What's More Important: Paternal Line or Majority Ancestry?

[Gwydion]

In the case of racially unmixed individuals, what is more important for determining which ethnicity or people one most belongs to, paternal line or majority ancestry? For the sake of discussion, let's leave out culture and residence and imagine an individual whose parents for whatever reason move from place to place and so he never resides in one particular locale long enough to take roots.

Now in many traditional societies and cultures ones paternal ancestry and surname is what determined ethnic or tribal affiliation. But what if the majority ones ancestry was something else? Let's say an 80-90% German or Polish person surnamed O'Reilly or a 80-90% Northern Italian with a paternal line from Finland.

Which takes precedence in your opinion? If you are of such a mixed heritage, what do you personally identify with?

[Rgvgjhvv]

The surname is a big deal in society. I think even if it doesn't represent the majority of your ethnicity, it's going to be what everyone usually remembers you/classifies you as. Unless maybe your surname doesn't match well with your phenotype. For example, if you're 1/4 Japanese and your surname is Yashimoto, but 3/4 British Isles and you look like Pierce Morgan, I doubt most people will consider your foreign surname too much. I could be wrong though.

[Gwydion]

The surname is a big deal in society. I think even if it doesn't represent the majority of your ethnicity, it's going to be what everyone usually remembers you/classifies you as. Unless maybe your surname doesn't match well with your phenotype. For example, if you're 1/4 Japanese and your surname is Yashimoto, but 3/4 British Isles and you look like Pierce Morgan, I doubt most people will consider your foreign surname too much. I could be wrong though.

Yea that's why I tried to limit the topic to racially unmixed individuals or individuals with a racially similar mixture. To use an Asian example, let's say 1/4 Korean with a paternal Korean line named Park but 3/4 Chinese or Japanese or Mongolian.

[Creoda]

Majority ancestry.

[Smeagol]

Majority ancestry obviously.

[Dick]

I can't speak for other ethnicities,they seem to be cuckold nations anyway, but in ex-Yugoslavia if you were say mixed Serb+Croat or vice versa then you are what your father is. Even if you're not mixed ethnically then paternal line is more important.

[Gwydion]

I can't speak for other ethnicities,they seem to be cuckold nations anyway, but in ex-Yugoslavia if you were say mixed Serb+Croat or vice versa then you are what your father is. Even if you're not mixed ethnically then paternal line is more important.

Yea another interesting historical example is medieval Gaelic Ireland. The Normans who by the 15th and 16th centuries had been settled there for 300-400 years and who had famously become "more Irish than the Irish themselves" by intermarrying with the Gaels, adopting Gaelic culture, language, etc. were still referred to as "gall" or foreigner by the natives Gaels because of the importance placed on patrilineal descent as a determination of ones place in society, tribal and ethnic affiliation, etc. Those same Gaels from Ireland could simultaneously look upon a MacDonald from Moray in Scotland as a fellow Gael.

[Ülev]

it depends on many other factors

[Dick]

Yea another interesting historical example is medieval Gaelic Ireland. The Normans who by the 15th and 16th centuries had been settled there for 300-400 years and who had famously become "more Irish than the Irish themselves" by intermarrying with the Gaels, adopting Gaelic culture, language, etc. were still referred to as "gall" or foreigner by the natives Gaels because of the importance placed on patrilineal descent as a determination of ones place in society, tribal and ethnic affiliation, etc. Those same Gaels from Ireland could simultaneously look upon a MacDonald from Moray in Scotland as a fellow Gael.

Yeah Scots are similar when it comes to paternal lineages it’s the clan mentality

[Babak]

Depends on the culture. In persian culture, its your paternal line that determines your ethnicity.