AJ McLean
McLean in 2014, photo by kathclick/Bigstock.com
Birth Name: Alexander James McLean
Place of Birth: West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.
Date of Birth: January 9, 1978
Ethnicity: Puerto Rican (maternal grandfather), German, Scottish, one sixteenth Ashkenazi Jewish, as well as Irish, English, and French, possibly other
AJ McLean is an American singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, and model. He is a member of boy band Backstreet Boys, along with Nick Carter, Howie D., Brian Littrell, and Kevin Richardson. He is nicknamed “Bone,” “Mean McLean, “Bone Daddy”, “Johnny No Name,” and “Mr. Cool.”
AJ is the son of Denise Irma (Fernández) and Robert Blue “Bob” McLean. AJ has two children with his former wife, model and stylist Rochelle Karidis.
His father is of Scottish, and some Irish, English, and French, descent. His mother is of half Puerto Rican and half German ancestry.
A MyHeritage DNA test taken by AJ stated that his genetic ancestry is:
*39.8% Iberian
*19.5% East European
*19.1% Central & South America
*8.3% Nigerian
*6.8% Ashkenazi Jewish
*3.1% North & West European
*2.4% North African
*1% Middle Eastern
AJ has said that he is of one sixteenth Jewish ancestry, which dovetails with his DNA result.
Given his DNA result, it is likely that AJ’s Puerto Rican ancestry includes Spanish, Indigenous [Taíno], and African.
AJ’s paternal grandfather was Luther Irving McLean (the son of Alexander McLean and Flora Jane McDonald/MacDonald). Luther was born in Massachusetts. Alexander and Flora were born in Canada, to Scottish parents. Alexander was the son of John McLean and Catherine. Flora was the daughter of Alexander McDonald/MacDonald and Catharine/Catherine.
AJ’s paternal grandmother was Irene Frances/Francis Thompson (the daughter of Edwin Francis Thompson and Irene May Grant). A. J.’s grandmother Irene was born in Massachusetts. Edwin was the son of Nova Scotia-born parents, George Thompson, whose father was English, and Mary Jane Murphy, who had French, Irish, and English ancestry. AJ’s great-grandmother Irene was the daughter of Frederick “Fred” Grant and Mary Greer.
AJ’s maternal grandfather was Adolph Henry Fernández (the son of Adolfo/Adolph Fernández y Baria and Benedicta Rodriguez). A. J.’s grandfather Adolph was Puerto Rican. A. J.’s great-grandfather Adolfo was the son of Adolfo/Adolph Vicente Francisco Alfredo Ramon Maria de la Paz Fernández Rojas, who was from Algeciras, Andalusia, Spain, and had Cantabrian roots; and of Maria del Rosario Barea y Rodriguez.
AJ’s maternal grandmother was Ursula Margerat/Margaret Maier (the daughter of Wilhelm/William Maier and Kate Bubendey). Ursula was born in Germany, and moved to the U.S. around 1925.
Sources: Genealogy page of AJ’s paternal grandfather, Luther Irving McLean – https://www.wikitree.com
AJ’s paternal grandfather, Luther Irving McLean, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
AJ’s paternal grandmother, Irene Frances/Francis Thompson, on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
AJ’s paternal great-grandfather, Edwin Francis Thompson, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
AJ’s maternal grandfather, Adolph Henry Fernández, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Obituary of AJ’s maternal grandfather, Adolph Henry Fernández – http://www.legacy.com
AJ’s maternal great-grandfather, Adolfo/Adolph Fernández y Baria, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Marriage record of AJ’s maternal great-great-grandparents, Adolfo/Adolph Vicente Francisco Alfredo Ramon Maria de la Paz Fernández Rojas and Maria del Rosario Barea y Rodriguez – https://www.familysearch.org
AJ’s maternal grandmother, Ursula Margerat/Margaret Maier, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
As someone who has done some of these tests, I’ll second that MyHeritage is among the poorer ones. For one, they haven’t seemed to have fixed their “Scandinavian problem,” like Ancestry did. So much of “Scandinavia” for most people taking the test is actually British DNA, specifically the old Anglo-Saxon DNA.
The other big problem with ALL of the current popular tests is them trying to seperate Wales and Scotland out from England. Ireland is really genetically distinct and easy to differentiate, but the others are so mixed that it’s ridiculous to add them in with Ireland. Most of my European ancestry is English, and I scored 0% English on MyHeritage, whereas Ancestry pretty much nailed it from what I’ve been able to gather from geneaological records.
As someone else said, all of the test nail things at the continent level. But anything below that is a crap-shoot and guesswork, largely. MyHeritage in particular needs A LOT of work at the regional levels.
Oaken05, wanted to say well said. I agree with everything you said there. I slightly disagree with the last part though about “all of the test nail thing at the continent level. But anything below that is a crap-shoot and guesswork, largely.”
While I agree that the more specific a geographic region any test tries to determine becomes less accurate I have to give 23andme and ancestry DNA A LOT of credit. I am half Irish from Cork and Kerry and some how 23andme had those two cities narrowed down as my closest cities in my Irish ethnicity. Same With Ancestry DNA with their specific sub regions. Only 23andme could talk about my Scandinavia ancestry in much further detail. But I 100% agree myheritage DNA is still by far the least accurate/useful. The only reason I could see preferring myheritage is if you’re ethnically Jewish (non-Ashkenazi) they have 5 Jewish categories.
Yes, I guess it depends on how mixed you are, too. I imagine with people with very deep roots in a county or community, Ancestry and 23andMe can be VERY accurate even down to the sub-regional level. For more mixed people like myself, though, things get much more difficult for them.
AncestryDNA’s most recent update, for instance, was terrible for people of sub-Saharan African descent. I’ve heard 23andMe is much more accurate for Africans and thos descended from them. AncestryDNA seems to have gotten very accurate with Europe, on the other hand. I want to do 23andMe, but they are more expensive than the others.
Either that DNA test is wrong or his supposed ancestry on paper is fake, because as it is now it is a total mess.
I think every DNA test of the Backstreet Boys looks kind of strange, showing pretty large components from groups which aren’t very close to the countries where their ancestors were actually from. Of course everyone gets some small percentage of ancestry from a country they have no recent ancestors from, but 9.7% Balkan amounts to an ancestor that could be listed in the profile. Maybe these tests just aren’t very reliable.
I would not put too much attention to those regional sections. You know they are literally meaningless when testing companies group together Germany&France and Italy&Greece. Clear.
In this case, AJ it’s supposed to be 25% Cuban, but if you sum Central&South American and Nigerian the score is 27,4, so what the hell in goin’ on?
His Scottish grandfather was likely 100% Iberian. After all, we’ve learned from gel that Scottish people also has African, Arabian, south-east Asian, and Siberian ancestry, so maybe some of the Nigerian is from him as well.
You exactly wrote what a “The Guardian” article reported.
That’s because I copied it.
If you break it down, the average Scottish person is:
31% Arabian
28% South-East Asian
19% African
12% Scottish
10% Siberian
Some researchers found that 1% (sic) of Scots have “Berber” heritage. That is literally genetic noise and it does not mean that much, but press was very excited about that. Similarly a certain Austrian/German dictator was labelled as having “African” or “Jewish” blood, but it turns out a consistent minority of his fellow countrymen carry that haplogroup too. Big deal.
It’s also weird that Littrell and Richardson score an identical result (like they would be brothers), despite sharing only two grandparents.
Manila did a mistake. Richardson’s result is:
*44,1% English
*36,2% North&West European
*19,7% Irish, Scottish&Welsh
It’s myheritage. Everybody gets random Balkan and Nigerian on myheritage. I don’t really trust any of these tests on a sub-continental level, but when it comes to myheritage, I’ve seen so many 1-2% Nigerian on people who absolutely have no Nigerian ancestry, and they don’t get any African on 23&me and ancestry. Their Asian results are a complete mess. Their only upside is that, since it’s an Israeli company, it actually recognises Sephardi ancestry (ancestry just puts it down as Middle Eastern).
His MyHeritage DNA result is out. He has the following ethnicity:
* 39.8% Iberian
* 19.5% East European
* 19.1% Central & South American
* 8.3% Nigerian
* 6.8% Ashkenazi Jewish
* 3.1% North & West European
* 2.4% North African
* 1% Middle Eastern
https://blog.myheritage.com/2019/08/the-backstreet-boys-myheritage-dna-results-are-back/
6.8% is very close to the amount of Jewish ancestry that he claims. Maybe he’s telling the truth.
You have claimed before to be a quarter Jewish, not 1/16th.
Where did he say he has Jewish ancestry? I’m getting tired of these sourceless claims.
I found Adolfo Fernandezon a 1910 census:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VWVL-VVB
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVJX-D3GY
His parents’s were Adolfo Vicente Francisco Alfredo Ramon Maria de la Paz Fernandez Rojas (son of Vicente Fernandez Y Díaz and Maria Rojas Y Gonzalez) and Maria del Rosario Barea Y Rodriguez (daughter of Francisco Barea Y Marquez and Juana Paula Rodriguez). Adolfo was from Algeciras, Andalusia, Spain, his father was from Casar de Periedo, Cantabria.
How do you know that’s McLean’s great-grandfather?
They have the same birth date:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV9S-DXSX
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XT9S-TMX
Same birth place (San German, PR):
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JNKP-S48
Both lived in Mayaguez. Sounds like they’re the same person.