"It's just human nature. You're going to do what's easiest," Spendlove said. "If I'm American and I lived in America all my life and parents lived in America all their lives, that's my response to this question."

Even a small number of immigrants say their ancestors are American. It could be because many Central and South Americans identify themselves as Americans, Spendlove said.

It could also be an effort by immigrants to blend in.

"Maybe they think of themselves as Americans and want to project themselves as American," said Paul H. White, associate professor of psychology and ethnic studies at the University of Utah.

That's what happened in the post-1900 wave of immigration, during which time immigrants intentionally left behind their cultural ties, said David Rencher, director of records and information for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Family and Church History Department.

"They wanted to become 'Americans,"' he said. "They wanted to blend in, they wanted to learn the language."

White said the trend toward identifying as only American could mean people believe that keeping the Irish or the Italian, along with the American, makes you less American.

It could also be that people are losing touch with or simply aren't aware of their ancestral ties, he said.

"I have Italian-American and Irish-American friends who talk about their parents or grandparents telling stories of the homeland," he said. "It's harder to say, 'I'm Chinese American' if your family has been here since 1700."

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com