Ariana Grande
Grande in 2011, s_bukley / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Ariana Grande-Butera
Place of Birth: Boca Raton, Florida, U.S.
Date of Birth: June 26, 1993
Ethnicity: Italian [including Sicilian]
Ariana Grande is an American singer and actress. She has starred on the shows Victorious, Sam & Cat, and Scream Queens, and appeared in the film Don’t Look Up. Her most popular songs include “The Way,” “Problem,” “Break Free,” “Bang Bang,” “Love Me Harder,” “Focus,” “Dangerous Woman,” “Side to Side,” “No Tears Left to Cry,” “God Is a Woman,” “Thank U, Next,” “7 Rings,” “Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored,” “Boyfriend,” “Stuck with U,” “Rain on Me,” “Positions,” “Save Your Tears,” and “Die for You.”
Her mother, Joan Grande, has been CEO of the family firm, a manufacturer of communications and safety equipment. Her father, Edward Butera, owns a graphic design firm. Her parents are of Italian descent. She stated on her Twitter account that she is of half Sicilian and half Abruzzese Italian ancestry. Her maternal half-brother, Frankie Grande, is an actor, dancer, and musician. A picture of Ariana’s father can be seen here, and a picture of some of her father’s family can be seen here. A picture of Ariana’s mother can be seen here. A picture of Ariana’s paternal grandfather can be seen here, and a picture of Ariana with her maternal grandparents can be seen here.
Ariana’s paternal grandfather was Anthony Vincent Charles Butera (the son of Carlos/Charles Antonio Butera and Marie/Mary Passalaqua/Passalacqua). Anthony was born in New Jersey. Ariana’s great-grandfather Charles was born in New Jersey, to Italian parents, Antonino Butera and Magherita Azzara/Azzala, from Menfi, Provincia di Agrigento, Sicily. Marie was Italian. The surname Butera is Sicilian.
Ariana’s paternal grandmother was Florence P. Citrano (the daughter of Enrico “Henry” Cetrano and Lucia “Lucy” Ciarfella). Florence was born in Newark, New Jersey, to Italian emigrants, from Civitaquana, Abruzzo. Enrico was the son of Carmine Cetrano and Giulia/Julia Trabucco. Lucia was the daughter of Ascenzio Ciarfella and Margherita Taddeo.
Ariana’s maternal grandfather was Frank Anthony Grande (the son of Antonio “Anthony” Grande and Filomena/Felmino “Philomena”/”Phyllis” Lavenditti). Frank was born in New York, to Italian parents. Antonio was born, c. 1900, the son of Raffaela/Raffaele V. Grande (b. 1876) and Sabato/Rose Cardalisca (b. July 1877, in Lanciano, Province of Chieti, Abruzzo, Italy), and moved to the U.S. in May 1903. Ariana’s great-grandmother Filomena was the daughter of Francesco Lavenditti/La Venditti and Benedetta Perrotti. Ariana’s grandfather also had roots in Bojano and Gildone, in Campobasso.
Ariana’s maternal grandmother is Marjorie M. Damico (the daughter of John Viovanni Damico/D’Amico and Felomina F. “Minnie” Gigante). Marjorie was born in New York, to Italian parents, with roots in San Fele, Potenza, Basilicata.
Ariana also once twitted that she “just found out my grandparents are heavily greek and part north African,” and then specified “…the chart says Greece/Italy. I just thought it was funny. I’m assuming the North African bit is Moroccan or Tunisia?”
Ariana’s reference to “the chart” makes it likely that she took some sort of DNA test to map out her heritage. DNA tests for people of Sicilian descent sometimes indicate some kind of Greek or North African ancestry.
Grande in 2013, photo by Prphotos.com
Sources: Genealogies of Ariana Grande – https://www.geni.com
https://2.bp.blogspot.com
Ariana’s paternal grandfather, Anthony Vincent Charles Butera, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Obituary of Ariana’s paternal grandmother, Florence P. (Citrano) Butera – https://www.obrienfuneralhome.com
History of Ariana’s maternal grandparents, Frank Anthony Grande and Marjorie M. Damico – https://www.youtube.com
Ariana’s half-brother, Frankie Grande, 2008, photo by Prphotos.com
She has Greek and North African ancestry. She mentioned it on twitter.
Southern Italians are Greeks with minor North African and Germanic Norman ancestry.
Southern Italy in ancient Greco-Roman times was colonized by The Greeks (Magna Graecia), but yeah, her ancestry is normal for an Italic.
yeah i was about to say that’s common for her ancestry, she just doesn’t know anything about the history of Italy, despite being Italian
She’s probably just saying what some pop DNA test said. Those test are worthless.
One can distinguish between Northern European DNA and Southern European DNA because certain genetic markers are characteristic to one region but not another. The idea that you can reliably distinguish between a Greek and an Italian is rubbish.
Those test can generally predict with reasonable accuracy the broad region one’s ancestors came from (Northwestern Europe, Souther Europe, Eastern Europe, etc.). They can’t distinguish between Greeks and Italians.
North Africans have certain genetic markers typically not found in Europeans so a DNA test might be able to indicate North African ancestry.
In any event, North Africans, Greeks, and Italians all have a very similar phenotype anyway; they’re about as similar to each other in appearance as Irishmen, Englishmen, and Germans and about as close to geographically. These are basically man made political borders drawn in and around regions where the indigenous population tend to all have more or less the same phenotype (the basic Mediterranean type, meaning ‘olive skin’, dark hair and eyes). Mediterranean Africa isn’t part of ‘black Africa! and their DNA is more like Europeans and Middle Eastern Caucasians than subsaharan blacks.
No..I personally dont think the Irish look like Germans..some North Africans can pass as Southern Europeans but they’re different. Also Greeks are more Mediterraneans than Italians because of geographic position.
North Africans do not phenotypically look like Greeks/Italians.
They’re characterized by Arabid, Berberid, Saharid, and Aegyptid phenotypes, those rarely exist in Europe, and Europeans who have those phenotypes obviously have North African admixture.
North Africans are a mix due to seemingly endless invasions by invaders like the Romans, Arabs, Vandals, Persians, and finally the Turks (who ruled the Magreb for 600 years). Not to forget the Jews from Morocco and Tunisia. Essentially North Africans are descendants of indigenous Amazigh (Berber) who are genetically similar to Somalis, Beja, Tuareg, and some Ethiopian. All Africans,as well as, some Greeks that are y dna E1b are tied together by a gene called P-N2. North Africans are just as African as their southern neighbours but are far more mixed.
I’m sorry but she don’t look European to me, at all. I was shocked to hear it.
but she doesn’t acutaly look like the pics above.
look at her pics with out the fake tan,makeup,and fake hair color.she looks white in this picture.
http://korpoarto.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/b1/Ariana%20Grande%20Without%20Makeup%2028.jpg
if you still say your shocked then you are blind,.
and not all Europeans are pale ,and most of Europe has brown eyes and brown hair.
If she doesn’t look European to you then neither does all of Southern Europe and Eastern Europe largely.
Your perception of ‘white’ consists of Anglo-Germanic phenotypes of the typical White American, who obviously isn’t going to be as dark as her.
Inform yourself on anthropology.
I’m not surprised she’s Italian. She looks it.
i dont mean to be mean or anything but i think she denies her latino roots to be liked more and be considered white!
She has Italian, Greek, Moroccan & Tunisian ancestry. Maybe her North African roots make her her Latino, because some North Africans (like Moroccans) do look Latino.
It’s because many Latinos are of South European Caucasian ancestry who tend to have darker hair and skin even without black or Native ancestry. Latino is NOT a race.
Lol you guys want her to be Latino so bad! Both her parents sound very Italian and don’t have a Latin bone in their body. Yes those are her roots, but she considers herself Italian, not Spanish/Latin. Italian is Italian, Latino is Latino.
Italians ARE Latin! Latin originated from there. Ignoramus.
LOL I know right ahh Americans…. Italy is the birth place of Latinism there the word comes from xD There’s even a place called Latina… Latina, Laizo in Italy xD
No. She is not Latin-AMERICAN if that is what they mean.
If her name was Ariana Perez she would not be considered white in the US. It’s sad how a family name magically changes your ethnicty.
That’s definitely an American thing about being black/white. Ariana Grande is considered of European descent maybe that is the best way to look at it. Also someone with the name Perez could also be fully European if they are from Spain.
She’s an East Med, so I would say she looks “white” irregardless of her surname.