Leighton Meester
Meester in 2011, Featureflash / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Leighton Marissa Meester
Place of Birth: Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas, U.S.
Date of Birth: April 9, 1986
Ethnicity: German, Dutch, English, Irish, along with Scottish and Welsh
Leighton Meester is an American actress, singer, songwriter, and fashion model. She is known for her role as Blair Waldorf on the series Gossip Girl.
Her surname, Meester, means master or teacher in Dutch. Her father is of approximately one quarter German, one quarter Dutch, one quarter Irish, and one quarter English, ancestry. Her mother is of half German descent, with her other roots being English, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh.
She is married to actor Adam Brody, with whom she has two children.
Leighton’s patrilineal ancestry can be traced to Jacob Harms Meester, who was born, c. 1788, in Ostfriesland, Germany, to Harmen Roelfs Janssen Meester and Sophie Jacobs. It is possible that the Meester family in Germany has Dutch ancestry of some kind.
Leighton’s paternal grandfather was Jacob Meester, Jr., later Jay Meester (the son of Jacob/Jake Aneus/Ernest Meester and Mae Kathryn Jacobs). Jacob, Jr. was born in Bannon, Arizona. Jacob was born in Iowa, to Harm M. Meester, who was born in Illinois, of German descent, and Maria Koenig, who was a German immigrant. Mae was born in Iowa, to Abraham Jacobs and Wilhelmina “Minnie” Van Neuren, who were both Dutch immigrants.
Leighton’s paternal grandmother was Helen Joy Morrissey (the daughter of Leonidas “Lee” Francis Morrissey and Olive Frances Stone). Helen was born in Long Beach, California. Lee was born in Nebraska, to Edward Francis Morrissey, who had Irish ancestry, and Louise Genevieve Fahey, whose parents were Irish immigrants. Olive was born in Vernal, Utah, to Henry John Stone, who was born in England, and Susan Louisa Stratton, who was born in Utah, to English parents, James E. Stratton, from Hertfordshire, and Frances Clark, from Cambridgeshire.
Leighton’s maternal grandfather was Robert Henry Haas (the son of Michael Haas and Marie/Mary Helen Niebling). Robert was born in Arizona, to German parents.
Leighton’s maternal grandmother was Violet Marie Reed (the daughter of John Logan Reed and Daucie Katherine “Dossie” Kerley). Violet was born in Tennessee. Violet’s ancestry included English, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh. Many branches of Violet’s family tree had lived in the United States since the 1600s. John was the son of James Reed and Martha. Daucie was the daughter of Green Berry Kerley and Margaret Ann Sherrell/Sherrill.
Sources: Genealogies of Leighton Meester – http://gw.geneanet.org
https://www.geni.com
Leighton’s paternal grandfather, Jacob Meester, Jr., on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Leighton’s paternal great-grandmother, Mae Kathryn Jacobs, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Leighton’s paternal grandmother, Helen Joy Morrissey, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Leighton’s paternal great-grandfather, Leonidas “Lee” Francis Morrissey, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Leighton’s paternal great-grandmother, Olive Frances Stone, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Leighton’s maternal grandfather, Robert Henry Haas, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Leighton’s maternal great-grandparents, Michael Haas and Marie/Mary Helen Niebling, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Leighton’s maternal grandmother, Violet Marie Reed, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Genealogy of Leighton’s maternal great-grandmother, Daucie “Dossie” Katherine (Kerley) Reed (focusing on her own father’s side) – https://findagrave.com
Genealogy of Leighton’s maternal great-great-great-great-grandmother, Jemima (Oxsheer) Kerley – https://www.geni.com
Meester in 2008, photo by David Shankbone
She is beautiful and looks like a female version of Johnny Depp.
Excuse my french, but fuck no. How dare you insult Johnny Depp. The only female who even comes close to resembling Johnny is Helena Bonham Carter. Leighton is nothing special, no one would look twice at her if she weren’t famous. Of course anyone looks better with makeup and trendy clothes. Google pictures of her without makeup and wearing “normal” clothes, she’s a plain Jane.
Are you joking? I fail to see the resemblance. She looks like Minka Kelly, just less pretty.
Her natural hair color is blonde.
But she’s not only German, Dutch…. She has definitly Jewish ancestry.
Oh and Koenig and Haas are Ashkenazi Jewish names. Niebling sometimes.
There are many people named “Koenig” and “Haas” who are not of Jewish heritage. I couldn’t find any Jewish ancestors of Leighton’s.
It’s only her husband who is Jewish.
“Meester” is not only Dutch, but also Low Saxon and Frisian (Ostfriesland = East Frisia). So just the name without any other evidence doesn’t give a hint to Dutch ancestry. “Harm” is a typical Frisian forename (“Herman” in English, “Her(r)mann” in German). So to me the Meester lineage on first sight shows Frisian ancestry.
What makes Dutch (or other North German) ancestry more possible is that the Frisian had their own system of surnames until the 19th century, in which the surname derives from the father’s forename.
Following this system, the father of Harmen Roelfs Janssen (Meester) must have been Jan X “; his son must have been named X Harm(an)sen, and so on. And there were no place for “Meester” …
On the other hand: who cares? She looks nice.
Frisian is Dutch, smartass
she looks 100% white like french alizee or spanish(real spanish cuz when i say spanish many americans think in a latin american person)
most latin americans are of full spanish blood, but many are mixed with the natives (mestizo)
and you’re wrong again, most latin americans are NOT of “full” spanish blood, unless they’re recent immigrants.
debatable, depends on what country we’re talking about
Most Latin Americans are mestizo or mulatto (or triracial).
http://s21.postimg.org/8z54zk8lj/structure.png
& this site chooses the ugliest picture of her of course.