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Telugu Americans

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Telugu Americans
అమెరికా తెలుగువారు
Amerikā Teluguvāru
The spread of the Telugu language in the United States according to the 2000 U.S. Census.
Total population
733,527 (People in Telugu-language households, 2024)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Languages
Predominantly:
Related ethnic groups

Telugu Americans (Telugu: అమెరికా తెలుగువారు, romanized: Amerikā Teluguvāru) are Americans of Telugu descent or heritage. The community has its principal origins in the Telugu-speaking regions of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in India. The Telugu diaspora in the United States developed largely after Indian independence, with migration including students, scientists, engineers, physicians, and other professionals.[2]

The Telugu-speaking population of the United States grew substantially during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. In the 2024 American Community Survey, an estimated 605,544 people aged five and older reported speaking Telugu at home.[3] Earlier Census-derived estimates counted 222,977 Telugu speakers in 2010 and 415,414 in 2017, an increase of 86 percent over seven years.[4]

History and migration

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Early presence and immigration restrictions

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Telugu emigration predates the development of a substantial Telugu community in the United States. During the colonial period, Telugu migrants traveled primarily to British and French colonial territories in regions including Southeast Asia, Africa, the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific. Bhat and Bhaskar distinguish this older migration from the Telugu diaspora in the United States, which they describe as principally a post-independence phenomenon.[5]

Individual Telugu-speaking people nevertheless lived in the United States before the emergence of a larger postwar community. Philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti, who was born into a Telugu-speaking family in Madanapalle, moved to Ojai, California, in 1922 and maintained a residence there for much of the remainder of his life.[6][7] Biochemist Yellapragada Subbarow, who was born into a Telugu family in the West Godavari region, later studied at the Harvard School of Tropical Medicine in Boston and joined Harvard Medical School after receiving his diploma in tropical medicine in 1924.[8]

Their presence occurred during a period of severe restrictions on immigration from Asia. The Immigration Act of 1917 established the Asiatic Barred Zone, while allowing exemptions for categories including professionals and students and their families. The Immigration Act of 1924 further restricted Asian immigration by barring immigrants considered ineligible for citizenship.[9] The Luce–Celler Act of 1946 later extended naturalization rights and an immigration quota to Indians.[10]

Postwar and post-1965 migration

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Telugu migration to the United States became more sustained after Indian independence. In an ethnographic study of migration from Coastal Andhra, scholar Sanam Roohi found families whose members had gone to the United States for higher education as early as the 1950s and described the region as sending significant numbers of migrants to the United States from the 1960s onward.[11]

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 abolished the national-origins quota system and established an immigration framework that gave preference to highly skilled immigrants and family reunification.[12] Roohi identifies the legislation as an important turning point for migration from Coastal Andhra, after which physicians, engineers, scientists, pharmacists and other highly skilled workers migrated to the United States in greater numbers. Existing family and community networks also helped circulate information about educational opportunities, medical residencies, employment and immigration procedures.[11]

Community formation

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Informal cultural gatherings preceded the growth of formal Telugu organizations in the United States. Bhat and Bhaskar report that Telugu films were difficult to obtain in the country during the 1950s and 1960s and that film prints acquired by immigrants were circulated among Telugu communities in different states. Film screenings became occasions for Telugu immigrants to gather, and the authors link these recurring gatherings to the subsequent development of Telugu cultural associations.[5]

The Telugu Association of Greater Chicago was established in 1971, followed by the growth of additional regional and local Telugu associations.[5] As the Telugu population in the United States expanded during the 1970s, efforts were also made to establish a national organization. The Telugu Association of North America (TANA) came into being with its first convention in 1977.[13] Telugu associations developed activities centered on maintaining the language and cultural identity, organizing festivals and literary programs, supporting second-generation cultural activities, and maintaining social and institutional links with India.[5]

Information technology and student migration

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The growth of the information-technology industry produced a later expansion of Telugu migration. In her study of Coastal Andhra migration, Roohi describes software engineers who began moving to the United States from the late 1980s as a second major migration wave, following the earlier migration of medical, scientific and other professionals. This movement intensified around the turn of the 21st century, with many technology workers entering through the H-1B visa program and contract employment. Family members, friends and village networks already present in the United States frequently assisted later migrants.[11]

Higher education became an increasingly important pathway during the 2000s. Roohi describes a subsequent migration stream in which families in Andhra Pradesh invested in American master's-level education, particularly in computer science and related fields, as a route to employment in the United States.[11] Bhat and Bhaskar also identify the expansion of professional education in India and economic liberalization after 1990 as factors contributing to increased migration by Telugu students and professionals.[5]

A 2014 Brookings Institution study of F-1 student-visa records found that Hyderabad, a major city in the Telugu-speaking region, sent 26,220 students to the United States between 2008 and 2012. Approximately 20,800, or 80 percent, studied in STEM fields.[14] Because the Brookings data classify students by city of origin rather than ethnicity or language, the Hyderabad figures include students from non-Telugu backgrounds.

Dispersion

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Telugu people constitute one of the largest groups of Indian Americans.[15] The majority of Telugu Americans live in metropolitan areas with significant economic importance in STEM fields. These areas include the Bay Area, the Texas Triangle, Philadelphia metropolitan area, Chicagoland, Central Jersey, Northern Virginia, Research Triangle, as well as the Seattle and Baltimore metropolitan areas. Smaller, but significant populations of Telugu Americans exist throughout the country in other metropolitan and micropolitan areas of almost every state.[16] These include Greater Boston, Kansas City, Metro Detroit, Greater Cleveland, and Minneapolis–Saint Paul.

Religion

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An academic study of Telugu immigrants in the United States notes that Telugu associations have promoted Telugu identity through activities including the celebration of festivals at local Hindu temples.[17] In 1989, a group of Telugu-speaking Hindus in New Jersey organized the Hindu Temple and Cultural Society to establish a temple with Venkateswara as its principal deity.[18] A 2023 NPR profile of Telugu families in Novi, Michigan, documented the celebration of Diwali and household worship of Hindu deities.[19]

Telugu-language Christian congregations have also been documented in the United States. Research archived by Harvard University's Pluralism Project describes Telugu-language Christian worship and multiple Telugu congregations in the Chicago metropolitan area.[20] The 2018 scholarly volume Diaspora Christianities: Global Scattering and Gathering of South Asian Christians also includes a chapter devoted to the global Telugu Christian diaspora.[21]

Language

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A recent study by the American Center for Immigration Studies showed Telugu as the fastest growing language in United States, which has grown by 86% in the last seven years.[22]

During the 2020 United States elections, the Telugu language was first listed on voter registration and ballot boxes in select locales.[23][24]

The states with the highest percentages of Telugu speakers are:

Serial No The states with the highest percentages of Telugu speakers
State Percentage (%)
1 New Jersey 0.35
2 Delaware 0.25
3 Virginia 0.25
4 Connecticut 0.18
5 Illinois 0.17
6 Texas 0.16
7 California 0.15
8 Maryland 0.15
9 Georgia 0.14
10 New Hampshire 0.13
11 Washington 0.13
12 Massachusetts 0.13
13 Kansas 0.13
14 Michigan 0.12
15 Minnesota 0.11
16 North Carolina 0.10
17 Arizona 0.10
18 Pennsylvania 0.09
19 Ohio 0.07

Notable people

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Usha Vance,First Second Lady Of Us of Indian Origin,Telugu Origin

Government, politics, and philanthropy

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Medicine, science, and technology

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Activism, arts, literature, and media

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Sports

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Social issues

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Telugu Americans have suffered from hate crimes in America. The most notable of these incidents was the 2017 Olathe, Kansas shooting, in which a white supremacist, Adam Purinton, harassed two Telugu immigrants, Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, under the pretense that they were Iranians and or illegal immigrants. Purinton proceeded to shoot them, killing Kuchibhotla and wounding Madasani, as well as Ian Grillot, a White American who had come to their defense.

Aishwarya Thatikonda, a Telugu immigrant from Hyderabad and a Dallas resident, was a victim of the 2023 Allen, Texas outlet mall shooting.

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ "ACS 1-Year Estimates Public Use Microdata Sample (2024): Language Spoken at Home". U.S. Census Bureau, Microdata Access Tool (MDAT). 2024. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  2. ↑ Bhat, Chandrashekhar; Bhaskar, T. L. S. (2007). "Contextualising Diasporic Identity: Implications of Time and Space on Telugu Immigrants". In Oonk, Gijsbert (ed.). Global Indian Diasporas: Exploring Trajectories of Migration and Theory. Amsterdam University Press. pp. 89–118. doi:10.1017/9789048501069.004.
  3. ↑ "State Language Data – United States". Migration Policy Institute. 2024. Retrieved August 31, 2026.
  4. ↑ Bhattacharya, Ananya (September 24, 2018). "America's fastest growing foreign language is from south India". Quartz. Retrieved August 31, 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Bhat, Chandrashekhar; Bhaskar, T. L. S. (2007). "Contextualising Diasporic Identity: Implications of Time and Space on Telugu Immigrants". In Oonk, Gijsbert (ed.). Global Indian Diasporas: Exploring Trajectories of Migration and Theory. Amsterdam University Press. pp. 89–118. doi:10.1017/9789048501069.004.
  6. ↑ Jones, Constance A. (2025). J. Krishnamurti: Self-Inquiry, Awakening, and Transformation. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781009337762. ISBN 9781009494717.
  7. ↑ "Jiddu Krishnamurti, 90, Indian Philosopher, Dies". Los Angeles Times. February 18, 1986. Retrieved August 31, 2026.
  8. ↑ Bharti, Ankit H.; Marfatia, Yogesh S. (2017). "Yellapragada SubbaRow – The unsung Indian biochemist behind methotrexate and other drugs". Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology. 83 (6): 733–735. doi:10.4103/ijdvl.IJDVL_1018_16. PMID 28948942.
  9. ↑ "Immigration from Asia and the Pacific, 1870s to 1950s". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved August 31, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Luce-Celler Act of 1946". Immigration History. Retrieved August 31, 2026.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Roohi, Sanam (2017). "Caste, kinship and the realisation of 'American Dream': high-skilled Telugu migrants in the U.S.A.". Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. 43 (16): 2756–2770. doi:10.1080/1369183X.2017.1314598.
  12. ↑ "Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965". History, Art & Archives. United States House of Representatives. Retrieved August 31, 2026.
  13. ↑ Roohi, Sanam (2018). "Efficient Donors, Meritorious Receivers: Professionalizing transnational philanthropy in coastal Andhra". Modern Asian Studies. 52 (1): 214–237. doi:10.1017/S0026749X17000622.
  14. ↑ Ruiz, Neil G. (August 29, 2014). The Geography of Foreign Students in U.S. Higher Education: Origins and Destinations (Report). Brookings Institution. Retrieved August 31, 2026.
  15. ↑ Telugu, Reality Check team and BBC (2018-10-21). "Do you speak Telugu? Welcome to America". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  16. ↑ Avadhuta, Mahesh (2017-12-14). "Telugu language scores big in the US". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  17. ↑ Bhat, Chandrashekhar; Bhaskar, T. L. S. (2007). "Contextualising Diasporic Identity: Implications of Time and Space on Telugu Immigrants". In Oonk, Gijsbert (ed.). Global Indian Diasporas: Exploring Trajectories of Migration and Theory. Amsterdam University Press. p. 107.
  18. ↑ "Balaji Mandir/Sri Venkateswara Temple, Hindu Temple and Cultural Society of USA, Inc. (Bridgewater Temple)". Pluralism Project Archive. Harvard University. Retrieved August 31, 2026.
  19. ↑ Pamarthy, Akash (May 1, 2023). "How the Telugu immigrant community is instilling their culture in the next generation". NPR. Retrieved August 31, 2026.
  20. ↑ "Indian Religious Diversity Within a U.S. Context: How Are New Immigrant Evangelical Christian Indian Communities Responding?". Pluralism Project Archive. Harvard University. Retrieved August 31, 2026.
  21. ↑ Paturi, Joseph (2018). "Global Telugu Christian Diaspora". In George, Sam (ed.). Diaspora Christianities: Global Scattering and Gathering of South Asian Christians. Fortress Press. pp. 158–172. doi:10.2307/j.ctv47w3nj.16.
  22. ↑ Bhattacharya, Ananya. "America's fastest growing foreign language is from south India". Quartz. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  23. ↑ "US Presidential Election 2020: Telugu Appears On Ballot Boxes In California". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  24. ↑ "Voter ballot papers in the U.S elections offered in Telugu and Urdu". The Siasat Daily. 2020-10-21. Retrieved 2020-12-08.

Further reading

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