Eminem
Eminem in 2002, Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Marshall Bruce Mathers III
Place of Birth: St. Joseph, Missouri, U.S.
Date of Birth: October 17, 1972
Ethnicity: English, German, Swiss-German, Scottish
Eminem or EMINƎM is an American, Detroit-based rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, film producer, and actor. Eminem also goes under the names Slim Shady, Slim, Marshall Mathers, Em, and Shady. He starred in the film 8 Mile.
Eminem is the son of Deborah R. (Nelson) and Marshall Bruce Mathers. His parents were in a band called Daddy Warbucks, and played in Ramada Inns along the Dakotas-Montana border. He was raised mostly in Missouri and Detroit, Michigan, and grew up with his mother. His ancestry includes English (where two of his great-grandparents were born), German, Swiss-German, and Scottish.
Eminem has a daughter with his former wife Kimberly.
Eminem’s paternal grandfather was Marshall Bruce Mathers (the son of Chester William Mathers and Myrtle Ivy Parrish). Marshall’s grandfather Marshall was born in Missouri. Chester was the son of Samuel Mathers and Josephine Graves. Myrtle was the daughter of William Chauncey Parrish and Mary C. Staggs.
Eminem’s paternal grandmother was Rae Waverly Drowns (the daughter of Grover Cleveland Drowns and Ella Elizabeth Dennie). Rae was born in Missouri. Grover was the son of William Henry Drowns and Mary Catherine Glockler, whose father was German. Ella was the daughter of Arthur Daggett Dennie and Catherine Bell Heffley.
Eminem’s maternal grandfather is named Robert Ray Nelson (the son of William Nelson, and of a woman surnamed Harris). Robert was born in Michigan, to English immigrants.
Eminem’s maternal grandmother is Betty Hixson (the daughter of William A. Hixson, Jr. and Georgia Anna/Ann Roesch). Betty was born in Missouri. William was the son of William A. Hixson and Nora A. Machmer. Georgia was the daughter of Henry Roesch, whose father was Swiss, of Swiss-German descent, and whose mother was also of German ancestry; and of Martha Jane Scheinert.
One great-great-great-grandfather of Eminem, George A. Scheinert, is listed on one census record as having been born in Poland. Given the surname Scheinert, it is likely that George was of ethnic German ancestry.
Sources: Genealogies of Eminem – http://www.wargs.com
https://www.geni.com
Wow, this site continues to surprise me although i may have come across Eminem before I just can’t recall.
Surprised he’s so mixed a si thought he was pure German.
Note: Scheinert is most widespread in Saxony, Germany, which is famous for being home to the Sorbs (even the largest cities like Chemnitz, Dresden and Leipzig have Slavic etymologies) since the early Middle Ages. Many of them were Germanized and assimilated. So there is a considerable probability that “Scheinert” was of Sorbian descent. So we can’t state the the Scheinerts were of “ethnic German ancestry” based on this surname. Also, Eminem’s biographers claimed Polish descent, so he must have Polish descent on some side. Perhaps on another side beside the Sorb/German one.
Isn’t he part Luxembourgish?
Not anymore. Josephine was born out of wedlock, therefore her biological father remains publicly unknown, thus her maiden surname, Graves (which was anglicized from Graff in the 18th century, which is of German origin), is inherited from her mother, who later got married and had more children.
Same here, I thought he was 1/2 German 1/2 Polish.