French Americans are U.S. citizens or nationals of French descent and heritage. The majority of Franco-American families did not arrive directly from France, but rather settled French territories in the New World (primarily in the 17th and 18th centuries) before moving or being forced to move to the United States later on (see Quebec diaspora and Great Upheaval). Also, the largest French territory in North America was sold to the U.S., absorbing their French citizens (see Louisiana Purchase). About 26 million U.S. residents are of French descent, and about 1.5 million of them speak the French language at home. Being isolated, mixed with different cultures, or ignored, the French-Americans developed particular cultures that reflect varying degrees of adaptation of their environments. This gave birth to streams of French-Americans like the Acadians, the Cajuns (an Anglicization of the autonym Cadien, from the French word for Acadian, Acadien), Louisiana Créoles and many others. In the 2020 United States census, French Americans (25.8 million or 7.4% of the population) were the 4th most common ancestral group, followed by German Americans (45 million), Irish Americans (38.5 million) and Mexican Americans (37.4 million) but ahead of English Americans (25.5 million), based on the self-reporting ancestry data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The following is a list of notable French Americans by occupation, including both original immigrants who obtained American citizenship and their American descendants.
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To be included in this list, the person must have a Wikipedia article showing they are French American or must have references showing they are French American and are notable.
The Acadians are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries.
The Cajuns, also known as Louisiana Acadians, are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the US state of Louisiana and surrounding Gulf Coast states.
Evangeline Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,350. The parish seat is Ville Platte.
Acadia Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 57,576. The parish seat and the most populous municipality is Crowley. The parish was founded from parts of St. Landry Parish in 1886, and later an election was held to determine the parish seat, ending when Crowley beat Rayne and Prairie Hayes. Acadia Parish is included in the Lafayette metropolitan statistical area.
French Mexicans are Mexican citizens of full or partial French ancestry. French nationals make up the second largest European immigrant group in Mexico, after Spaniards.
From stage performer to singer to painter, the French actor..."
Half Irish, half French-Canadian, half English.
Famous French-Canadian author Robert Goulet ...
A Cajun and Breaux Bridge native, Ali Landry was crowned Miss USA in February 1996 at age twenty-two — the first Miss Louisiana to win the pageant since 1961. Ali is now a full time mother and a 'Celebrity Mom' on Yahoo.
Francophiles will be pleasantly surprised to learn that despite the unmistakably Celtic ring to her name, May Playmate Maria McBane is every bit as French as croissants and the cancan. Born in Avignon, in the heart of the French wine region of Provence, our 19-year-old May miss was reared in the traditions of the provincial petite francaise until the age of ten, when her family sold their small vineyard and came to America.
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(help)French-born American coloratura soprano ...
'So many people in Louisiana actually speak French every day and feel French, and I think they're a little disappointed about the situation,' says Lt. Gov. Kathleen Blanco, a French Acadian whose maiden name was Babineaux. 'We're looking at a 200-year historical time when France was our greatest ally.'
'I trust that you do know Mr. DeLay is French,' she said.
Often referred to as the "Ragin' Cajun" for his animated and colorful debating style ...
Kate Chopin was born Katherine O'Flaherty on February 8, 1850, of an Irish and French descent in St. Louis, Missouri.
... I write from being a French Canadian/American who grew up on what had been called French Hill until the Irish and Italians muscled us out.
Will Durant was French-Canadian and a Roman Catholic ...
Jack Kerouac was born Jean-Louis Kerouac, a French-Canadian child on March 12, 1922, in working-class Lowell, Massachusetts.
of French Huguenot ancestry.
The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient [French] heritage.
... French-American ornithologist ...
Audubon was born in Saint Domingue (now Haiti), the illegitimate son of a French sea captain and plantation owner and his French mistress. Early on, he was raised by his stepmother, Mrs. Audubon, in Nantes, France, and took a lively interest in birds, nature, drawing, and music.
Just like George, he's a nice, country, Cajun guy, who left Louisiana to follow his dream and continued that dream by returning to his roots.
... I do have an idea about being the son of an American father and a French mother.
French figure skating champion Surya Bonaly has become a U.S. citizen during a ceremony Friday in Las Vegas.
George Rodrigue, a Cajun from New Iberia, Louisiana ...
Eric Guerin, the twenty-eight-year-old Cajun jockey who rode all of Vanderbilt's top horses under a contract arrangement ...
... to adjust to a difficult life on the road as 'the French guy' in World Championship Wrestling ...