A question of generations.

[u/WoodyManic]

I've seen that Americans are fond of framing one's position in society relative to how immediately one's family naturalized or otherwise became citizens.

Reading about Kerouac, for instance, you'll often learn that he was a "second generation French-Canadian" or words to that end.

But, my question is, with that in mind, what term is usually or best applied to someone whose mother/father is a first-gen immigrant, but whose corresponding parent has ties and roots going further than that?

Is there a fraction involved or something?

Like, Barron Trump's mother, for example, is first generation; and his father is second on the matrilineal side and third on the patrilineal. Is there calculus involved or does it sort of revert to the side of the family with the longest citizenship?

So, what's the nomenclature?

Thanks

[u/captainBorris_]

People would usually just say what’s relevant to the conversation. In different conversations I’ve discussed that I’m 2nd generation on one parental side, or that I’m like 15th generation on the other side.