Beyoncé
Beyoncé in 2010, photo by kathclick/bigstock.com
Birth Name: Beyoncé Giselle Knowles
Place of Birth: Houston, Harris, Texas, U.S.
Date of Birth: September 4, 1981
Ethnicity:
*father – African-American
*mother – Louisiana Creole, including African, French, Acadian/French-Canadian, as well as distant Irish and Breton, remote Penobscot First Nations
Beyoncé, also known as Harmonies by The Hive, Queen Bey or Queen B, Third Ward Trill, Sasha Fierce, and Beyoncé Knowles, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, director, and businessperson. She was a member of R&B girl group Destiny’s Child, along with Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, and also, originally, LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson. As a solo artist, she has won the most Grammy Awards of any person, at 32, and has sold over 200 million records worldwide. Often exploring themes of feminism and womanism, her songs include “Crazy in Love,” “Baby Boy,” “Me, Myself and I,” “Check on It,” “Déjà Vu,” “Irreplaceable,” “Beautiful Liar,” “If I Were a Boy,” “Single Ladies,” “Halo,” “Run the World (Girls),” “Drunk in Love,” “Formation,” “Perfect Duet,” “Break My Soul,” “Cuff It,” “Texas Hold ‘Em,” and “II Most Wanted.” Beyoncé has starred in the films Carmen: A Hip Hopera, Austin Powers in Goldmember, The Fighting Temptations, The Pink Panther (2006), Dreamgirls, Cadillac Records, Obsessed (2009), Epic (2013), and Disney’s The Lion King (2019), the latter two in voice role. She co-directed her music films Life Is But a Dream, Lemonade, and Black Is King, which she also co-wrote; and directed and wrote her music films Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé and Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé.
Beyoncé is the daughter of Tina Knowles (born Célestine Ann Beyincé), a fashion designer, and Mathew C. Knowles, a businessperson and talent manager. Her sister is singer and actress Solange Knowles. They are the first sisters to have each had No. 1 albums. She is married to rapper and music producer Jay-Z, with whom she has three children, including Blue Ivy Carter. Beyoncé and Jay-Z are in a band together, The Carters. Beyoncé is a step-sister of actress Bianca Lawson. Her mother is married to Bianca’s father, actor Richard Lawson. Beyoncé founded management company Parkwood Entertainment.
Beyoncé’s father is African-American. Beyoncé’s maternal grandparents were French-speaking Louisiana Creoles, with roots in New Iberia; their ancestry was mostly African and French, including French ancestors who lived in Canada. Through her mother’s line, Beyoncé is a great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Acadian leader Joseph Broussard, and a descendant of Jean-Vincent d’Abbadie de Saint-Castin (born c. 1652), and of his wife, Marie Mathilde Pidianske/Penobscot (born c. 1658), who was the daughter of Madockawando Abenaki, a chief of the Penobscot (Panawahpskek) people. Through Marie Mathilde, Beyoncé is of 1/1024 Indigenous descent. Beyoncé is also of approximately 1/32 Irish ancestry, and has distant Breton roots on her mother’s side, as well. Her name, Beyoncé, is a tribute to her mother’s maiden name, Beyincé. Through her Broussard line, she is a third cousin of gospel singer and graphic artist Karen Showell.
Beyoncé has said that she has Nigerian ancestry. She may have discovered this through a DNA test.
Beyoncé’s parents Mathew and Tina, 2007, photo by bigstock.com
Beyoncé’s mother has also been described as having Cherokee and/or Choctaw Native American ancestry. It is not clear if this ancestry has been verified/documented. No Cherokee or Choctaw Native American ancestors appear on publicly available family trees of Beyoncé’s mother. One book biography, Crazy in Love: The Beyoncé Knowles Biography, also refers to Beyoncé’s mother having Spanish, Jewish, Chinese, and Indonesian ancestry. It is also not clear if this is accurate.
Beyoncé does not speak French or Spanish, but she has sung in Spanish before.
A picture of Beyoncé’s maternal grandparents can be seen here.
Beyoncé’s paternal grandfather was Matthew/Mathew Q. Knowles (the son of Taylor Knowles and Girlie/Gurlie/Gerlie Mae Miller). Matthew was born in Alabama. Taylor was the son of James Isaac Knowles and Sarah Elizabeth Dixon. Girlie was the daughter of Prophet Miller and Jane Hall.
Beyoncé’s paternal grandmother is Lou Helen Hogue (the daughter of Davis/Dave Hogue and Hester Moore). Lou was born in Alabama. Davis was the son of Jim Hogue and Rosetta Moore. Hester was the daughter of Pinkney Madison Moore and Arenia Goree.
Beyoncé’s maternal grandfather was Lumis/Lumas Albert Beyincé/Buyincé (the son of Alexandre/Alexon Beyincé/Buyincé and Mary Olevia). Lumis was born in Delcambre, Vermilion, Louisiana.
Beyoncé’s maternal grandmother was Agnès/Agnèz DeRouen/Deréon (the daughter of Eugène-Gustave DeRouen/Deréon/Derezen and Odelia/Odilia Broussard). Agnès was born in Decambre, Louisiana, and was a prominent seamstress. Eugène-Gustave likely was the son of Eloi Jacques DeRouen. Odelia was the daughter of Éloi/Éloy-René Rosemond Broussard, who was white, of French descent, and of Celestine Joséphine Lessee/Lesse/Lesser/Lacy/Lacey/Lessassier, who was black/mixed-race black, and the daughter of a slave mother. Éloi and Joséphine had many children together, and possibly married. A picture of Beyoncé’s great-grandfather Eugène-Gustave can be seen here.
LOS ANGELES – FEB 10: Beyoncé arrives to the Grammy Awards on February 10, 2013 in Hollywood, CA photo by DFree/Bigstock.com
Sources: Genealogies of Beyoncé – http://www.geni.com
https://famouskin.com
Family history of Beyoncé – https://www.hollywoodancestry.com
https://www.dailymail.co.uk
Family history of Beyoncé, by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak – http://www.huffingtonpost.com
Beyoncé’s paternal grandfather, Matthew/Mathew Q. Knowles, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Beyoncé’s paternal grandmother, Lou Helen Hogue, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Beyoncé’s maternal grandmother, Agnès/Agnèz DeRouen/Deréon, on 1910 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Article about Beyoncé’s maternal great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Joseph Broussard – http://www.biographi.ca
She is black american, case closed. Just because she is lightskinned with wavy long hair does not mean she is multiracial people.
she is white she is half black and half french
ummm she is Black not white not french, as french isnt a RACE mr coolz. Wow lol
To mr cool and kickup
First coolz,she’s not half french,maybe 25% or lower.Next you still can be black and yet still have other heritage.Also if she is Creole then she does have that lineage,but CREOLES are black people with recent or fairly recent European blood.All the creoles I know see themselves as black people, no matter their skin color or phenotype
excuse me but uhh im very much aware that blacks have other heritages umm i have black hispanic relatives….so go school someone else. Thank you kindly
To kickup
You took what I said wrong,you act as if I was attacking you,when I wasn’t.I was simply saying , you can have other bloodlines and still be a black person
fully understood and agreed with u as evidenced by my statement, thank you and have a great nite
i still say FRENCH is not A RACE…
Now this we agree on,French is not a race.It’s a ethnicity and culture and language
we agreed on both points actually
French is a race, if not, the define what a race is. You either believe there is nothing like race, ir you acknowledge the fact that French people aren’t exactly the same as all “white people” (which is not a race).
To Nigeria
Ok lets try it this way,(white,black etc) are all different colors of the same race.Were only different on the outside,and that’s because of climate,different foods,sex and time.Just because your born in a different land,doesn’t make you a different race.People have different cultural traditions(how they do things),their own history(about the things that happen to them personally)their own foods(what they like to eat)music etc.However all that doesn’t make them a different race.Saying your a different race is like saying your a horse and I’m a turtle;people aren’t different like that.The only real difference between people,is the way they think and the way live.See some people need to believe their better than someone else.That when you get names like(uncivilized,barbaric)that way they can say look were better,those people are not like us,we must be a different race.Then people teach their children to hate that group,for whatever reason.So french people are from France.French is their language,and they have their own cultural history and traditions,but their not a different race
fuzzybear…i really don’t think these people understand what the hell creole means it aggravates me and everyone wants to claim that they are ;-(
.
creole sums up all that other ish. and there’s so many definitions of what creole is- i have no idea what people mean by it. i advise everyone on this website to go to a bookstore and read up on it. the majority of louisiana black creoles came to louisiana by way of Haiti escaping the French Revolution-many brought their OWN slaves. They were an ectremely independent, wealthy-sometimes more- than the french plantation owners class, and were the products of heavy mixing between the Blacks and French. Some people considered themselves Black Creoles if there parents were French creoles. Not everyone mixed in New Orleans was considered creole because it was a select class of people, and some wouldn’t let mulattos,quadroons,octaroons etc.. into their ranks.some were very dark, some very light. I highly doubt beyone was creole, mixed maybe, but not creole. If none of her ancestors in the 1700-1800s owned thei rown property, were free blacks with money, owned their own businesses and had a trade- they weren’t creole.
To OMG
That one thing of a few things I didn’t like learning about Creoles.The fact that they owned slaves,and sometimes they were even worse to slaves than white owners
Hey have seen you the DNA test they did on hitlers family.Saying he had recent North African lineage.Although if it’s true,it wouldn’t be much of a shock.Seeing how Europe has and avg of 3-8% now,which means it was much higher in the past
Mr. stupid.. French is a ethnic background related to France and French people are White wtf?? and no she is partly Native and White (French) but she is mostly Black so she is Black.. and don’t think I’m Black.. I’m White.. but I’m real..
i just can not stand this woman she really pisses me off for some reason
no i just cant stand the fact that she steals
but apart from that i think she is talented
Well, she certainly has quite a bit of European skull structure. I figured from looking at her that she was half Caucasian and half Black (not African, but Blacks who mixed with other Americans over some centuries)
Louisiana was originally settled by the French… So, nothing new there!
ok,I do see your point.That is the standard definition,but I guess we in American can be a little different,and the black can be mixed with other things.However I don’t think 50/50,her mother not even that.Also we know Don’t anything about the father.I do know from other people who have had their DNA tested already, that she can be as little as 30% white and look like that
oh FB why do you fight.. she said before he came to ethnicelebs.com he thought she was 50/50.. she is Black and what ever they say why do you care.. if you care so much that means you are unsure.! I see that Whites (as I’m one) are trying to make her part (even she is from that 0.1% French) but she is Black.. because she is 99.97% Black.!
To Me
Who’s fighting?Next,I’m pretty confident about what I said.Also by being a Creole,I’m here to represent for that bloodline.And I believe she about an avg 25 to 30% Euro,not 99% black
Shes 75% black, 25% french stupid learn how to calculate percentages
so is beyonce’s dad african american mixed w/ some native, and is her mom african american, mixed w/ french and native?
Well I don’t know what her father is mixed with,I don’t think anyone ever founded out.Now her mother is of French and African descend,although I’m not sure she is of native blood.You don’t have to be that to be Creole
On the “Obsessed” movie website that Beyonce starred in, it had a quiz/game and it said that Beyonce has European blood.
Most likely it French,but can also be others along with that.There has been alot of European groups in Louisiana over the years
clearly, i dont see why thats such a shocker to some people. Lousiana was more culturally diverse than ANY american city or state- you can see it in the language,architecture, the music styles that embraced african/european culture. Racial mixing was not looked down upon as much- there was even a free class of blacks- it was’t really until lousiana became a part of america and white americans started crashing in that they attempted to reign in the free blacks. Extremely common for white males to be married yet have colored mistresses. So many accounts of the quadroon/octoroon balls where they would go to pick one out. theyd have children and set them up in a separate household and when their mixed children were old enough would send them to be educated in France where classist racism wasn’t as prevalent because of the french revolution or where they’d “pass”.however new orleans does have a spanish influence,
To OMG:
You speak of Placage,my gggrandfather was killed because of this kind of relationship.The story goes his white wife had it done
meant to say my ggrandfather