Hybrid is used to describe people with different races, countries or cultural backgrounds, such as people with different parents' skin colors, but it is also used to refer to offspring between different animals. The meaning of hybrid is basically the same as that of hybrid, but it has a strong derogatory meaning when used to address people.

In the west, the names of descendants of different races and countries are further subdivided into Amerasians, Anglo-European Indians, English-Irish hybrids, Latin American Indians, North American Indians and European whites.

The term amerasians first refers to the descendants of American troops and local women in Asia in Vietnam, World War II, Korean War and other wars. Due to the huge number, the US Congress passed American Public Law 97-359 (also known as the American-Asian Immigration Act) on June 22 1982, allowing such people to immigrate to the United States.