Geopolitical configurations and global ideological constructs inform and mold some Arab American self-identifications. While the pan-Arab paradigm has competed with national and village or city-based affiliations since the 1960s, the regional moniker Middle Eastern as an identity is relatively new for Arab Americans. “Middle Eastern” was coined in imperial war plans and geographic imaginings that defined the region in relation to Europe. Despite these shady beginnings, the term is beginning to become more popular among Arab Americans. Since Christians – practicing, non-practicing or secular – and secular Muslims are not attracted by the concept of the umma and pan-Islamic identifications and as pan-Arabism wanes, Middle Eastern offers a way out. “Middle Easterners” discards the Arab linguistic and cultural identity in favor of geography. Minorities such as Copts, Maronites, Assyrians and Chaldeans (to name a few) can relate to the term, but its definition remains problematic. How far east does the Middle East go? If Iranians, Turks and Israelis are included, what exactly does it mean to be Middle Eastern? Without shared cultural, linguistic and ethnic space, is the term devoid of real in-group meaning? Using data from interviews with Arab American Christians and experiences from ethnographic fieldwork in the Washington DC metro area, I will explore who uses this term and ask how the use of this term intersects with other self-identifications– namely gender, religion, nationality and even racial identifications.