Scottish Americans
Scottish Americans or Scots Americans are citizens of the United States whose ancestry originates in the northwest European country of Scotland. See also Scottish ethnicity.
Scottish Americans are closely related to Scots-Irish Americans, also called Ulster-Scots, who in the US are treated as part of a common ethnic group. The Ulster-Scots originally came from the lowlands and border country of Scotland before migrating to Ulster.
Number of Scottish Americans
In the 2000 Census, 4.9 million Americans reported Scottish ancestry, 1.7% of the total US population. Given Scotland's population (just over 5 million), there are almost as many Scottish Americans as there are native Scots living in their home country. Another 4.3 million reported Ulster Scots ancestry, for a total of 9.2 million Americans of Scots descent.
National Tartan Day
National Tartan Day, held each year on April 6 in the United States and Canada, celebrates the historical links between Scotland and North America and the contributions Scots and Scottish descendants have made to US and Canadian history and society.
Highland Games
Scottish culture, food, and athletics are celebrated at Highland Games and Scottish Festivals throughout North America. The largest of these occurs yearly at Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina. In addition to traditional Scottish sports such as the Caber toss and the Hammer throw, there are Whisky tastings, traditional foods such as Haggis, and traditional Scottish dance.
List of notable Scottish-Americans
See also Category:Scottish-Americans
- Ben Affleck, actor (half Irish and half Scottish descent)
- Jennifer Aniston, actress
- Neil Armstrong, astronaut
- Chester A. Arthur, American president
- Warren Beatty, actor (mother is half Irish and Scottish)
- Alexander Graham Bell, inventor
- James Blair, founder of the College of William and Mary
- Jim Bowie, Frontiersman and a defender of the Alamo
- Hugh Henry Brackenridge, writer
- James Buchanan, American president
- James McGill Buchanan, economist
- Don Budge, tennis player
- David Dunbar Buick, founder of the Buick Motor Company
- Glen Campbell, singer
- Joseph Campbell, professor of comparative mythology
- Andrew Carnegie, founder of Carnegie Steel
- Johnny Cash, singer
- Mickey Cochrane, Hall of Famer
- Davy Crockett, Frontiersman, U.S. Congressman, and a defender of the Alamo
- James Dean, actor
- Michael Douglas, actor
- Robert Downey Jr. actor (Scottish, Irish, German, Jewish)
- David Duchovny, actor
- Clint Eastwood, actor and director
- Thomas Edison, inventor
- Melvyn Douglas, actor won (best actor in a supporting roll) oscar 1964, 1980.
- Eminem, Marshall Bruce Mathers III, rapper
- William Faulkner, author
- William Hanna, film cartoonist of (Hanna & Barbera)
- Nathan Bedford Forrest Confederate General
- Robert Frost, poet
- Judy Garland, actress and singer
- Greer Garson, actress
- Newt Gingrich, American Politician
- Ulysses S. Grant, military leader and American president
- John Hancock, first signer of the United States Declaration of Independence
- Katharine Hepburn, actress
- Tommy Hilfiger, designer
- Sam Houston, president of Texas and afterwards governor
- Robert E. Howard author of the conan fantasy series
- Stonewall Jackson, Confederate General
- John Paul Jones, naval hero
- Michael Keaton actor (Scottish, Irish descent)
- Val Kilmer (actor)
- Stephen King author
- Jay Leno, TV host and comic (Scottish, Italian descent)
- Ray Liotta, actor
- Heather Locklear, actress
- General Douglas MacArthur, American general
- Kyle MacLachlan, actor
- Shirley MacLaine, actress
- Alexander McGillivray, Native American chief
- William McKinley, American president
- Steve Martin actor and comedian
- Julianne Moore, actress
- John Muir, naturalist
- Allan Pinkerton, detective and security consultant
- Edgar Allan Poe, author
- James K. Polk, American president
- Jackson Pollock, artist
- Elvis Presley, singer
- Ronald Reagan, American president (mother Scotch-Irish and father Irish Catholic)
- Robert Redford actor
- Mickey Rooney, actor
- Phyllis Schlafly, politically conservative, pro-life activist and writer
- Alicia Silverstone, actress (Father British born, mother Scottish born)
- Jimmy Stewart, actor, Brigadier General (USAFR)
- David Strathairn, actor
- Bobby Thomson, baseball player
- Donald Trump, billionaire businessman
- Mark Twain, author
- Jurgen Vsych, film director, screenwriter and author
- Christopher Walken, actor
- George Washington, Commander of the Continental Army, 1st American President
- John Wayne, actor (mother Scots-Irish, father Scottish)
- Woodrow Wilson, American president
- John Witherspoon, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence
- Reese Witherspoon, actress
- Robert Burns Woodward, Nobel Prize-winning chemist
