For the first time, minority newborns will outnumber white newborns in the United States, pointing toward the day when the description minority will more accurately describe white folks in America's population, according to a new study.

In 2008, 48 percent of of children born in the United States were minority. That number surged from just 37 percent in 1990.

The study from the University of New Hampshire comes ahead of next week's start of the 2010 census that will attempt to accurately count and map the nation's more than 120 million households.

In my little section of the world in Silver Spring, Md., which is outside the nation's capital, Latinos are fueling the growth in the minority-baby population explosion. This population shift is exhibited most dramatically through the Spanish language street signs, posters and billboards that far outnumber those in English in some parts of the city.

Due to higher immigration and birth rates than other minority groups, some projections show the Latino population will more than double their share of the population in less than 40 years.

The black population is projected to rise from 35.8 to 61.4 million in the next 40 years, an increase of 71 percent.

Latinos number 42.7 million of U.S. residents. The Asian population is the third largest portion of America's minority population with 14.4 million people. Native Americans and Alaskans measure 4.5 million and native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders total just under 1 million U.S. residents.

Another forecast that will give nativists fits is that minorities are expected to outnumber whites around the year 2050.