Identifying with US religious groups for cultural, ethnic or familial reasons

For many years, Pew Research Center’s standard question about religious identity has asked, “What is your present religion, if any?” We asked that question again in the 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study (RLS).

This new survey, coming after a long period of decline in U.S. religious affiliation, also sought to measure whether Americans feel connected to religions that they do not identify with religiously.

So we asked respondents if they think of themselves as Catholic, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim or Hindu for reasons “aside from religion” – for example, ethnically, culturally, or because of their family background. Respondents had the option to say they felt connected to any of these five religions, or to none of them.³⁹

We asked this question because we wanted to know how many people feel an enduring attachment to a religious tradition they were raised in but no longer practice, or feel a connection to a particular religious group for other reasons – perhaps, for example, because they have a spouse, family member or close friend who belongs to the group, or because their ancestors belonged to the group – even though they don’t consider it their own religion.

In some previous research, we delved into the views and experiences of Americans who feel these kinds of cultural, ethnic or ancestral connections to the Jewish people, to Catholicism and to Islam.⁴⁰ In the new RLS, we have broadened the lens to include two additional religions that are often intertwined with ethnicity: Hinduism and Buddhism.

Table showing 12% of U.S. adults say they consider themselves Catholic for reasons ‘aside from religion’

The survey finds that more Americans identify as Catholic aside from religion (12%) than express a similar connection with any other religion we listed. Combining this 12% with the 19% of U.S. adults who identify Catholicism as their religion, a total of 31% of all U.S. adults identify as Catholic either religiously or aside from religion.

The survey also finds that 3% of U.S. adults identify as Jewish aside from religion, and an identical share identify as Buddhist aside from religion.⁴¹

Additionally, 1% of U.S. adults identify as Muslim aside from religion, and 1% identify as Hindu aside from religion. (All these percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number.)

The survey did not ask any follow-up questions about why respondents identify with these religious groups. But, using other questions in the survey, we can see that some people who identify with a religious tradition for reasons aside from religion also say they were raised in that religion or have a spouse or partner who identifies with that religion. For example, 62% of people who identify as Catholic aside from religion say they were raised Catholic or have a Catholic spouse or partner. Among adults who identify as Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim or Hindu aside from religion, about one-in-five or slightly fewer respondents say they were raised in these traditions or have a spouse or partner who identifies with the tradition.

Other people identify with more than one group aside from religion, which may suggest they have an affinity for many religions or all major religious traditions.

Still, other respondents – ranging from 12% among those who identify as Hindu aside from religion to 52% of those who identify as Jewish aside from religion – say they identify with one of these groups aside from religion even though they were not raised in that religion, do not have a spouse/partner who identifies with that group and do not identify with multiple traditions. Presumably, these respondents have some other connections to the traditions they identify with aside from religion that cannot be measured by this survey.

Read on for more about Americans who identify with the following traditions aside from religion:

Catholicism
Judaism
Buddhism
Islam
Hinduism

Catholic ‘aside from religion’

Overall, 12% of U.S. adults identify religiously as something other than Catholic but nevertheless say they think of themselves as Catholic “aside from religion” – for example culturally, ethnically, or because of their family background.

Among this group (people who identify as Catholic aside from religion), 57% say they were raised in the Catholic faith as children. And 12% say they currently have a spouse or partner who is Catholic by religion.

Altogether, 62% of people who identify as Catholic aside from religion were either raised Catholic or have a Catholic spouse or partner.

In terms of their current religion, 39% of people who consider themselves Catholic aside from religion identify as Christians – though not as Catholics by religion – while 7% identify with other (non-Christian) religions and 51% are religiously unaffiliated (i.e., atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular”).

Overall, 13% of people who identify as Catholic aside from religion also say they identify with one or more additional religious traditions aside from religion, indicating that they feel connections to multiple religions.

Jewish ‘aside from religion’

Past Pew Research Center surveys have examined U.S. adults who are not Jewish by religion but consider themselves Jewish for other reasons, such as ancestry or culture.

The current RLS finds that 3% of all U.S. adults are not Jewish by religion but consider themselves Jewish for reasons aside from religion, such as their ethnicity, culture, or family background.

About one-in-ten people in this group (11%) say they were raised Jewish by religion. And 5% have a spouse or partner who is Jewish by religion. Altogether, 16% were either raised Jewish themselves or have a spouse or partner who is Jewish.

Slightly more than half of people who identify as Jewish aside from religion identify religiously today as Christians, and 9% identify with another religion (other than Christianity or Judaism). One-third are religiously unaffiliated.

Overall, 35% of people who identify as Jewish aside from religion also identify with one or more additional religious traditions aside from religion.

Buddhist ‘aside from religion’

About 3% of U.S. adults consider themselves to be Buddhist aside from religion.

Within this group, 13% say they were raised Buddhist in childhood. And 5% say they have a Buddhist spouse or partner today. Altogether, 16% were either raised Buddhist or have a Buddhist spouse or partner.

The survey finds that among the people who identify as Buddhist aside from religion, 43% also identify with one or more other religious traditions aside from religion.

Muslim ‘aside from religion’

Overall, 1% of U.S. adults say they identify as Muslim aside from religion.

One-in-five people in this group were either raised Muslim (17%) or have a Muslim spouse or partner (5%).

About six-in-ten people who identify as Muslim aside from religion (58%) also identify with at least one other religious tradition aside from religion.

Hindu ‘aside from religion’

Among all respondents in the new survey, 1% say they think of themselves as Hindu aside from religion.

Within this group, 16% say they were raised Hindu and 6% have a Hindu spouse or partner. Altogether, 18% were either raised Hindu or have a Hindu spouse or partner.

Among people who identify as Hindu aside from religion, 72% also identify with at least one other religious tradition aside from religion.

Respondents who participated online or by phone were not asked about identifying with a group “aside from religion” if they had already identified with that group when asked about their religion. For example, respondents who said they are Catholic when asked about their religion were not subsequently asked if they think of themselves as Catholic “aside from religion,” and respondents who said they are Jewish when asked about their religion were not subsequently asked if they are Jewish “aside from religion.” On the other hand, respondents who completed the survey on paper (rather than online or by phone) received all five questions about identity aside from religion, because there was no straightforward way to filter these questions based on their previous responses when filling out the paper questionnaire. Paper respondents who identified with a group by religion are categorized as belonging to that group by religion and not “aside from religion.” In other words, no respondents in the survey are counted as identifying with a group both by religion and “aside from religion.” Respondents are categorized as identifying with a group religiously (if they answered the religion question that way), or “aside from religion,” or neither – but not both.↩

Refer to “Jewish Americans in 2020” for a detailed discussion of people who are “Jews of no religion” or otherwise connected to the Jewish community for reasons other than their current religious identity. Refer to “U.S. Catholics Open to Non-Traditional Families” for a discussion of cultural Catholicism. Refer to “Faith Among Black Americans” for a discussion of Black Americans who identify as Muslim “aside from religion.”↩

The finding that 3% of U.S. adults (after rounding) identify as Jewish aside from religion is roughly consistent with the Center’s earlier research, although in our major surveys of Jewish Americans we have focused on a smaller group (amounting to about 0.6% of U.S. adults) who identify as Jewish aside from religion AND who also have at least one Jewish parent AND who do not identify with any other religion. We refer to people who meet all three of these criteria as “Jews of no religion” because they answer a survey question about their present religion by saying they are atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.” The bigger 3% figure includes people who identify, religiously, as Christians or with other (non-Jewish) religions as well as people who may not have either a Jewish mother or a Jewish father. For more detail on Jewish identity in the United States, including the variety of ways that people express connections to Judaism and the Jewish people, refer to the Center’s report “Jewish Americans in 2020.”↩