Do you think there is a typical amount of identities we take on?

Not sure I worded the main question well?

I was talking to a girlfriend and she was saying how it is odd to her that Catholics seem to take on an identity of being Catholic, and she, raised as some other sort of Christian faith, I don’t remember which, found it odd, because to her religion is just something you believe in, it is not part of her identity.

Then the conversation moved onto how in the northeast and midwest people seemed more connected to their families country of origin before emigrating to the US compared to people where we live in the Memphis area. I hypothesized that maybe the people in our area have been Americans for more generations, and so maybe some of the traditions and connections with the mother country get lost over time. She said she thinks it is because southerners identify strongly with being southern. I found that interesting.

I was thinking, does the typical person only fit in a certain amount of things they strongly identify with? I have American, Jewish, and female at the top of my list. Being from the northeast is not a strong identity for me, at least not when I grew up and lived there. I only thought about it when I moved to other parts of the country.

Obviously we can be many things, but as one part of our identity becomes very strong, do we push aside other ones?