Telugu Americans are citizens of the United States of America who belong to the Telugu ethnic group. The vast majority of Telugu Americans trace their ancestry to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, but also from other neighbouring states including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Maharashtra, etc. Most of the Telugus that have migrated during 20th century were from the Krishna and Godavari delta regions of the Madras Presidency. During the 21st century, after the dot-com boom, Telugus from all regions of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana started migrating in high numbers.
Immigration to United States
In 2000, the Telugu population in the U.S. numbered around 87,543. By 2010, the number surged to 222,977 then 415,414 by 2017 and 644,700 by 2020 and 1,239,000 almost doubled by 2024 because of sudden rise in migration af students and corporate employees from Telugu states post COVID-19, it is also estimated that by 2030 Telugu population my cross 2,000,000 and it will become the first most spoken Indian language in USA by then. The rise in Telugu population is attributed to the increasing representation of South Indian diaspora in technological field specially after Y2K.[3] Brookings Institution Report revealed that Telugu states sent over 26,000 students between 2008 and 2012, most pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM fields).
The Telugu community in the United States is largely bilingual.[citation needed] A recent study by the US-based Center for Immigration Studies has shown Telugu as the fastest growing language in United States which has grown by 86% in the last seven years.[6] During the 2020 United States elections, the Telugu language was first listed on voter registration and ballot boxes in select locales.[7][8]
The U.S. states with the largest percentage of Telugu speakers are:
Vamsi K. Mootha - Physician-scientist, investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and professor of Systems Biology and of Medicine at Harvard Medical School
Dattatreyudu Nori - Vice Chairman of the Radiation Oncologist Department at The New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City
Rajeswari Udayagiri, Entrepreneur, founder, and president of Radio Surabhi - the first 24x7 Telugu FM Radio Channel in USA, RJ, Anchor, Theater personality, artistic director, and Actress
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 Kuchibhotla and Madasani were Iranians or illegal immigrants; later shooting them, killing Kuchibhotla and wounding Madasani as well as Ian Grillot, a white American who had come to the defense of Kuchibhotla and Madasani. A victim of the 2023 Allen, Texas outlet mall shooting, Aishwarya Thatikonda, was a Telugu immigrant from Hyderabad who had moved to Dallas.
