Christopher Meloni
Meloni in 2012, photo by PrPhotos
Birth Name: Christopher Peter Meloni
Place of Birth: Washington, D.C., U.S.
Date of Birth: April 2, 1961
Ethnicity:
*father – Italian
*mother – French-Canadian, as well as at least 1/128th English
Christopher Meloni is an American actor. He is known for his roles on the shows Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Oz, and the Wet Hot American Summer franchise, among other work. He is also credited as Chris Meloni.
Christopher is the son of Cecile Lydia (Chagnon) and Charles Robert Meloni. He is married to production designer, Doris, with whom he has two children.
Christopher’s paternal grandfather was Carlo/Charles Robert Meloni (the son of Enrico Meloni and Maria Luigia Anna Cafferata). Charles was born in Massachusetts, to Italian parents. Enrico and Maria were born in Velva, Castiglione Chiavarese, Genova, Liguria. Enrico was left as a baby in a foundling wheel in a hospital. He was assigned the surname Meloni there, and was partly raised by a nurse.
Christopher’s paternal grandmother was Mary Repetti (the daughter of Ferdinand Repetti and Anna Guglielmetti). Mary was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Italian parents.
Christopher’s maternal grandfather was named Joseph Jean Charles Edmond Chagnon. Joseph was born in St.-Jean-Baptiste, Québec. The surname Chagnon comes from a place name in the Loire department, in central France.
Christopher’s maternal grandmother was Mariette Carmel Dancoes (the daughter of George Robert Dancoes and M. Anna Mercier). Christopher’s grandmother Mariette was French-Canadian.
A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2021) stated that Christopher’s genetic ancestry is:
*29.5% French and German
*22.9% Italian
*16% British
*13.7% Broadly Northwest European
*7.6% Spanish and Portuguese
*4.6% Broadly Southern European
*3% Broadly European
*1.3% Scandinavian
*0.8% Greek and Balkan
*0.4% Unmatched
*0.2% North African
Genetically, he was found to have a common ancestor with politician Nancy Pelosi.
Sources: Christopher’s father on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Obituary of Christopher’s father – http://www.legacy.com
Marriage record of Christopher’s paternal grandparents, Carlo/Charles Robert Meloni and Mary Repetti – https://www.familysearch.org
he really look like a french guy
Lmfao he has the typical very exaggerated long American horseface in France he looks weird because this bizzarre feature.
He looks like Elias Koteas, for whatever that’s worth.
Wasn’t it said on the show that “Chagnon” was a name chosen by an ancestor of English background, or was taht another ancestor I’m thinking of?
That was Phaneuf. Possibly the ancestor of everyone from Québec named Phaneuf, including Dion Phaneuf.
https://www.nosorigines.qc.ca/genealogy_canada_pedigree.aspx?pid=865995&lng=en
Thanks, now which one of his maternal grandparents was this connected to? I wish I’d paid more attention.
I think the distant English ancestor is an interesting enough factoid to make note of it in the profile, too.
So he ain’t Sardinian?
His maternal grandmother is easily Ligurian too.
Nancy Pelosi has a Ligurian grandparent so that makes sense.
I meant paternal grandmother.
he should be tagged