Lorde

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Lorde in 2013, photo by PrPhotos

Birth Name: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor

Place of Birth: Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand

Date of Birth: 7 November, 1996

Ethnicity: Irish, English, Serbian, Croatian, German, Scottish, possibly 1/32 Polynesian/Pacific Islander

Lorde is a Kiwi singer, songwriter, and record producer.

She is the daughter of Vic O’Connor (Victor Peter Gerrard Andrew O’Connor) and poet Sonja Yelich (Sonja Marija Yelich). Her father was one of eight children in a religious Catholic family.

Lorde’s paternal grandmother was named Elsa.

Lorde’s maternal grandfather is George Branko Yelich (the son of Branko Jelić/Jelik/Yelich and Radmilla/Radmila Anrath, born Terezija Anrat). George was born in Wukovar/Vukovar, Općina Vukovar, Vukovar-Syrmia County, Croatia. George and his mother came to New Zealand, through Trieste, in June of 1949. Lorde’s great-grandfather Branko was the son of Dorde Jelić and Kristina Rozanović. Lorde’s great-grandmother Radmila was the daughter of Dragutin “Karl” Anrat and Wilhelmina “Vilma” Rozanović. Lorde’s grandfather George was of the Orthodox Christian faith. His mother Radmilla likely converted from Catholicism to Orthodoxy. She may have had partial German ancestry. Referring to her Eastern European roots, Lorde stated in an interview on Vevo Lift that she is a “little bit Croatian,” and has also said that her ancestry is Serbian.

Lorde’s maternal grandmother is named Lana/Leilani Carol (the daughter of Patricia “Pat” Howley). Patricia was the daughter of Clyde Emile Howley, who had English and Scottish ancestry, and of Mickey Florence Moore, who herself was born on Wallis Islands, as Florence Ellen Edith Moore, to an Irish-born father, Matthew Moore, and a mother, Fausita, who likely was a native Islander. A picture of Mickey can be seen here.

Sources: http://www.fasterlouder.com.au
https://www.novosti.rs

Genealogy of Lorde (focusing on her mother’s side) – https://www.geni.com

ethnic

Curious about ethnicity

91 Responses

  1. Marietta says:

    Anyone knows if George Branko is still alive?

  2. andrew says:

    Florence Ellen Edith Moore, t

  3. Therius says:

    George Robert Howley is not Lorde’s maternal great-grandfather, Clyde Howley and Florence Moore had at least 3 children, George, Patricia and Moira Virginia, in this case Leilani Carol’s mother is Patricia.

  4. comrade says:

    Clyde Emile Howley’s wife’s full legal name was Florence Ellen Edith Moore she was born in 1900 from her death record. But there is no matching birth recorded in New Zealand. There is a Ellen Florrie Moore daughter of Williams Moore and Fausita Wallis born in Suva, Fiji in 1895 five years earlier. Could Florence Ellen Edith Moore and Ellen Florrie Moore be the same person? If so then Lorde is 1/32nd Fijian.

    https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:DZRJ-4BN2

    Although there is no certain link between Florence Ellen Edith Moore and Ellen Florrie Moore except that their names are slightly similar. It could also be that Florence Ellen Edith Moore (1900-1979) was born in either Ireland, USA, UK, Australia or somewhere else.

    https://twitter.com/sonjayelich1/status/1175683625997594630?t=NcDLA9ju3O7huGxYphDbPw&s=19

    The WeRelate tree is incorrect Clyde was the son of John William Howley (not George Howley) and Anne/Annie Emilia Wilkinson (daughter of Richard Daniel Wilkinson, who was English, and Susanna(h) Craib who was English and Scottish).
    https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Wilkinson-5435

    • comrade says:

      You didn’t read the whole comment. WeRelate.org is a bad source. I’ll explain: a woman named ‘Florence Ellen Edith Moore’ married Clyde Emile Howley in 1922 in New Zealand. That same Florence Ellen Edith Moore had a son named George Robert Howley. This Florence Ellen Edith Howley (nee Moore) died in NZ in 1979 and gives her birth year as 1900. We know that this Florence was nicknamed Mickey from Sonja’s tweet. https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/cemeteries/Pages/RecordDetails.aspx?recordId=9DB7B883509CC17D891BA0D5B8EB1CA2

      Then there’s a ‘Ellen Florrie Moore’ born on the island of Fiji (not Wallis Island) in 1895. Her parents are Williams (not Matthew) Moore and Fausita Wallis. The record: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:DZRJ-4BN2

      If ‘Florence Ellen Edith Moore’ and ‘Ellen Florrie Moore’ are the same person then Fausita is indeed Lorde’s ancestor so she could be distant Fijian or some Polynesian. Considering the surname Wallis I suspect Fausita might have had some English ancestry too.

      Micronesia (Kiribati, Guam, etc) is different from Polynesia (Tonga, Fiji, Wallis, etc). So Lorde would be ‘possibly 1/32 Polynesian/Pacific Islander’.

      • andrew says:

        Tbh Fiji is in Melanesia as you will know.

        • comrade says:

          Yep but they’re culturally closer to Polynesia. Ethnically they’re a mix of Melanesian and Polynesian.

          • andrew says:

            So Fijians are genetically part Polynesians?

            I knew Polynesians (Tongans and Samoans) are genetically around 20% Melanesians.

            I like the topic as fan of Rugby.

          • comrade says:

            Most Polynesian Islanders are a little bit mixed with Melanesian. Polynesians and Melanesians were sea-faring people so they had trade relationships between different islands.

            Tonga and Samoa used Melanesian slaves and those descendants integrated with the local Polynesians.

  5. Santotheo says:

    Leilani’s mother was named Patricia “Pat”.

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