Britney Spears
Spears in 2011, Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Britney Jean Spears
Place of Birth: McComb, Mississippi, U.S.
Date of Birth: December 2, 1981
Ethnicity: English, as well as 1/16th Maltese, small amounts of Scottish, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Irish, French, and Welsh
Britney Spears is an American pop singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress.
Britney is the daughter of Lynne Irene (Bridges) and James Parnell “Jamie” Spears. She is the sister of film and television producer Bryan Spears and actress and singer Jamie Lynn Spears. She has two children with her former husband, dancer, rapper, model, and actor Kevin Federline.
Britney’s maternal grandmother was an English war bride, and one of Britney’s maternal great-great-grandfathers was Maltese. Most of the rest of Britney’s recent ancestors were American-born, with most of her roots being English, along with Scottish, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Irish, French, and Welsh, all of them distant or remote to various degrees. Some of Britney’s distant English ancestors lived in Barbados and Liberia.
Britney’s paternal grandfather was June Austin Spears (the son of June Becker/Bacot Spears and Nova Gill). Britney’s grandfather June was born in Amite, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana. Britney’s great-grandfather June was the son of Pascal Greene Spears and Mary Pauline Bridges. Nova was the daughter of James Monroe Gill and Effie Strahan.
Britney’s paternal grandmother was Emma Jean Forbes (the daughter of William Nelson Forbes and Lexie/Lexis May Thompson). Emma was born in Mississippi. William was the son of William Nelson Forbes and Kiturah/Katuriah Leona Ball. Lexie was the daughter of Ernest Fulton Thompson and Bertha Magee.
Britney’s maternal grandfather was Barnett Oldfield/O’Field “Barney” Bridges (the son of Joel Menton Bridges and Addie/Adeline/Addy Williams). Barnett was born in Louisiana. Joel was the son of James Jack Bridges and Mary Josephine Phillips. Addie was the daughter of Marshall E. Williams and Missouri E. Wall.
Britney’s maternal grandmother was Lilian/Lillian Irene Portell (the daughter of George Anthony Portelli/Portell and Lilian Esther Lewis). Britney’s grandmother Lilian was born in Barkham Road, Tottenham. George was the son of Edward Richard Portelli, who was from Malta, and of Alice Taylor. Britney’s great-grandmother Lilian was the daughter of James Lewis and Esther Moss. Britney’s Maltese great-great-grandfather Edward was the son of Antonio Portelli; it is possible that Edward was of Italian ancestry, like many people on Malta.
Britney’s parents are third cousins. Two of Britney’s paternal great-great-great-grandparents, William Lee Bridges and Pauline Ann Travis, were also two of Britney’s maternal great-great-great-grandparents.
Sources: Genealogies of Britney Spears – http://www.wargs.com
https://www.geni.com
http://familypedia.wikia.com
http://famouskin.com
http://freepages.rootsweb.com
Genealogies of Britney’s paternal grandparents, June Austin Spears and Emma Jean Forbes – http://www.findagrave.com
Article about the family of Britney’s maternal grandmother, Lilian/Lillian Irene Portell – http://www.dailymail.co.uk
Shakira is half Lebanese, half Colombian. Are you saying her Colombian part is Italian?
Wtf, there are Italian Colombians as well, just like there are Spanish Colombians, Native Colombians etc. Shakira is part Italian. Why does this comment have so many thumbs up?
She has a strong Southern accent.
HE DOES.
Britney is not white because she is part Sicilian, Maltese, Irish, French, Scottish, and Welsh; all of which are not Anglo.
Well I have Welsh, Scottish & a bit of Irish in my ancestry so does that mean I am not white?! May I ask why you think this?
Because people on this site are always saying someone who really is white is not white because they either have Italian or some type of other Southern European ancestry, Jewish ancestry, Eastern European ancestry, or distant Native American ancestry, or that they are too “exotic” to be of the ancestry that are of (i.e. Catherine Zeta Jones, Minka Kelly, etc.)
So, by their criteria, no one is white.
I actually don’t believe that someone has to be pure as the driven snow to call themselves “white” or “black” because I do not believe in racial purity. I have never claimed anyone is 100% white because chances are that if you go back far enough, you will find some ancestor of theirs that is not of the same race.
My friend took a D.N.A. test. He was .05% black. Yes. .05%. I have another friend who told me that she was actually 1/32nd Peruvian. It was when we were discussing ancestry. My other friend, who has skin white as snow and hair red as a cherry, also told me that she was 1/16th Native American.
They are all still white people through and through to me. They also identify as white people and if we had not gotten into the discussion of distant ancestry, they would have never told me this in the first place. I do not see them as non-white people just because they have a ancestor who was not white. I think that’s totally ridiculous.
But people on this site seem to have that mentality. It was not until today that I realized that it is stupid and thanked the Heavens that people are not actually that dumb in real life.
The “one drop rule” is, was, and will always be racist and nonsensical.
And yeah, I definitely see Italians and other Southern Europeans as white. The people who say they are not are hypocritical. Many of the people who they constantly refer to as “white” do have Southern European ancestry. Many of the people who they refer to as white are of Eastern European or Jewish ancestry. Again, they are just too daft to even realize it, and this mentality shows that if it is blonde and blue-eyed, they automatically assume the person is just another one who is Anglo-Saxon or Northern European.
ok u guys stop with the crazy comments didnt u read what back ground she has u all r ignorant.
i know huh….
http://64.38.12.138/ict/showarchive.asp?id=spears
read this !