New Zealand Americans

New Zealand Americans are Americans who have New Zealand ancestry. According to the 2010 surveys, there are 19,961 New Zealand Americans.[1] Most of them are of European descent, but some hundreds are of indigenous New Zealand descent. Some 925 of those New Zealand-Americans declared they were of Tokelauan origin.[2] The 2000 Census indicated also the existence of 1,994 people of Māori descent in US.[3]

Taking flight to North American Harvard at Onerahi Aerodrome, New Zealand 1961.

New Zealand Americans

Total population
19,961 (2010 American Community Survey)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Illinois, Wisconsin, California, and Washington
Languages
American English, New Zealand English, Māori
Related ethnic groups
Australian Americans · Oceanian Americans

History

Many New Zealanders came to the United States after World War II. A significant portion (although not the majority) of these immigrants were war brides, because they had married U.S. servicemen who were stationed in the Pacific theater during the war. Since the 1940s, the majority of New Zealanders who have settled in the United States came seeking higher education or employment, especially in work related to finance, import and export, and entertainment industries.

Some small communities of New Zealanders have been created in the Chicago area and in the Green Bay and Madison, Wisconsin areas.[4]

Notable people

• Alex Aiono - singer, producer
• Peter Arnett - TV presenter
• Kerry Bishé - actress
• Huntley Campbell - philosopher
• Ray Comfort - fundamentalist Christian evangelist
• Rachel Hunter - model, actress
• Phil Keoghan - host of The Amazing Race
• Len Lye - artist
• Caelin Campbell - archaeologist
• William Hayward Pickering - NASA chief
• Clive Revill - character actor
• George Silk - photojournalist
• Peter Snell - athlete
• Jeremy Waldron - university professor

William Hayward Pickering Phil Keoghan Peter Arnett Ray Comfort George Silk Rachel Hunter

See also

• American New Zealander (for New Zealanders born in the United States or of American descent)

References

1. "Total ancestry categories tallied for people with one or more ancestry categories reported 2010 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
2. The Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Population: 2010 Census, 2010 Census Briefs, United States Bureau of the Census, May 2012
3. "Table 1. First, Second, and Total Responses to the Ancestry Question by Detailed Ancestry Code: 2000". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2013-05-15.
4. Encyclopedia of Chicago: New Zealand in Chicago. Posted by Daniel Greene. Retrieved September 29, 2012, to 1:29 pm.

Further reading

• Knight, Judson. "New Zealander Americans." Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 3, Gale, 2014), pp. 289–299. Online