Kiesza
Kiesza in 2016, photo by Prphotos
Birth Name: Kiesa Rae Ellestad
Place of Birth: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Date of Birth: January 16, 1989
Ethnicity: Norwegian, Scottish
Kiesza is a Canadian singer and multi-instrumentalist.
Her last name, Ellestad, is Norwegian. Her grandfather is from Fagernes in Norway. In an interview with Metro, Kiesza also stated that she can trace her lineage to a person who fought alongside Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn. She said:
There’s a lot of Scottish people in Canada. Tons. My grandpa was of Scottish heritage – he was of the black Douglases.
paternal grandfather – Robert Edward Ellestad, born in Coronation, Alberta to parents from Oppland, Norway
paternal grandmother – Laurie Camela Smith, born in Halifax, Nova Scotia
maternal grandfather – Don Douglas, Scottish
maternal grandmother – Jocelyn Wooldridge (born to Henry Frank Wooldridge and Elma Jeanne Rauseo). Jocelyn was born in Trinidad & Tobago. Henry was born in Somerset, England and was of distant Welsh descent. Elma was born in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago.
> Her father was Lionel Archille Rauseo, a Venezuelan of Spanish and possibly Greek descent (as some of his ancestors were born on Corfu, but it was during Venetian rule so idk). Lionel’s maternal grandmother, Jane Gloster, was from an Antiguan family of English and French descent (Gloster/Jarvis/Thibou).
> Elma’s mother was Mary Theresa Borde, born in Trinidad to a family of French/Spanish descent. Some of her ancestors were born on Guadeloupe.
Source: all four of Kiesza’s grandparents named in a newspaper announcement of her brother’s birth https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-10969-787415644/laurie-ellestad-in-newspaper-name-index-usa-canada-australia
Her mother is Debra Ann McCann