The White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, or WASP, is a largely American trope that today is used to describe the stereotypical "white" person in American culture. It originally referred to New Englanders, New Yorkers, and Tidewater Southerners from wealthy backgrounds, but eventually came to be applied as well to inland Southerners, Midwesterners, and Westerners of Anglo-Saxon descent as well, regardless of income level. It also came to be roughly synonymous with "Protestant," so that even Protestant Irish and Germans were eventually called WASPs. Examples of White Anglo Saxon Protestant include: