Relative describes relative’s ethnicity as “Anglo-Saxon”: acceptable?

Question

A relative of mine took a DNA test and the relative is mostly English, but with some German and Scandinavian as well.

The relative says that the relative’s ethnicity is “Anglo-Saxon”.

Is that acceptable?  It seems old-fashioned and racist.

Answer 1

yeah its fine - it just shows the Germanic history of England

Answer 2

of course it is acceptable.

Answer 3

Of course it’s racist to claim any sort of white ethnicity or culture.

However, claim your ethnicity is Pakistani and we’re supposed to celebrate  it even though it’s only been a country for 70 years.

Answer 4

It's not racist to say that your ancestry is XYZ. It's only racist if you claim that makes you better than someone with a different ancestry. 

Answer 5

I believe the correct term is a WASP ( White Anglo- Saxon  Protestant ).

The Klan would approve. It is a kinda old fashioned and racist term.

Answer 6

Of questionable accuracy.  Angles came from Denmark.  Saxons are found in Saxony, which today is in eastern Germany.  The English are a mongrel mix of Picts, Romans (who occupied England for 4 centuries), Angles, Saxons, Normans (who in turn were mostly Viking with some French, and the French are a mix of Gaullish tribes, Franks, and Roman).

Answer 7

It can be acceptable, especially if this relative's native language is English.

However, ethnicity by definition is not about DNA nor about ancestors.

YOUR ethnicity is the language and culture YOU were raised in

Answer 8

Ethnicity is individual, it is about the country YOU were born/brought up in and YOUR influences from YOUR family home , so the food YOU eat the language YOU speak, the holidays YOU celebrate, it has nothing to do with where your ancestors once came from, THEIR ethnicity is very different to a person born in exctly the same place as centuries have passed and so enthicity changes and it also has zero to do with DNA entertainment testing and NO ONE is 'Anglo Saxon' Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England from the 5th century..... we are now in the 21 century. So 16 centuries later you simply can't compare back 16 centuries ago they were people from Germanic tribes who migrated to the island of Britain...the last Anglo Saxon king was Harold who grandfather was born in Denmark called Toka the Francigine ( Toka the Frenchman)

My researched and proved ancestry is 100% British, in fact 100% English and I m not ethically 'Anglo Saxon'...Anglo-Saxons spoke the language of Old English.... even I wouldn't understand Old English

Answer 9

Even if it was socially acceptable, it would still be inaccurate.  The inhabitants of England before 1066 were Anglo-Saxons.  In 1066, the Normans invaded, under the leadership of William the Conqueror.  Today's "English" are really a mixture of Anglo-Saxon and Norman, not pure Anglo-Saxon.

Answer 10

How would you describe his ethnicity? You could just say English or British, I suppose. His background might be more Celtic. But the Angles came from what is now Denmark, which is Scandinavian. And the Saxons came from what is now Germany. The Normans came from what is now France, but they were French-speaking Vikings, whose origin was probably  what is today Germany or Scandinavia.