Björk

2005 Venice Film Festival - Drawing Restraint 9 - Photocall

Björk in 2005, photo by PrPhotos

Birth Name: Björk Guðmundsdóttir

Place of Birth: Reykjavik, Iceland

Date of Birth: November 21, 1965

Ethnicity: Icelandic

Björk is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, actress, and advocate for environmental causes. She has sold more than 22 million records worldwide. Björk has a distinct three-octave vocal range, with a musical output incorporating electronic, pop, experimental, trip hop, classical, and avant-garde styles. She is known for the songs “Play Dead,” “Big Time Sensuality,” “Violently Happy,” “Army of Me,” “It’s Oh So Quiet,” “Hyperballad,” and “I’ve Seen It All,” and starred in the film Dancer in the Dark. Her album “Biophilia” was an interactive app album with an education program. She was the lead singer of alternative rock band the Sugarcubes.

Björk is the daughter of father Guðmundur Gunnarsson, an electrician and union leader, and mother Hildur Rúna Hauksdóttir, a nature activist, homeopath, and nature conservationist. She has a son with her former husband Þór Eldon; and a daughter with her former partner, American artist Matthew Barney.

Aside from Icelandic, she has said that she has distant Irish ancestry. It is not clear if this Irish ancestry has been verified/documented.

Some have speculated that Björk could be of indigenous Inuit or Sami ethnicity, but there is no evidence of this being the case. Inuit or Sami people are not common in Iceland.

Björk’s patrilineal ancestry can be traced back to her seventh great-grandfather, Jón “Eldri” Þorgilsson.

Björk’s paternal grandfather is Gunnar Guðmundsson (the son of Guðmundur Jóhannesson and Kristín Gunnarsdóttir). Björk’s great-grandfather Guðmundur was the son of Jóhannes Guðmundsson and Ingibjörg Eysteinsdóttir. Kristín was the daughter of Gunnar Kristófersson and Kristín Guðmundsdóttir.

Björk’s paternal grandmother was Hallfríður Guðmundsdóttir (the daughter of Guðmundur “Briskó” Jónsson and Rósa Bachmann Jónsdóttir). Björk’s great-grandfather Guðmundur was the son of Jón Jónsson and Vilborg Guðlaugsdóttir. Rósa was the daughter of Jón Bachmann Jósefsson and Hallfríður Einarsdóttir.

Björk’s maternal grandfather was Guðjón Þórir Tómasson (the son of Tómas Sigurðsson and Sigrún Kristinsdóttir). Guðjón was born in Dalvik, Northeast, Iceland. Björk’s mother was raised and adopted by her own stepfather, Haukur/Hauk Freygarð Guðjónsson. Haukur was the son of Guðjón Guðjónsson and Sveinbjörg Jónsdóttir.

Björk’s maternal grandmother was named Guðrún Helgadóttir/Ásmundsdóttir (born Helgudóttir, the daughter of Helga Guðbjörg Helgadóttir). Guðrún was adopted by Ásmundur Gestsson and Sigurlaug Pálsdóttir. Helga was the daughter of Helgi Andrésson and Helga Björnsdóttir.

Björk’s matrilineal ancestry can be traced back to her fifth great-grandmother, Olufa Nicolausdóttir.

Sources: Genealogies of Bjork – http://gw.geneanet.org
https://www.geni.com

Genealogy of Björk (focusing on her father’s side) – http://mediasvc.ancestry.com

Obituary of Björk’s mother – https://www.dv.is

Obituary of Björk’s maternal granduncle, Andrés Ásmundsson – http://www.mbl.is

ethnic

Curious about ethnicity

146 Responses

  1. capagggez123 says:

    she does not look ethnic Russian and she does not look Slavic

  2. capagggez123 says:

    she seems Icelandic atypical

  3. pookerella says:

    Icelandic people all have Asian ethnicity. (BTW, Iceland IS NOT SCANDINAVIA. Only Finland, Sweden and Norway are.) But all people who live in the Northern region, including Scandinavia, Greenland, Northern Russia, Siberia, the Baltic states, and to some extent, Poland, all have Asian ethnicity, even if it’s only a drop. DEAL WITH IT.

    • madman says:

      1. What does “have Asian ethnicity” mean? If it’s less than 1%, would you still say they are part Asian? It gets a little ridiculous at that point. If you go low enough, everybody is everything.
      2. Since you specified with “the Northern region”, I assume you’re talking about Samis. Their origin is disputed, and even if it is Asian, they are as Asian as Finnish people today (but I guess you’d consider them Asian too).
      3. Iceland has no indigenous population, and was not settled by Samis, so how they could have any Asian ancestry is beyond me.
      4. Finland is not part of Scandinavia, but Denmark is.
      5. Why do you think it would bother anybody to be part Asian? That’s some inferiority complex right there.

      • italiano90 says:

        @madman Yeah I agree. That user is very misinformed. Bjork herself said she is fully white. I believe her. I guarantee she has ZERO mongoloid dna. Epicanthal folds are not exclusive to the asian race. There are black people with those eyes too and they aren’t asian just like Bjork isn’t asian. I wouldnt even consider Bjorks eyes “epicanthal” since hers are more up hooded.

    • italiano90 says:

      So not true. I have a feeling you’re a self hating asian who is making up these bullshit lies to assimilate into white spaces and feel “white”. Be proud of your asian roots. Stop trying to claim white people that do not care for you. One drop of asian blood doesn’t mean shit. Johnny Depp, Liv Tyler, Julianne Moore etc all have a drop of sub saharan african dna. Does that make them black? NO. They are still WHITE. I dont know why people try so hard to exoticize white people.

    • capagggez123 says:

      You are a ——– only a small minority in Europe has Asian ethnicity, Bjork is atypical throughout Europe.

  4. madman says:

    In my opinion, “distant Irish” is redundant. Genetically, Icelandic people are a mix of Nordic and Celtic peoples. I’m sure that was what she was referring to, rather than to having a more recent Irish ancestor.

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