These Are the Most Commonly Reported Ancestries of Montanans

The holidays are often a time of year when Americans practice traditions that have been in their family for decades. Some traditions are cultural, and some are created, but it's often around the holidays when people practice the traditions of their families.

For many years in my family, it was a tradition to play music together at Thanksgiving. My grandparents were in a dance band, and music was passed down to my mom and uncles, and then to us grandchildren. After we ate, we'd sit around playing old country songs, jazz, or Christmas carols, each of us on a different instrument--piano, guitar, drums, flute, trumpet, cello, saxophone--and someone was always singing too.

Getting married often leads to a blending of traditions, too. My mother-in-law has German ancestry and it was tradition in her family to have a good luck pork roast and sauerkraut on New Year's Day. Who doesn't want a little extra luck? So now I eat pork roast on New Year's Day, too.

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You may have a similar tradition in your family, as it turns out that many Montanans report that they have German ancestry. Before we look at the most commonly reported ancestries by Montanans, I'd like to acknowledge that Montana is on indigenous land and the native people who inhabited this place first have the longest ancestry.

Using information from the Census Bureau, these are the most commonly reported ancestries by Montanans according to 24/7 Wall Street.

Montana Ancestry

 Montana Population reporting German ancestry: 258,215

Montana Population reporting Irish ancestry: 141,379

Montana Population reporting English ancestry: 114,504

Montana Population reporting Norweigan Ancestry: 94,243

Montana Population reporting American ancestry: 64,562. You can find a specific definition of American ancestry here.

Montana Population reporting Italian ancestry: 36,965

Montana Population reporting French ancestry: 34,544

Montana Population reporting Scottish ancestry: 31,303

Montana Population reporting European Ancestry: 26,611

Montana Population reporting Swedish Ancestry: 29,497

There are some differences between Montanans' reported ancestry and Montanans' race and ethnicity. For a full breakdown of Montana's demographics, check out 24/7Wall St.