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Middle Eastern Americans

Middle Eastern Americans are Americans of Middle Eastern background. This includes people whose background is from the various Middle Eastern and West Asian ethnic groups, such as the Kurds and Assyrians, as well as immigrants from modern-day countries of the Arab world, Iran, Turkey, and Armenia.[2][3][4][5]

Although once considered Asian Americans, the modern definition of "Asian American" now excludes people with West Asian backgrounds.[6]

History[edit]

One of the first large groups of immigration from the Middle East to the United States came by boat from the Ottoman Empire in the late 1800s. Although U.S. officials referred to them as Turkish, most referred to themselves as Syrian, and it is estimated that 85 percent of these Ottoman immigrants came from modern Lebanon. Later, new categories were created for Syrians and Lebanese.[7]: 4 


The number of Armenians who migrated to the U.S. from 1820 to 1898 is estimated to be around 4,000[8] and according to the Bureau of Immigration, 54,057 Armenians entered the U.S. between 1899 and 1917, with the vast majority coming from the Ottoman Empire.[9] The largest Armenian American communities at that time were located in New York City; Fresno; Worcester, Massachusetts; Boston; Philadelphia; Chicago; Jersey City; Detroit; Los Angeles; Troy, New York; and Cleveland.[10]


Another wave of immigration from the Middle East began in 1946, peaking after the 1960s. Since 1968, these immigrants have arrived from such countries as Iran, Iraq, Israel, Palestine, Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon.[7]: 11 

half Syrian, head and co-founder of Apple

Steve Jobs

Coptic Egyptian, Emmy Award and Academy Award - winning actor for Bohemian Rhapsody

Rami Malek

Turkish, cardiothoracic surgeon, formerly host of The Dr. Oz Show

Mehmet Öz

half Armenian, reality television star, socialite, model, businesswoman, producer, and actress

Kim Kardashian

half-Palestinian, supermodel and TV personality

Gigi Hadid

Lebanese, singer/songwriter

Paul Anka

Egyptian, broadcast journalist and TV host on Dateline NBC and the Today Show

Hoda Kotb

Lebanese Druze, radio personality and voice actor, co-founder of American Top 40 franchise

Casey Kasem

Lebanese, character actor

Jamie Farr

Lebanese, three-time Emmy Award-winning television actor on Monk

Tony Shalhoub

Syrian-Lebanese, film actress (American Pie, Scary Movie)

Shannon Elizabeth

Palestinian, hip-hop DJ, rapper, music producer

DJ Khaled

Egypt-born Israeli-American, television and media proprietor

Haim Saban

Coptic Egyptian, physician known for his work in longevity medicine.

Peter Attia

Middle East

Greater Middle East

Anti-Middle Eastern sentiment

Maghbouleh, Neda (2017). . Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

The Limits of Whiteness: Iranian Americans and the Everyday Politics of Race