Regina King
King in 2010, photo by PrPhotos
Birth Name: Regina Rene King
Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, United States
Date of Birth: January 15, 1971
Ethnicity: African-American
Regina King is an American actress and director. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for If Beale Street Could Talk (2018). She is also known for her roles in the films Boyz n the Hood, Poetic Justice, Friday (1995), A Thin Line Between Love and Hate, Jerry Maguire, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Mighty Joe Young, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, A Cinderella Story, Ray, Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous, This Christmas, and The Harder They Fall, and on the shows 227, The Boondocks, Southland, The Leftovers, American Crime, Seven Seconds, and Watchmen. She has directed the film One Night in Miami…, and episodes of the series Being Mary Jane and Scandal.
Regina is the daughter of Gloria Jean (Cain) and Thomas Henry King, Jr. She is the sister of actress Reina King. They both have first names that mean “Queen,” Regina’s in Latin and Reina’s in Spanish.
She had a son with her former husband Ian Alexander.
A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2022) stated that Regina’s genetic ancestry consists of:
*76% African
——–*30% Nigeria
——–*24% Cameroon, Congo & Western Bantu
——–*9% Mali
——–*7% Benin & Togo
——–*4% Senegal
——–*2% Ivory Coast & Ghana
*24% European
——–*9% Ireland
——–*6% Scotland
——–*5% Norway
——–*4% England & Western Europe
Genetically, she was found to have a common ancestor with actress Kathryn Hahn, through Kathryn’s mother’s side, through shared European ancestry.
Regina’s paternal grandfather was Thomas Henry King, Sr. (the son of James Fletcher King and Callie Hardin). Thomas was born in Germantown, Shelby, Tennessee. James was the son of John King and Laura Logan. Callie was the daughter of Bath Hardin and Lucy A. Rilley.
Regina’s paternal grandmother was Ruby May/Mae “Little Mama” Brown (the daughter of Henry V. Brown and Allene Moore). Ruby was born in Memphis, Shelby, Tennessee. Henry was the son of Abraham Brown and Virginia Adams. Allene was the daughter of Billie Sutton or Moore and Teresa/Theresa Moore or Sutton.
Regina’s maternal grandfather was Willie/Will Albert Cain (the son of Allie/Ollie Cain and Alice Crosby). Willie was born in Alabama. Regina’s great-grandfather Allie was the son of Henry Cain and Mary/Mollie Austin. Regina’s great-grandmother Alice was born in Wetumpka, Elmore, Alabama, the daughter of Mose/Moses Crosby/Hughes and Mary Meadow/Meadows/Meddows. Regina’s great-great-grandfather Mose Crosby was a member of the Freedmen’s Bureau, which helped freedmen during Reconstruction.
Regina’s maternal grandmother was named Beria Loretta Smith (the daughter of Janie Bell Hooks). Beria was born in Alabama. Janie was the daughter of Laurence/Lawrence Hooks and Lou Ann/Anna/Bell Caine.
Sources: Regina’s appearance on Who Do You Think You Are?, 2018 – https://www.youtube.com
Genealogy of Regina King – https://www.geni.com
Regina’s maternal grandfather, Willie/Will A. Cain, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Can you also point out that she has Colonial American roots too?
Most people of African-American descent have Colonial American roots. Or are you talking about how geni listed her ancestor, Martin Austin/Miller, born c. 1852 in Alabama, as the grandson of a woman, Clarissa Pinney, they list as born c. 1842 in Connecticut?
Well being AA, that’s possible
“African-American”!? You’re basically calling her Black in my eyes, which is equally disrespectful and pointless.
If this is linked to the slave trade then she must have a country of origin going back a few generations, likely in Africa.
Okay, however until she finds out that point of ancestral origin. calling her African American is no insult or sign of disrespect. She most likely calls herself black . As I said before, African American is simply a cultural Identity, it’s not a color. African Americans run the gambit of color, from light to dark
@Andrew regina is a black persons name she ain italian. Its either u dumb or tryna convince us that shes italian. Regina hall name is Regina does that make her italian shes AA, where is yo proof that says other wisewise
Regina is NOT a black person’s name, you stupid b****. All names have an origin. Regina is the Latin word for Queen. If her name was Maria, would you say that Maria is a black person’s name? Ugh, I wish black people were smarter.
Hey, now. You don’t even know if she’s black. Stop making assumptions for a whole race based on one comment, not that’s stupid.
regina is also Italian from Latin “regina-ae”. In French it’s “reine”