Jared Leto

Leto in 2014, photo by PR Photos

Birth Name: Jared Joseph Bryant

Place of Birth: Bossier City, Louisiana, U.S.

Date of Birth: December 26, 1971

Ethnicity: English, Cajun/French, smaller amounts of Irish, German, Scottish, at least 1/512 Spanish, remote Dutch and Mi’kmaq First Nations

Jared Leto is an American actor, singer, songwriter, and director. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Dallas Buyers Club (2013). He is also known for his roles in the films How to Make an American Quilt, Prefontaine, Urban Legend, The Thin Red Line, Fight Club, Girl, Interrupted; American Psycho, Requiem for a Dream, Panic Room, Alexander (2004), Lord of War, Chapter 27, Mr. Nobody, as Joker, in Suicide Squad and Zack Snyder’s Justice League; Blade Runner 2049, The Little Things, House of Gucci, and Morbius, and on the shows My So-Called Life and WeCrashed. He directed the documentary films Artifact and A Day in the Life of America. He is a vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter of rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, for which his brother, Shannon Leto, is the drummer. He has also been credited as Bartholomew Cubbins and Angakok Panipaq.

Jared is the son of Constance (Metrejon) and Tony L. Bryant. Leto was the surname of Jared’s stepfather/adoptive father, Carl Leto. The surname is Italian. Pictures of Jared’s mother can be seen here (at the far left) and here.

Jared’s father, who was from Kentucky, had British Isles/English ancestry. Jared’s mother, who is from Louisiana, has Cajun [French], smaller amounts of English, Irish, German, and Scottish, at least 1/256th Spanish, and remote Dutch and Mi’kmaq First Nations, ancestry. Some of Jared’s ancestors were born in Acadia, now Canada, and Barbados.

At a concert, Jared waved the Spanish flag and stated that his maternal grandfather was of part Spanish descent. One of Jared’s maternal seven times great-grandfathers, Manuel Quintero, was Spanish, and was born, c. 1745, on Sainte Croix, Canary Islands, Spain. This makes Jared of 1/512th Spanish descent. It is not clear if he has any other Spanish ancestry, as some Cajuns do.

Jared’s mother’s Metrejon line can be traced to Joseph Marie Maitrejean, who was born, c. 1778, in Belle-Île-en-Mer, France, an island off the coast of Brittany.

Jared’s maternal grandfather was Edmond William “Willie” Lee Metrejon (the son of Charles J. Metrejean and Ethel Ryder). Edmond was born in Louisiana. The Metrejon/Metrejean surname had originally been spelled Maitrejean. Charles and Ethel were born in Louisiana. Charles was the son of Joseph-Frédéric Metrejean and Victoire-Octana Savoy. Ethel was the daughter of William/Willie Ryder and Marie Berthilde “Bertha” Wyble.

Jared’s maternal grandmother was Ruby Mae Russell (the daughter of Joseph Lee Russell and Helen Hessie Hoffpauir/Houfpauir/Huffpain). Ruby was born in Louisiana. Joseph was born in Florida, to a father from Alabama, Pat H. Russell, and a mother from Georgia, Ella. Helen was born in Louisiana, to Henry Marshall Hoffpauir (the son of Thomas J. Hoffpauir and Anne Dailey/Daily) and Katherine Euranie/Urina Foreman.

Sources: Genealogies of Jared Leto (focusing on his mother’s side) – http://www.geni.com
http://www.wikitree.com

Jared’s maternal great-grandfather, Charles J. Metrejean, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Jared’s maternal grandmother, Ruby Mae Russell, on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Jared’s maternal great-grandparents, Joseph Lee Russell and Helen Hessie Hoffpauir/Houfpauir/Huffpain, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Jared’s maternal great-grandmother, Helen Hessie Hoffpauir/Houfpauir/Huffpain, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Jared’s maternal great-great-grandfather, Henry Marshall Hoffpauir, on the 1880 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org