French Americans
A French American, also known as a Franco-American, is a citizen or national of the United States who identifies as having complete or partial French or French-Canadian origin, ethnicity, or ancestral connections. French Americans are also known as Franco-Americans. They include French-Canadian Americans, whose experiences and identities are distinct from those of the larger group they are a part of.
Maine is the state in which the number of persons who identify themselves as having French ancestry is the highest, whereas California is the state in which the percentage of residents who identify themselves as having French ancestry is the highest. There are significant numbers of French Americans living in several cities throughout the United States. Madawaska, in the state of Maine, is the city that is home to the greatest number of individuals who can trace their ancestry back to France, while St. Martin Parish in the state of Louisiana is the location of the most French speakers as a proportion of the total population.
According to the census completed in 2010, there are around 10.4 million people living in the United States who claim French or French Canadian ancestry, and approximately 1.32 million of these people spoke French at home. According to the American Community Survey from 2011, there are an extra 750,000 people living in the United States who speak a creole language that is based on French.
When compared to the size of France's population or the numbers of German, Italian, or English Americans, Franco-Americans are a much smaller and less visible ethnic community than other groups of a comparable size. Furthermore, the number of Franco-Americans is very low. This is due in part to the tendency of Franco-American groups to identify more closely with North American regional identities such as French Canadian, Acadian, Brayon, Cajuns, or Louisiana Creole than as a coherent group, but it is also due to the fact that the rate of emigration from France during the 19th century was low in comparison to the rate of emigration from the rest of Europe. As a direct consequence of this, there is not as much of a cohesive French American identity as there is among other European American ethnic groups, and people of French heritage are primarily concentrated in the states of Louisiana and New England. Despite this, the French presence has left a significant mark on the toponyms of the American continent.