If this is in the wrong place, the moderators will fix it.

John and Mary, born in Fredonia, leave that country and come to the United States. . In the US, they have a child, Hubert. Hubert marries Sonia whose parents also came from Fredonia and they have a child named William.

What generation is William? I say William is second generation. John and Mary "generated" Hubert (first generation), who then "generated" William - second generation.

Many consider William third generation because he is the third Fredonian to LIVE here, NOT be born here.

What is William? Second or third?

I consider myself "fourth generation." My great grandfather was born in Germany, came to this country, and was naturalized [first generation in this country]. One of his sons, born in IL, was my grandfather [second generation], and one of my grandfather's sons, also born in IL, was my father [third generation]. I don't count my mother's side as giving me any "generation" status.

Michael, one of my library volunteers, considered himself a first-generation American. His parents had moved here from China, bringing him along as a baby. They eventually were naturalized, as was he.

Read this for more confusion:

Immigrant generations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigrant_generations)

Good question, Athos!

I !

Why was my correction deleted? It changes my question. Boooo.

>edited / correction added to original post -WG<

Second generation, in the way we have always done it, my family came from Germany and this is how we count it