"English" does not describe a single ethnicity. It may describe the origin of one's ancestors. England experienced multiple waves of immigrants in the past, bef

"English" does not describe a single ethnicity. It may describe the origin of one's ancestors. England experienced multiple waves of immigrants in the past, before the discovery of the New World. Romans (not all of whom had Italian roots), Angles and Saxons (from regions now part of Germany), the Norse or Vikings -- Scandinavian people who also have older roots in what we now call Germany, and the Normans from today's northern France, but ethnically a mix of Norse and French (with "French" not describing a single ethnicity either). The English have also mixed with the Welsh, Cornish, Irish, Scots, Dutch. What does it mean to claim German ancestry when the nation we call Germany didn't coalesce until the 19th century, and since then the borders of "Germany" changed. Do we include Austria and Prussia, once parts of the German Empire and the earlier Holy Roman Empire? Does "German" refer to the area the Romans called Germania? England formed as a nation-state earlier than Germany, France, Italy, most of the other modern European nation-states. The whole question of ethnicity and ancestral origin seems slippery especially when it assumes modern political boundaries and language dominance continued more or less the same from the past. Based on my family name I have answered questions about my ethnicity as Scandinavian, specifically Danish, although that comes from just one great-grandfather. While visiting relatives in Denmark I learned my ancestors had immigrated from Sweden and adopted a Danish name, in the 19th century, and before that the ancestral Swedes had migrated from (what is now called) Germany. Other branches of my ancestry come from England and Scotland. My children had their DNA tested and it shows almost 100% northern European, consistent with known genealogy. So given a US Census form, what ethnicity can I claim that makes the most sense, or gives the most accurate answer? How far back do I go for a meaningful answer? Because of my name people assume Scandinavian heritage, but the name comes from a late 19th century name change, not from a line of Danish ancestors going back many generations.