Kalama Epstein
07/16/2016 – Epstein, Kyler Sakamoto – Love International Film Festival 2016 Awards Ceremony – Wilshire Ebell Theatre – Los Angeles, CA, USA – Photo Credit: Sheri Determan / PRPhotos.com
Birth Name: Kalamakahaola Epstein
Place of Birth: Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, U.S.
Date of Birth: May 5, 2000
Ethnicity:
*father – Ashkenazi Jewish
*mother – English, Welsh, Norwegian, about 18.75% Native Hawaiian
Kalama Epstein is an American actor. His roles include the shows No Good Nick and The Fosters.
He was born and raised on Oahu, Hawaii. Kalama has referred to himself as Jewish (here and here). His father is of Polish Jewish and Russian Jewish descent. Kalama’s mother is of English, Welsh, Norwegian, and about 18.75% Hawaiian, descent. His Hawaiian ancestors were ali’i (royal).
The name Kalama means “flaming torch” in Hawaiian. It was the name of Kalama’s maternal great-great-great-grandmother Hakuma Kalama Victoria Ali Mahoe.
Kalama’s paternal grandfather was Martin Epstein (the son of Charles Epstein and Erma/Anna Henchie/Haenya Bashe/Bashinsky). Martin was born in New York, to Jewish parents from the Russian Empire. Anna was born in Grodno, the daughter of David Solomon Bashatsky/Bashe and Fruma/Frieda/Fannie Klatsky, who was from Antopol, Lubelskie.
Kalama’s paternal grandmother is Laura Ettinger (the daughter of Benjamin Solomon Ettinger and Sarah Etta Horowitz). Benjamin was born in New York, the son of Russian Jewish parents, Louis Ettinger and Tilly/Tillie Schub. Sarah was a Russian Jewish immigrant, and was the daughter of Milly.
Kalama’s maternal grandfather was Merwin Price Porter (the son of John H. Porter and Margaret Price). Merwin was born in Kansas. Margaret was the daughter of David Rees Price, whose parents were Welsh, and of Mary/Maria Knudsen Jeilen Lee, who was of Norwegian.
Kalama’s maternal grandmother is Kulani Helyn Fernandez (the daughter of Edwin Kane Lemuel “E. K.” Fernandez, and of Rose Nearing, born Rose Dallas Allen). Kalama’s great-grandfather E. K. Fernandez was born in Kulaokahua, Oahu, Hawaii, and was a legendary Hawaiian showman. He was the son of Abraham Ah Hoy/Kaleimahoe Fernandez and Minerva Eliza Kapohaku Davis. Kalama’s great-great-grandfather Abraham was the son of Hakuma Kalama Victoria Ali Mahoe, who was from Lahaina, Maui. Abraham was adopted by his stepfather, Peter Fernandez, who was from Bombay, India, and was of Spanish descent. Abraham’s biological father may have been Ah Hoy, who was either of Hawaiian descent or of Chinese-Hawaiian descent. Kalama’s great-great-grandmother Minerva was the daughter of William Lyman Davis, who was from Lebanon, Grafton County, New Hampshire, and of Keumikalakaua/Umikalakaua Mahihelelima/Mahihele Davis, who was from Hana, Maui County, Hawaii, and was the daughter of Mahi Kiki Mahihele and Kapohaku/Kupo.
Kalama’s great-grandmother Rose Dallas Allen was the daughter of Charles Milton/Alfred Allen and Helen/Helyn Relyea Nearing. Under the name Rose Nearing, she was a vaudeville entertainer, along with her sister Margaret Nearing, sometimes under the name the Nearing Sisters.
Sources: https://travel.squibs.org
Genealogy of Kalama Epstein (focusing on his father’s side) – https://www.geni.com
Obituary of Kalama’s paternal grandfather, Martin Epstein – https://www.legacy.com
Genealogy of Kalama’s paternal great-great-grandfather, David Solomon Bashatsky/Bashe (focusing on his own father’s side) – https://www.geni.com
Kalama’s paternal great-grandfather, Benjamin Solomon Ettinger, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Genealogy of Kalama’s maternal great-grandfather, Edwin Kane Lemuel “E. K.” Fernandez – https://www.geni.com
Kalama’s maternal great-grandfather, Edwin Kane Lemuel “E. K.” Fernandez, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Article about Kalama’s maternal great-grandfather, Edwin Kane Lemuel “E. K.” Fernandez – http://archives.starbulletin.com
Article about the family of Kalama’s maternal great-grandfather, Edwin Kane Lemuel “E. K.” Fernandez – https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu
Death record of Kalama’s maternal great-grandfather, Edwin Kane Lemuel “E. K.” Fernandez – https://www.familysearch.org
Obituary of Kalama’s maternal great-grandmother, Rose Dallas (Allen) Fernandez – https://www.newspapers.com
Eppstein is the name of two towns in Germany, in the Palatinate and near Frankfurt. So between about 1800 and his Polish/Russian roots there must have been German Jewish (still Ashkenazim, of course) ancestors.
David Rees Price and Mary/Maria Knudsen Jeilen Lee —> David Rees Price, whose parents were Welsh, and Mary/Maria Knudsen Jeilen Lee, who was Norwegian
Abraham Ah Hoy/Kaleimahoe Fernandez appears to have a father from India and a Native Hawaiian mother. I don’t know if his father, Peter Fernandez, was of Indian and/or European descent.
Minerva Eliza Kapohaku Davis was the daughter of a father from New Hampshire and a Native Hawaiian mother.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MM5K-8MS?from=lynx1UIV8&treeref=K2WW-56K
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MM5K-8MS?from=lynx1UIV8&treeref=K2WW-56K
This of course also means that his mother is 1/8th Hawaiian, not a quarter.
I added more information about his Hawaiian side. The exact number is probably 3/16th Hawaiian.