Languages spoken in Kentucky


In October 2015, the U.S. Census Bureau released the "2009-2013 American Community Survey" which provides information on "languages spoken at home" and "ability to speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over" for the United States as a whole, states including Puerto Rico and Washington D.C., selected counties, and selected cities and urban areas. The following provides aggregated survey information on languages spoken in Kentucky

Table showing languages spoken in Kentucky






Population 5 years and over
Speak only English at home
Speak a language other than English at home
OTHER INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES
  • French (incl. Patois, Cajun)
  • French Creole
  • Italian
  • Portuguese (incl. Portuguese Creole)
  • German (incl. Luxembourgian)
  • Yiddish
  • Other West Germanic languages
  • Scandinavian languages
  • Greek
  • Russian
  • Polish
  • Serbo-Croatian languages
  • Other Slavic languages
  • Armenian
  • Persian
  • Hindi
  • Gujarati
  • Urdu
  • Other Indic languages
  • Other Indo-European languages

    • ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLAND LANGUAGES
  • Chinese (incl. Cantonese, Mandarin, other Chinese languages)
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Mon-Khmer, Cambodian
  • Hmong
  • Thai
  • Laotian
  • Vietnamese
  • Other Asian languages
  • Tagalog
  • Other Pacific Island languages

    • ALL OTHER LANGUAGES
  • Navajo
  • Other Native North American languages
  • Hungarian
  • Arabic
  • Hebrew
  • African languages
  • Other and unspecified languages



    • BY STATE
    BY COUNTY
    BY CITY
    LanguageNumber of speakersMargin of ErrorSpeak English less than "Very Well"Margin of Error
    Population 5 years and over4,082,46777385,8292,385
    Speak only English at home3,879,8294,073(X)(X)
    Speak a language other than English at home202,6384,06585,8292,385
    SPANISH AND SPANISH CREOLE104,4712,44349,2371,702
    Spanish104,4702,44349,2351,702
    OTHER INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES51,1762,36015,4551,191
    French (incl Patois, Cajun)8,0318091,825316
    French7,9958071,825316
    Patois3534(B)-
    French Creole465245146119
    Italian94320415067
    Portuguese (incl Portuguese Creole)77123311575
    Portuguese77023311575
    German (incl Luxembourgian)13,0161,3793,048645
    German13,0151,3793,050645
    Yiddish10963(B)-
    Other West Germanic languages5,3459681,848507
    Pennsylvania Dutch3,4407681,255465
    Dutch1,790462570237
    Afrikaans11581(D)(D)
    Scandinavian languages6582401619
    Swedish14076(B)-
    Danish265155(B)-
    Norwegian250174(D)(D)
    Icelandic(D)(D)(D)(D)
    Greek802306168144
    Russian2,108386959252
    Polish53517512382
    Serbo-Croatian languages5,0677402,569475
    Serbocroatian4,8257532,545474
    Croatian11597(D)(D)
    Serbian13096(D)(D)
    Other Slavic languages1,701424639230
    Ukrainian1,080398410179
    Czech12578(D)(D)
    Slovak8547(D)(D)
    Bulgarian395198190131
    Slovene(D)(D)(B)-
    Armenian1451636473
    Persian1,021340377134
    Hindi2,429494445176
    Gujarati1,266451429205
    Urdu1,245382347143
    Other Indic languages4,1138001,641493
    India nec33553049097
    Bengali5751957044
    Panjabi635342195134
    Marathi355200(D)(D)
    Oriya2542(D)(D)
    Assamese(D)(D)(B)-
    Nepali1,8555791,185485
    Sindhi4044(D)(D)
    Pakistan nec33053(B)-
    Sinhalese1751355556
    Romany4543(B)-
    Other Indo-European languages1,406398546245
    Jamaican Creole3542(D)(D)
    Krio3037(B)-
    Pidgin1518(B)-
    Catalonian(D)(D)(B)-
    Romanian470222215141
    Welsh(D)(D)(B)-
    Irish Gaelic5538(B)-
    Scottic Gaelic(D)(D)(B)-
    Albanian545300235156
    Lithuanian6050(D)(D)
    Latvian1514(B)-
    Pashto20231519
    Kurdish1401246056
    ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLAND LANGUAGES32,5921,04815,779878
    Chinese (incl Cantonese, Mandarin, other Chinese languages4)8,2607124,429517
    Chinese6,7806793,835493
    Cantonese16094(D)(D)
    Mandarin1,100323465172
    Formosan22515112083
    Japanese4,8135652,508374
    Korean3,0914441,634326
    Mon-Khmer, Cambodian1,122511438246
    Hmong861074760
    Thai843279466214
    Laotian4232139379
    Vietnamese4,9647283,110571
    Other Asian languages5,0807832,135575
    Kazakh(D)(D)(B)-
    Uighur901127083
    Azerbaijani5062(D)(D)
    Turkish580258265161
    Mongolian2029(D)(D)
    Telugu1,690370435206
    Kannada145123(D)(D)
    Malayalam2901372540
    Tamil76024310068
    Tibetan(D)(D)(B)-
    Burmese685480530400
    Karen755399650342
    Tagalog2,885504726226
    Other Pacific Island languages1,025232193100
    Indonesian2301178066
    Balinese(D)(D)(B)-
    Javanese(D)(D)(B)-
    Bisayan17087(D)(D)
    Sebuano10570(B)-
    Pangasinan(D)(D)(B)-
    Ilocano1519(B)-
    Micronesian(D)(D)(D)(D)
    Chamorro8053(D)(D)
    Palau10581(D)(D)
    Ponapean1523(B)-
    Trukese(D)(D)(B)-
    Samoan13588(D)(D)
    Hawaiian6048(B)-
    ALL OTHER LANGUAGES14,3991,5415,358738
    Navajo1315612
    Other Native North American languages51014611062
    Miami(D)(D)(D)(D)
    Ojibwa(D)(D)(B)-
    Potawatomi(D)(D)(B)-
    Apache3031(B)-
    Yuma(D)(D)(B)-
    Crow(D)(D)(B)-
    Hidatsa2020(B)-
    Dakota7558(D)(D)
    Choctaw15221522
    Keres(D)(D)(D)(D)
    Cherokee200862525
    Pawnee(D)(D)(B)-
    American Indian(D)(D)(D)(D)
    Hungarian2991196250
    Arabic6,7151,1102,373477
    Hebrew3471585154
    African languages6,1149342,605566
    Amharic550225350164
    Chadic2535(D)(D)
    Cushite2,0056281,060384
    Sudanic22013711069
    Nilotic(D)(D)(D)(D)
    Swahili710211195119
    Bantu1,105490580350
    Mande5051(D)(D)
    Fulani135849581
    Kru, Ibo, Yoruba1,180357150109
    Efik(D)(D)(B)-
    African8084(D)(D)
    Other and unspecified languages401187151134
    Finnish135110(D)(D)
    Estonian(D)(D)(B)-
    Caucasian(D)(D)(B)-
    Aztecan(D)(D)(D)(D)
    Mayan languages145138115131
    Uncodable8553(D)(D)

    Notes
    • Number of speakers and Speak English less than "Very Well": Detailed-language estimates are rounded to the nearest multiple of five. Aggregate estimates ("language category" and "language sub-category" entries) are unrounded and appear in table B16001. Detailed-language estimates may not sum to aggregate estimates because of rounding.
    • Margin of Error and Margin of Error: Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. The degree of uncertainty for an estimate arising from sampling variability is represented through the use of a margin of error. The value shown here is the 90 percent margin of error. The margin of error can be interpreted roughly as providing a 90 percent probability that the interval defined by the estimate minus the margin of error and the estimate plus the margin of error (the lower and upper confidence bounds) contains the true value. In addition to sampling variability, the ACS estimates are subject to nonsampling error (for a discussion of nonsampling variability, see Accuracy of the Data. The effect of nonsampling error is not represented in these tables.
    • (D): Data withheld to avoid disclosure.
    • (B): Either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute an estimate.
    • (X): Question does not apply.
    • -: Either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute a standard error and thus the margin of error. A statistical test is not appropriate.
    • 3 N.E.C. stands for not elsewhere classified. These are languages where respondents indicated they spoke either Indian or Pakistan. For Indian, it cannot be determined if the respondent spoke a native American language or spoke a language from India. For Pakistan, respondents wrote in Pakistan but it cannot be determined which one of the languages spoken in Pakistan is actually being spoken. To distinguish these languages, n.e.c. is used to indicated they are not classified in any other language code.
    • This category includes literal write-ins of Chinese as well as Hakka, Kan, Hsiang, Cantonese, Mandarin, Fuchow, Formosan, and Wu.


    Surnames by race:  Asian   |  Black   |  Hispanic   |  Native American   |  Two or More Races   |  White

    Surnames Alphabetical:  A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   X   Y   Z

    Most Common Male Names:  1-300  |   301-600  |   601-900  |   901+  |   Alphabetical list

    Most Common Female Names:  1-1000 1001-2000  |   2001-3000  |   3001+  |   Alphabetical list

    Popular Baby Names in the U.S. (Historic)  Boys: 1-250  |  251-500  |  501-750  |  751-1000        Girls: 1-250  |  251-500  |  501-750  |  751-1000

    Ancestry in the United States:  Ancestry by city  |   Mexican  |   German  |   Irish  |   English  |   African American  |   More



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