More than 140 languages are spoken across Metro Nashville Public Schools, and that number reflects the city’s real linguistic diversity rather than just what a census checkbox captures. Nashville is one of the most linguistically diverse mid-size cities in the United States, a fact that surprises people who picture Tennessee as entirely English-speaking.
English and Spanish
English is the primary language of the vast majority of Nashville residents. About 82.5% of households speak only English at home, according to American Community Survey data.
Spanish is the most common non-English language, spoken in approximately 8.8% of households. Nashville’s Hispanic population has grown rapidly, from under 10,000 in 1990 to over 70,000 today in Davidson County, with projections suggesting Hispanics will represent roughly a third of Davidson County’s population by 2040.
Kurdish: The Most Unexpected Major Language
Nashville is home to the largest Kurdish community in the United States, estimated at 15,000 to 20,000 people. Kurdish refugees began arriving in Nashville in the 1970s, fleeing political persecution in Iraq and Turkey, and the community has grown through family reunification and continued refugee resettlement ever since. Kurdish (primarily Kurmanji and Sorani dialects) is spoken in grocery stores, restaurants, and mosques across parts of the metro, particularly in the Antioch corridor.
This concentration is significant enough that Nashville has been called the Kurdish capital of America, a designation the community itself uses with pride.
Other Major Language Communities
Vietnamese and Lao: Nashville received significant Southeast Asian refugee populations following the Vietnam War and subsequent conflicts in Southeast Asia. Vietnamese and Lao communities established in the 1970s and 1980s have grown and deepened over decades. International Boulevard and the surrounding area in the south part of the city has a visible Vietnamese commercial presence.
Somali and East African languages: Nashville resettled significant numbers of Somali refugees beginning in the late 1990s. The East African community, which includes Ethiopians and Eritreans, is one of the fastest-growing immigrant groups in the metro. African languages constitute a higher percentage of Nashville’s immigrant population (about double the national average) than most comparably-sized American cities.
Arabic: Nashville’s Arab community includes communities from Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen, and other countries, connected partly to the Kurdish-Iraqi migration and partly to subsequent waves of Middle Eastern immigration.
Nepali and Bhutanese: Nashville received one of the largest concentrations of Bhutanese refugees, ethnic Nepali speakers from Bhutan, following the major resettlement program that began in 2007–2009. This community is now well-established in the metro.
The School System as a Mirror
Metro Nashville Public Schools’ statistic of 140-plus languages is the clearest evidence of actual daily linguistic diversity. Roughly 30% of MNPS students speak a language other than English at home. The school system operates extensive English Language Learner (ELL) programs and employs interpreters for dozens of languages for parent communication.
Nashville’s Welcoming Reputation
Nashville is the birthplace of the Welcoming America movement, a national nonprofit initiative promoting immigrant integration that originated here and spread to cities across the country. In 2009, Nashville voters rejected a proposed English-only ordinance, a decision that reflected the city’s stated values around immigrant community. The city maintains an Office for Immigrant and Refugee Affairs within city government.
Sources
- American Community Survey (ACS), Davidson County language data, 2022
- Metro Nashville Public Schools, English Language Learner program data
- Welcoming America, organization history
- Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC)
- Kurdish Cultural Center of Nashville
- National Archives and Records Administration, refugee resettlement records