Jennifer Lopez

Lopez in 2010, kathclick/bigstock.com

Birth Name: Jennifer Lynn Lopez

Place of Birth: The Bronx, New York City, New York, U.S.

Date of Birth: July 24, 1969

Ethnicity: Puerto Rican [Spanish, likely Taíno and African]

Jennifer Lopez is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer, producer, and television personality. Her roles include Blood and Wine, Selena, Out of Sight, The Cell, The Wedding Planner, Shall We Dance?, Hustlers, and Anaconda, among many other films.

Her parents, Guadalupe Rodríguez and David López, are Puerto Rican. Her sister, Lydia Lopez, is a journalist. Jennifer is married to actor and filmmaker Ben Affleck. She has two children with her former husband, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor Marc Anthony, who is also Puerto Rican. Her sister is DJ Lynda Lopez.

A picture of Jennifer with her parents can be seen here.

Jennifer’s maternal grandfather was named José Julio Rodríguez y Febres (the son of a father surnamed Rodríguez, and of Justina Febres).

Jennifer’s maternal grandmother was Julia Rivera y Rosado (the daughter of Vicente Rivera y Rivera and María Rosado y Rodríguez). Julia was born in Jayuya, Jayuya, Puerto Rico. Vicente was from Ponce, the son of Valentín Rivera y Rivera and Narcisa Rivera y Rivera. Valentín and Narcisa were born with the same paternal and maternal family names. Jennifer’s great-grandmother María was the daughter of Antonio Rosado and Rodulfa Rodríguez.

Source: Genealogy of Jennifer Lopez (focusing on her mother’s side) – http://www.geni.com

Lopez in 2008, photo credit: Urbanworld Film Festival

ethnic

Curious about ethnicity

693 Responses

  1. italiano90 says:

    Her nose does hint some distant taino ancestry down the line but it has to be far back since the tainos were killed off early weren’t they? I’m surprised how many of my italian family members and friends didn’t have an issue with her playing an italian woman in multiple roles. Yes I’ve seen italian women that resemble J.Lo but with a roman shaped nose but still its weird how she was able to get away with that but then again she portrayed Selena Quintanilla who is a Mestiza with obvious asiatic genes.

    • Mixed Kidd says:

      Most Caribbeans (Cubans, Dominicans, Haitians, Puerto Ricans, Jamaicans, and Bahamians ) do have Taino ancestry. And maybe she played as an Italian women since Spaniards and Italians are genetically closely related. And Spain did invade Italy for a while, that could be why their language is similar

      • andrew says:

        Italian and Spanish sound similar because they are Romance languages, not becasue “Spain did invade Italy for a while”.

        I checked J.Lo and even though two, among the characters she has played, carried Italian surnames, I am unsure if they can be labeled as “Italian roles”.

  2. andrew says:

    So, how is she supposed to have “Taíno” ancestry now. Just asking.

    If anything, at least her maternal grandfather has definitely Canary Islander ancestry

  3. luckystar says:

    She could fit as North African cause most of them are part black. The 90s J lo actually looks like Cape Verdean singer Suzanna Lubrano.

    • italiano90 says:

      She looks NOTHING like Suzanna Lubrano. That is the strangest comparison I’ve seen on this site in years. You do realize her “FlyGirl” days werent her “natural” look either right? Her hair is not curly. If youve seen pics of her in the 80s you would realize her hair is a wavy texture and her skin is not tan like Suzannas. Jlo is light olive.

      This is how J.Lo looks naturally

      https://assets.rbl.ms/6634949/980x.jpg

      nothing like suzanna lubrao.

    • EltonLee says:

      This isn’t true, North Africans aren’t part black and actually have totally different genetic makeup than Sub Saharan people. North Africans are most related to Middle Easterners than any other group on the globe.

      • andrew says:

        North Africans have some SSA admixture. However, for my personal experience, West Africans consider North Africans closer to Europeans than to them.

    • EltonLee says:

      Jennifer Lopez looks like half black and half white people. i.e. Meghan Markle …etc

      • italiano90 says:

        @eltonlee Jennifer does not look half black. With Meghan you can tell she is mixed with black. If you were to tell a random person on the street that J.Lo is black you will get puzzled looks. Jennifer is not that “exotic” as you people paint her out to be. Jennifer doesn’t have any SSA phenotype. Her nose and cheekbones are slightly indigenous influenced and the rest is southern european. Not denying her SSA ancestry (which I’m sure is small) but to say she looks half black is a stretch. Yall let the corn rows and excessive spray tan fool you. If she had a more roman larger nose and softer cheekbones she wouldn’t “stand out” with my sicilian family members. J.Lo looks like what she is, predominately european with native and african ancestry but not enough to say she looks half black like mehgan or alicia keys. I’ve seen white passing biracials but your comment comes off as “J.Lo is exotic. She must be half black” which is odd and unrealistic.

  4. danishcookie7 says:

    I’m guessing she is 50 – 60% Sub Saharan African, 20 – 25 % European and 10 to 15% Taino/Indigenous. There are african american with her tan skin complexion, curly hair, big lips and she has a black womans body. She’s pretty much a light skin black woman. Her mom also clearly has very visible SSA phenotype.

    • italiano90 says:

      LMAO 50 to 60% SSA? Get the —- outta here. No way. I’m not denying her SSA ancestry but its nowhere near the large amount you estimated. She is probably around at least 20% SSA. Her european ancestry is a lot higher than your prediction.

      How does she look like a black woman? No full black woman looks like her. She would stick out like a sore thumb in a room full of black women.

      – Tan complexion? You do know she uses self tanner right? She is not pale but she is naturally light olive tone.

      – Her hair isn’t curly. If you look at her childhood and teen photos her hair was always wavy-ish.

      – Big lips? The —- you talking about? Her lips were always small. If anything she enhances her lips with lip injections. Have you seen her younger photos? That woman has weak lips.

      – She does have a beautiful voluptuous body but you also have that spaniard and other southern european women also have that body. I’m italian and many of my female family members have a similar body to jlos, they even have bigger bums and thicker thighs.

      – She is NOT a light skin black woman. To be black you have to have two black parents. None of her parents are black. Her mom is mixed with african obviously so that I agree with you on but that does not make J.Lo black. Her father is clearly predominately european descent.

      Jennifer Lopez is a triguena. She is mixed of european, african and taino. She is not black nor does she look black. She looks very much like what she is, tri-racial. Stop being delusional.

      • andrew says:

        I’m not actually sure if there’s SSA in the mix. Many Puerto Ricans (like her) descend from Canary Islanders, who often resembles their neighbouring Moroccans from North Africa. If someone want to know how naturally J.Lo looks, just watch the movie “Blood and Wine”, starring Jack Nicholson, Stephen Dorff and Michael Caine.

        • Mixed Kidd says:

          She definitely does have SSA in her mix most likely, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Cubans, etc are all multiracial (mostly African, Spanish and Indigenous ) there are some that are black, some that are white as well.

          • italiano90 says:

            I wouldnt say they’re “ALL” multiracial. My brothers wife is puerto rican and she is blonde, pale, blue eyes. She did the 23 and me test and came out 92% european mainly from Spain, Portugal and Italy. She had SSA dna but it was the lowest percentage (I think it was 5% if I remember correctly). I’d hardly call that “mix”. Just like Steven Tyler is “hardly” african. I also had a puerto rican who was black and she’d tell you she was full african. Born and raised in PR along with her parents but her lineage is heavily from Nigeria and Senegal.

            I’ve actually seen North africans that resemble people like J.Lo and Ricky Martin especially in the nose area. Point blank, J.Lo doesnt fit in anywhere in Sub Saharan Africa or Europe but she can easily fit in North Africa.

          • Mixed Kidd says:

            @italiano90 Yes, she could pass for Morocco, maybe she does have some North African ancestry, if she her roots are Canarian

          • andrew says:

            Morocco is a diverse country but local people are on average much more brown than her (depending on SSA admix). Actually she would not really stand out in parts of Spain or Portugal even though her facial features would be questionable.

      • Jacklyn 224 says:

        Agreed with everything you said.Though I’d say she’s about 20-45%SSA.Multiracial white woman are the most beautiful beings on the planet.

    • Jacklyn 224 says:

      Exaggerating much bruh?lol.

      I’d say she’s about 20-45%SSA and indigenous.

      Wtf is wrong with,she’s clearly mixed race not black.Even light skinned black woman don’t look like her.lol

    • Jacklyn 224 says:

      Oh please spare me your delusions.The only thing light skinned black women can pass as is black.Jennifer can blend in well in meditteranean countries.

      • italiano90 says:

        @Jacklyn224 I agree. People saying Jlo has more african than european blood are delusional. She doesn’t even look like a light skin black woman. I wouldn’t even say she has over 20% SSA. Her father looks predominately white so I’m sure his lineage is mostly spaniard/italy/greece. Jlo’s mom definitely looks mixed but not enough to be considered “half black” or “black”. Despite her nose and cheekbones, I’ve seen some Catalans that look like J.Lo.

  5. andrew says:

    Interestingly her maternal great-grandmother’s surname, “Febres”, which is rare, appears to be of Canarian origin.

    It originates with a man from Flanders, Gillis Le Febvre, who was Governor of El Hierro, Canary Islands, at the end of 1500s, and had 11 children.

    Many people in PR and Cuba have Canarian ancestry, so it’s not surprising.

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