in the eyes of the 100% British people.

I'm British, but only half English.

British- English/Scottish heritage

I say I’m british

I was born in wales to english parents and only lived there my first year

But i would call myself Welsh rather than English, as i think thats how it works in the uk. But I wouldn’t argue with anyone using a different criteria

I am British. I was born and raised in Britain. I have French and Dutch heritage.

My ethnicity would read something like this.

British, more precisely- English, more precisely- from one county, more precisely- from one area of the county, more precisely- from two or three villages, more precisely- from one or two families [...]

I really wish I was more ethnically diverse. Someone once suggested I did one of those 'ancestry' tests to see if there were any 'surprises'. However, I don't think I'll bother. I would come up with 100% 'cousins'.

English
But parents and grandparents are British

Eileen I think it's not true to say that to people who are 100% British would not consider the children of Polish immigrants to be 'British enough'. I think for most people they would think of the children as whatever those children considered themselves to be, especially as they grew up and had more of an understanding/opinion on what constitutes nationality. Many children of immigrants consider themselves to be the nationality of their parents, others go by where they are born and are immersed in the culture of the country where they grow up.

There seems to be a lot of confusion as to what nationality is. It's not something you choose, unless you pay to be naturalised.
Cultural identity, ethnicity, sense of belonging, heritage, all to a greater or lesser extent subjective. Nationality- legal concept based on nationality law. I can tell everyone I feel I'm English. But feeling that you're a language is strange. English is a heritage, and a cultural identity, but hasn't been a nationality for hundreds of years.