Lorde
Lorde in 2013, photo by PrPhotos
Birth Name: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor
Place of Birth: Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand
Date of Birth: 7 November, 1996
Ethnicity: Irish, English, Serbian, Croatian, German, Scottish, possibly 1/32 Polynesian/Pacific Islander
Lorde is a Kiwi singer, songwriter, and record producer.
She is the daughter of Vic O’Connor (Victor Peter Gerrard Andrew O’Connor) and poet Sonja Yelich (Sonja Marija Yelich). Her father was one of eight children in a religious Catholic family.
Lorde’s paternal grandmother was named Elsa.
Lorde’s maternal grandfather is George Branko Yelich (the son of Branko Jelić/Jelik/Yelich and Radmilla/Radmila Anrath, born Terezija Anrat). George was born in Wukovar/Vukovar, Općina Vukovar, Vukovar-Syrmia County, Croatia. George and his mother came to New Zealand, through Trieste, in June of 1949. Lorde’s great-grandfather Branko was the son of Dorde Jelić and Kristina Rozanović. Lorde’s great-grandmother Radmila was the daughter of Dragutin “Karl” Anrat and Wilhelmina “Vilma” Rozanović. Lorde’s grandfather George was of the Orthodox Christian faith. His mother Radmilla likely converted from Catholicism to Orthodoxy. She may have had partial German ancestry. Referring to her Eastern European roots, Lorde stated in an interview on Vevo Lift that she is a “little bit Croatian,” and has also said that her ancestry is Serbian.
Lorde’s maternal grandmother is named Lana/Leilani Carol (the daughter of Patricia “Pat” Howley). Patricia was the daughter of Clyde Emile Howley, who had English and Scottish ancestry, and of Mickey Florence Moore, who herself was born on Wallis Islands, as Florence Ellen Edith Moore, to an Irish-born father, Matthew Moore, and a mother, Fausita, who likely was a native Islander. A picture of Mickey can be seen here.
Sources: http://www.fasterlouder.com.au
https://www.novosti.rs
Genealogy of Lorde (focusing on her mother’s side) – https://www.geni.com
Branko Jelic’s mother was named Kristina.
https://www.novosti.rs/vesti/reportaze/1037452/traze-naslednike-drugoj-strani-planete-familija-pod-rudnikom-decenijama-pokusava-ispuni-amanet-djordja-jelica
Interesting article from just over a month ago that talks about her Serbian ancestry, and that actually Radmila Anrath immigrated from Dalmatia to New Zealand, but that she was actually a serbian woman from Vukovar.
I think that’s where all this fuss came from about whether the Lorde’s roots are Dalmatian or Vukovar.
I really doubt that she was a) Serbian, b) from Dalmatia.
Her parents have obviously German names, and it was extremely rare for Germans to be in Dalmatia. Maybe if Karl Anrath was an admiral or something similar, but otherwise no. Most Croats in Australia (and New Zealand) are indeed Dalmatian, and maybe Lorde’s mother not knowing much about her own background just assumed she was too.
I guess her maternal’s grandmother name was really Leilani.
Her maternal grandmother was from Polinesia and of british descent.
She was the daughter of George Robert Howley,George’s mother was from Polinesia.
George’s parents were Clyde Emile Howley and Florence Howley (born Moore)
Florence Moore was born in Wallis and was a dancer.
Lorde would be 1/32 Pacific Islander if these are her ancestors: https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:George_Howley_%282%29
They are her ancestors:
https://twitter.com/sonjayelich1/status/1175683625997594630?t=NcDLA9ju3O7huGxYphDbPw&s=19
It’s funny how we debated Croatian vs. Serbian vs. Dalmatian for so long, but now I understand why Lorde is so inconsistent on the topic. I have to change it to:
“Lorde
Birth Name: Randolph Marsh
Place of Birth: South Park, Colorado, U.S.
Date of Birth: June 27, 1969
Ethnicity: English, other
Lorde is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and geologist. He is the son of Marvin Marsh. Lorde is married to Sharon (Kimble), with whom he has two children.”
I know I shouldn’t put “English” just because of the last name Marsh, but it’s likely.
Can anyone find Lorde’s mother’s name? All I can find is Marvin as the father. I don’t think his mother has been mentioned in 300 episodes.
@Follers Randy Marsh took a DNA test https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8uvAn6Mk-s
Lorde is technically part : https://ethnicelebs.com/tag/banat-swabian
And I’d go for Serbian.
Serbian AND Croatian? Why are both listed? Lorde’s great-grandfather Branko was Orthodox, thus he was Serbian. Why Croatian has been left up there I don’t understand.
Lorde said she’s Croatian.
You also don’t have to sound so indignant about it. While we can all agree that, yes, Indignation is a pretty good movie, you don’t have to live it.
It appears we share the same taste in movies! We should get together for movie night ;) BTW Logan Lerman is my favorite actor in that movie
I’m sorry, I just thought it was clear from Blaise Perry’s comments that her great-grandfather was Orthodox, and thus Serbian, not Croatian. While, as bablah said, there’s always a possibility of Croatian ancestry from other grandparents, what we know now is that she is of Serbian descent.
The article about her being Serbian are more recent. And it mentions previous comments about Croatian ancestry, appearing to correct them. Also, Chris Zylka said he’s Russian, yet that’s rightfully not included in his ethnicity.
I can’t tell the genealogical difference between Serbians and Croatians. And I’m not sure many others can, either.
So I’ll let Lorde decide.
When you know their religion, it’s actually very easy. And in this case, we do know it.
I don’t get why madman is so adamant about this argument. Just look at this article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Orthodoxy_in_Croatia
Apparently, there are over 16,000 current Orthodox Croats – ethnic Croats who identify with the Serbian Orthodox Church – and of course the number was higher before the break-up of Yugoslavia and ethnic and religion lines hardening and sorting themselves out.
It is very likely if her relative was Orthodox that that person was a Serb. But there are enough Orthodox Croats that it’s ridiculous to say with certainty that that relative was a Serb unless you can find some solid proof one way or the other. Absent that, we go with what the celebrity says.
@Oaken05
Also from wikipedia:
“There were 11,400 Croatian citizens who identified themselves as ethnic Croats of the Orthodox Christian persuasion in the 2001 census, but since they didn’t identify themselves as members of the Croatian Orthodox Church the foundation of the new organisation is still not possible.[2] Those 11,400 Croats aren’t members of any Orthodox Church currently in existence.”
So your assertion that they identify with Serbian Orthodox Church was wrong.
She also said her Croatian family was from Dalmatia, but Branko was from Syrmia. Maybe her grandmother was Croatian.
This is a weird post. While Croatians are predominantly Catholic, are you really here to argue that you know that Croatian great-grandfather wasn’t Orthodox? It’d be rare for a Croatian to adhere to that church, yes, but certainly not impossible.
There’s a reason it’s called “Serbian Orthodox Church”. Are you really arguing that the 0,000001% chance that her grandfather was an Orthodox Croat?
I’m not sure I understand your comment. What part of “Lorde’s great-grandfather Branko was Orthodox” do you interpret as me saying her “Croatian great-grandfather wasn’t Orthodox”? I would say that’s the opposite of what I said.
I think you’re getting ethnicity and nationality mixed up here. Serbia and Croatia are both separate countries, but there are Croats in Serbia and Serbs in Croatia. What separates them is religion, not borders. So to say that someone is an Orthodox Croatian, for example, will almost always be incorrect (since they by definition will be either one or the other, except for when it comes to conversions, one could argue).
Nationality does not equal religion. Orthodox Croatians do exist.
Even if her Orthodox great-granfather was Serbian, as you say, his wife, Tereza (later Radmilla) Anrath was still a Catholic, so Croatian descent is still present.