More Americans are forsaking their European ancestries and calling themselves simply "American", according to USA Today on June 5.

　　　The number of people who claim German, Irish, English or most other European descents dropped sharply since 1990, according to Census data released on June 4.

　　　In 2000, people reported 38.8 million fewer European ancestries, an 18.6% drop.

　　　But 7.6 million more told Census that at least one of their ancestries is "United States or American." That''s up 58%.

　　　Ancestries logged by recent immigrants from Asia and Spanish-speaking countries increased 28% to 91.6 million. They fall under an "other ancestries" category that will be detailed by the Census Bureau later this summer.

　　　The European ancestry numbers mark the beginning of a new chapter in American assimilation. "Ancestry in the U.S. changes over time," says William Frey, a demographer at the Milken Institute in Santa Monica, Calif. "We're going to see these European ancestries fadesintosthe background. ... We're all Americans now."