Dakota Fanning

Fanning in 2010, photo by Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

Birth Name: Hannah Dakota Fanning

Place of Birth: Conyers, Georgia, U.S.

Date of Birth: February 23, 1994

Ethnicity: German, English, as well as Irish, French, Channel Islander [Jersey, Guernsey]

Dakota Fanning is an American actress and model. She is the older sister of actress Elle Fanning (Mary Elle Fanning).

Dakota is the daughter of Heather Joy (Arrington) and Steven J. Fanning. Her father played minor league baseball and her mother played tennis professionally. Dakota’s father is of approximately one half German and one quarter Irish descent, with his other ancestry being English, French, and Channel Islander (Jersey and Guernsey). Dakota’s mother’s family has lived in the United States for many generations, and Dakota’s mother is of mainly English ancestry.

Her aunt (mother’s sister) is ESPN reporter Jill Arrington.

Dakota’s paternal grandfather was William E. “Bill” Fanning (the son of George Joseph Fanning and Dorcas Florence Godden). William was born in New York. George was born in New York, to Irish parents, Edward William Fanning and Catharine Connelly, who was from Donegal. Dorcas was born in the Bronx, New York, the daughter of George Henry Godden, who was born in St. Helier, on the island of Jersey, U.K. Channel Islands, and of Dorcas Caroline Thoumine, who was born in Saint Peter Port, on the island of Guernsey, Channel Islands. Dakota’s great-grandmother Dorcas also had English and French ancestry.

Dakota’s paternal grandmother was Katharina Kramb (the daughter of Jacob Kramb/Kraab and Marie Bauer). Katharine was German, born in Ludwigshaven, Germany, c. 1937. She moved to the United States in the 1950s or in the 1960s.

Dakota’s maternal grandfather is Richard Cameron “Rick” Arrington (the son of Richard Adler Arrington, Jr. and Hazel Cameron). Dakota’s grandfather Richard was born in North Carolina, and was an NFL quarterback, for the Philadelphia Eagles. Dakota’s great-grandfather Richard was the son of Richard Adler Arrington and Nellie/Nell Grace Covington. Hazel was the daughter of McBryde Cameron and Pearlie Thomas.

Dakota’s maternal grandmother is Mary Jane Odum (the daughter of William Henry Odum, Jr. and Ellouise Virginia Luke). William was the son of William Henry Odum and Mamie Olive Ozburn. Ellouise was the daughter of Silas Albritton Aulie Luke and Myrtle Jane Swindle.

Sources: Genealogy of Dakota Fanning – https://www.geni.com

Genealogies of Dakota Fanning – http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com
http://gw.geneanet.org
https://www.wikitree.com

Obituary of Dakota’s maternal great-grandmother, Hazel (Cameron) Arrington – http://www.findagrave.com

Ancestry.com article about Dakota Fanning and Elle Fanning’s distant ancestry – http://blogs.ancestry.com