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Profiles

  •
    Amy White (1858 - 1921)
    Amy Evans was born in Cartige, Shammorgan, South Wales, England. She was the daughter of Job Evans and Harriet Thomas. Her mother died when Amy was a small girl. Then her father married Emma Clark. Job...
  • Henry Phillips (1828 - 1891)
  • Ann Harris (1823 - 1897)
  • John William Morgan (1774 - d.)
  • Anne Morgan (1775 - 1845)

Welsh Americans / Americanwyr Cymreig

Welsh Americans are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Wales. In the 2008 U.S. Census community survey, an estimated 1.98 million Americans stated that they had Welsh ancestry, amounting to 0.6% of the total U.S. population. This compares with a population of 3 million in Wales. However, 3.8% of Americans appear to bear a Welsh surname.

There have been several U.S. Presidents with Welsh ancestry, including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, James A. Garfield, Calvin Coolidge, Richard Nixon, and Barack Obama. Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard, U.S. Vice President Hubert Humphrey, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton are also of Welsh heritage.

The proportion of the population with a name of Welsh origin ranges from 9.5% in South Carolina to 1.1% in North Dakota. Typically names of Welsh origin are concentrated in the mid-Atlantic states, the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama, and in Appalachia, West Virginia and Tennessee. By contrast there are relatively fewer Welsh names in New England, the northern Midwest, and the southwest.

In certain counties of Vermont and New Hampshire, the Welsh presence is pronounced due to immigrants who came to America to work in quarries. Likewise, parts of eastern Pennsylvania have large Welsh populations that descend from immigrant coal miners. In the West, the Mormon population contributes a sizable Welsh population.

Notable names

Entertainment

A

B

  • Andrea Bowen (born 1990), actor

C

  • Dean Cain (born 1966), actor, mother is of partial Welsh ancestry
  • Erika Christensen (born 1982), actress, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Kelly Clarkson (born 1982), singer, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Kevin Costner, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Courteney Cox, distant Welsh ancestry

D

  • Bette Davis (1908–1989), two-time Academy Award-winning actress of stage, screen and television; distant Welsh ancestry
  • James Dean, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Billy De Wolfe, actor, mother was Welsh
  • Dane DeHaan, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Thomas Dekker, actor, mother is Welsh
  • Johnny Depp, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Michael Douglas, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Haylie Duff, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Hilary Duff, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Robert Duvall, distant Welsh ancestry

E

  • Bill Evans (born 1929), jazz pianist / composer
  • Sara Evans (born 1971), country music singer

F

  • Anna Faris, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Glenn Ford (1916–2006), film actor

G

  • Zach Galifianakis, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Heather Graham, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Carson Grant (born 1950), actor
  • D. W. Griffith (1875–1948), early film director

H

  • Jenna Bush Hager (b. 1981), television news personality
  • Mark Hamill, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Teri Hatcher (born 1964), actress and writer, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Anne Heche (born 1969), actress, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Bob Hope (1903–2003), actor/comedian, mother was Welsh
  • Julianne Hough, distant Welsh ancestry
  • John Houseman (1902-1988), film producer
  • Anjelica Huston, distant Welsh ancestry
  • John Huston, distant Welsh ancestry

J

  • Brody Jenner, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Quincy Jones (born 1933), record producer, conductor, arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Rashida Jones, actress, distant Welsh ancestry

K

L

  • Tommy Lee (born 1963), drummer for hard rock/heavy metal band Mötley Crüe
  • Zachary Levi (born 1980), actor, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Ted Levine (born 1957), actor, mother was part Welsh
  • Blake Lewis (born 1981), American Idol contestant and singer
  • Juliette Lewis, actress and singer
  • Harold Lloyd (1893–1971), actor
  • Chad Lowe, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Rob Lowe, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Myrna Loy (1905–1993), actress

M

N

O

  • The Osmonds, including Donny Osmond (born 1957) and Marie Osmond of the brother-sister singing act Donny & Marie; of part Welsh descent, traced their ancestry back to Merthyr Tydfil

P

  • Karyn Parsons (born 1966), actress, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Welsh descent on father's side
  • Michelle Pfeiffer (born 1958), distant Welsh ancestry
  • Michael Phelps, Olympic swimming champion
  • Justin Pierce, English-born actor of Welsh descent; former husband of Gina Rizzo
  • Chris Pine, actor, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Brad Pitt, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Shawn Pyfrom, paternal grandfather is of Welsh ancestry

R

  • Denise Richards, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Kim Richards (born 1964), actress, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Kyle Richards (born 1969), actress, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Monica Richards, author and musician
  • Jason Ritter, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Jason Robards, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Eric Roberts (born 1956), actor, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Julia Roberts (born 1967), actress, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Gena Rowlands, actress, father was of Welsh descent

S

T

  • Tiffani Thiessen, actress, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Henry Thomas (born 1971), actor, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Lynda Thomas (born 1981), musician, singer-songwriter

W

  • Scott Walker
  • Tuc Watkins (born 1966), actor
  • Betty White, actress, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Michelle Williams (born 1980), actress, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Robin Williams, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Vanessa Williams (born 1963), actress, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Bruce Willis, distant Welsh ancestry
  • Cassandra Wilson (born 1955), née Cassandra Fowlkes, jazz vocalist; distant Welsh ancestry through her father
  • Patrick Wilson, distant Welsh ancestry

Literature

Politics

A

  • John Adams, President of the United States, Vice President of the United States (1735–1826); traced his ancestry to Pembroke, Pembrokeshire and to Penybanc Farm at Llanboidy, Carmarthenshire
  • John Quincy Adams, President of the United States, Secretary of State (1767–1848)
  • John Quincy Adams II, lawyer and politician
  • Benedict Arnold, Revolution general who defected from the American to the British side

B

  • John Henry Bowen, U.S. Representative from Tennessee
  • George W. Bush, 43rd President United States; distant Welsh ancestry
  • Jeb Bush, former Governor of Florida and a 2016 Republican presidential nomination candidate

C

  • Martha Hughes Cannon (1857-1932), physician, Utah women's rights advocate and suffragist, first female state senator elected in the United States, member of the Utah Senate from the 6th district (1897-1901)
  • Dick Cheney, forty-sixth Vice President of the United States (2001-2009)
  • Cassius Marcellus Clay (1810–1903), abolitionist
  • Hillary Rodham Clinton (born 1947), Secretary of State, U.S. Senator from New York, former First Lady, candidate for the 2008 and 2016 Democratic presidential nomination
  • Calvin Coolidge, twenty-ninth Vice President of the United States (1921–1923) and 30th President of the United States (1923–1929)
  • John J. Crittenden, Governor of Kentucky

D

  • James J. Davis (1873–1947), Secretary of Labor and U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania
  • Jefferson Davis (1808–1889), soldier, politician, and first and only President of the Confederate States (1862–1865)

E

  • Alvin Evans, U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania; United States Senator from Iowa

F

  • John Floyd, Governor of Virginia
  • John B. Floyd, Governor of Virginia
  • William Floyd, United States Declaration of Independence signatory

G

  • James Garfield (1831–1881), 20th President of the United States
  • Nicholas Gilman, United States Senator from New Hampshire
  • Button Gwinnett, United States Declaration of Independence signatory

H

  • Charles Evans Hughes, Governor of New York
  • Andrew Humphreys, U.S. Representative from Indiana
  • Andrew A. Humphreys, United States Army officer and Union General in the American Civil War
  • E. Howard Hunt, CIA Intelligence Officer; a key figure in organizing and participating in the Watergate burglaries

J

  • Arthur James, Governor of Pennsylvania
  • Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States; first Secretary of State; said his father came from the foothills of Snowdon

L

  • Robert E. Lee, Confederate general
  • Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States
  • Francis Lewis, United States Declaration of Independence signatory

M

  • James Madison, 4th President of the United States
  • John Marshall, statesman, Chief Justice of the United States
  • George Mathews, Governor of Georgia
  • Henry M. Mathews, Governor of West Virginia
  • John G. McCullough, Governor of Vermont
  • James Monroe (1758–1831), fifth President of the United States
  • James Morgan, United States Congressman from New Jersey
  • Lewis Morris, United States Declaration of Independence signatory
  • Robert Morris, United States Declaration of Independence signatory
  • Patty Murray, United States Senator from Washington

O

  • Barack Obama, 44th President United States; distant Welsh ancestry

P

  • P.B.S. Pinchback, Governor of Louisiana
  • Hugh H. Price, U.S. Representative from Wisconsin
  • Rodman M. Price, Governor of New Jersey
  • John H. Pugh, U.S. Representative from New Jersey

R

  • Thomas Rees, U.S. Congressman, parents/grandparents from Wales
  • Ann Romney (born 1949), former First Lady of Massachusetts S
  • Isaac Shelby, Governor of Kentucky

S

  • Daniel Webster (1782–1852), United States Senator and Secretary of State
  • Thomas Wynne (1627–1691), physician to William Penn; speaker of the first Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly

Industry and business

  • Jasper Newton "Jack" Daniel, Tennessee-born founder of Jack Daniel's whiskey
  • Bob Evans (1918–2007), founder of Bob Evans Restaurants
  • William Fargo (1818–1881), pioneer expressman
  • Howard Hughes (1905–1976), pioneering aviator, engineer, industrialist, and film producer
  • Henry Morgan (1900-1982), financier and co-founder of Morgan Stanley
  • J. P. Morgan (1837–1913), banker
  • John Pierpont Morgan, Jr. (1867-1943), banker and philanthropist
  • Jonathan I. Schwartz, President and Chief Executive Officer of CareZone
  • Howard Stringer (born 1942), businessman and Chief Executive Officer of Sony Corporation
  • David Thomas, prominent ironmaster and philanthropist during the Industrial Revolution in Pennsylvania

Other

  • Daniel Boone (1734–1820), American pioneer
  • Barbara Pierce Bush (b 1981), daughter of President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Welch Bush
  • Mary Katherine Campbell (1905-1990), Miss America titleholder 1922 and 1923, First Runner-Up 1924
  • Chelsea Clinton, daughter of President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton
  • Hiram Wesley Evans (1881–1966), Imperial Wizard of the "second" Ku Klux Klan from 1922 until 1939
  • Lewis Evans (1700–1756), colonial surveyor and geographer
  • Cowboy Morgan Evans (1903–1969), Texas rancher; 1928 World Series Rodeo Bulldogging champion; competition bull rider; oil production roughneck; drilling foreman; oilman
  • Oliver Evans (1755–1819), inventor
  • Murray Humphreys (1899–1965), Chicago mobster, chief political and labor racketeer in the Chicago Outfit during Prohibition
  • Frank James, cowboy/outlaw
  • Jesse James, cowboy/outlaw
  • George Jones (1811–1891), New-York Daily Times co-founder
  • John L. Lewis (1880–1969), organized labor union leader
  • Meriwether Lewis (1774–1809), explorer
  • Chelsea Manning (1987-), mother was Welsh
  • Daniel Morgan (1736–1802), Brigadier General in the American Revolution in the Continental Army; served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Virginia
  • Pierpont Morgan Hamilton (1898-1982), Major General in the United States Army Air Force and Medal of Honor recipient
  • Malia Obama, daughter of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Robinson Obama
  • Sasha Obama, daughter of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Robinson Obama
  • William Farrand Prosser (1834–1911), Union Colonel in the American Civil War; served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Tennessee
  • Henry Morton Stanley (1841–1904), journalist/explorer
  • George Henry Thomas (1816–1870), Union General during the American Civil War
  • Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959), one of the most prominent and influential architects of the first half of the 20th century
  • Elihu Yale (1649–1721), first benefactor of Yale University

Sources
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