Bruno Mars
Mars in 2011
Birth Name: Peter Gene Hernandez
Place of Birth: Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Date of Birth: October 8, 1985
Ethnicity:
*paternal grandfather – Puerto Rican [including Spanish/Canary Islander, Catalan, and remote Italian]
*paternal grandmother – Ashkenazi Jewish
*mother – Filipino [Cebuano, Tagalog, Spanish Castilian]
Bruno Mars is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, dancer, actor, and choreographer. He is one half of R&B super-duo Silk Sonic, with Anderson .Paak.
Bruno is the son of Bernadette del Pedro Bayot and Peter S. Hernandez, both of whom were musically-inclined, his father performing rock and roll and his mother a singer and a dancer. He was raised in Honolulu’s Waikiki neighborhood. Growing up, he was exposed to rock, reggae, hip hop, and R&B.
His father is from Brooklyn, New York. Bruno’s paternal grandfather was Puerto Rican and Bruno’s paternal grandmother was Ashkenazi Jewish, of Hungarian Jewish and Ukrainian Jewish descent. Bruno’s mother was from Manila, Phillippines, and was of Filipino [including Cebuano and Tagalog], and some Spanish [Castilian], ancestry. Through his Puerto Rican line, he has at least 1/256th Italian ancestry.
He was nicknamed Bruno due to his resemblance to professional wrestler Bruno Sammartino.
Bruno is a second cousin, once removed, of Filipino actor Eddie Gutierrez, and the third cousin of Eddie’s children, actors Tonton Gutierrez, Richard Gutierrez, and Raymond Gutierrez, and model Ruffa Gutierrez. Bruno’s maternal great-great-grandparents, Mariano Herranz Heras and Mamerta Cañizares Secuya, were also Eddie’s maternal great-grandparents.
Bruno’s paternal grandfather was Peter Hernandez (the son of Almecio Hernández Aquino and Fabiana Sebastiana Vázquez Garcia). Bruno’s grandfather Peter was born in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico. Almecio was born in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, the son of Manuel Hernández Muñoz and Mercedes Aquino Hernández. Fabiana was born in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, the biological daughter of José Vázquez Romero and María del Rosario García Betancourt, and was adopted by Bernardo Peña Martinez and Rafaela Perosa Gerardez.
Bruno’s paternal grandmother was Mildred Dubov (the daughter of William Wolf Dubovis/Dubov and Bella Berger). William was a Jewish emigrant, from Kiev, and was the son of Sholom Yoseph DuBovis and Malka Weissman. Bella was born in New York City, to Hungarian Jewish parents, Joseph Berger and Louise Wohlberg.
Bruno’s maternal grandfather was Romeo Amando Maria “Eugene” Herranz Bayot (the son of Jesús María Bayot Fuentes and Consolación “Consuelo” Herranz Cañizares). Romeo was born in Manila, Philippines. Jesús was also born in Manila, the son of Gabriel Bayot and Josefa Fuentes. Consolación was born in Segovia, Spain. Consolación’s father, Mariano Herranz Heras, was Spanish, from Nava de la Asunción, Segovia, and Consolación’s mother, Mamerta Cañizares Secuya (or Mamerta Secuya Cañizares in Filipino), was born in Talisay, Cebu, Phillippines, the daughter of Alejo Cañizares Canindot (or Alejo Canindot Cañizares in Filipino), also of Talisay, and of Sabina Secuya Larombe (or Sabina Larombe Secuya in Filipino), of Minglanilla, Cebu. The surname Secuya is also spelled as Sycuya, which is of possibly Chinese origin, but it is not clear if Sabina had Chinese ancestry.
Bruno’s maternal grandmother was named Soledad San Pedro. She was born in Baguio City, Benguet, Philippines.
Bruno Mars at the Grammy Nominations Concert Live, Club Nokia, Los Angeles, CA, 2010. photo by s_bukley
Sources: Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak’s article about Bruno’s ancestry, at The Huffington Post – http://www.huffingtonpost.com
Genealogy of Bruno Mars – http://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Bruno Mars (focusing on his mother’s side) – http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com
Marriage information of Bruno’s maternal great-great-grandparents, Mariano Herranz Heras and Mamerta Cañizares Secuya – https://www.familysearch.org
For the paternal part, add Catalan as part of Puerto Rican ancestry, but away from Spanish ancestry. Lastly, Bruno Mars has 0.390625% Italian ancestry. However, Italian must be away from Puerto Rican ancestry.
For the maternal part, split Spanish away from Filipino. But, add Castilian as part of his Spanish ancestry.
Mariano was from Nava de la Asunción, Segovia.
TYPO: Alejo Cañizares Canindot (or Alejo Canindot Cañizares in Filipino)
Mamerta Cañizares Secuya -> Mamerta Cañizares Secuya (or Mamerta Secuya Cañizares in Filipino)
Alejo Cañizares and Sabina Secuya -> Alejo Cañizares Canindot (or Alejo Larombe Canindot in Filipino), also of Talisay, and of Sabina Secuya Larombe (or Sabina Larombe Secuya in Filipino), of Minglanilla, Cebu
Marriage information of Bruno’s great-great-grandparents, Mariano Herranz Heras and Mamerta Cañizares Secuya – https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSM6-N9WY-Y
Correction
ETHNICITY: 25% Puerto Rican. 25% Ashkenazic Jewish, 43.75% Filipino, 6.25% Spanish
Filipino and Spanish should probably be split
Do we really know that 6.25% is Mars’ only Spanish ancestry? Many Filipinos have Spanish roots here and there on their family trees, even if distantly. Plus, Mars most likely has Spanish ancestry through his Puerto Rican line, as well.
He definitely has some black in him. Because his hair is just too curly. Either it’s his Jewish or Spanish side gave him this feature or he has African ancestry. I’m guessing in his Filipino side, he has Negrito ancestry (Negritos are native to southeast Asia and they possess nappy hair).
P.S. There are also Puerto Ricans of African ancestry.
He’s definitely not Black. Some Negritos have coily hair some don’t. “Nappy” is such an insult.