Ethnic diversity: North vs. South

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Taualumna

But what about diversity within so-called "white" ethnicities? The original poster stated that there were few non-"English" sounding last names....i.e. few names that sounded they were from "The Continent"

I'm guessing that most of the girls going through NPC rush are descendants of those first settlers, rather than those from other nationalities who came later. Not only that, I'm betting that if you were in an environment that was primarily English, you'd be more likely to Anglicize your name than someone who landed in, say, Pittsburgh or Chicago. Kendall Somers might really be Kimmy Sobieski.

[ForeverRoses]

I just took a quick glance and I noticed quite a few ethnic german last names on the list. There is also a whole section of "Mc" something, which could either be irish or scottish. But I didn't see too many italian names.

I would agree that it has allot to do with the people who live in that region and are therefore most likely to make up the majority of women going through rush. When I think of American-Italian food, I don't immediately think of Alabama.

[honeychile]

I know of more and more people with "ethnic" names who have moved to the South and now have college-aged children - some of them must be considering the Greek system.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I'm betting that if you were in an environment that was primarily English, you'd be more likely to Anglicize your name than someone who landed in, say, Pittsburgh or Chicago. Kendall Somers might really be Kimmy Sobieski.

Very true, and the longer ago they came, the more likely it is that the name has been anglicized. My very Southern wife's family came to the South from Germany -- they anglicized their name about 225 years ago.