Noah Ringer

Ringer in 2010, photo by PR Photos. A more recent picture of Noah can be seen here.

Birth Name: Noah Andrew Ringer

Place of Birth: Dallas, Texas, U.S.

Date of Birth: November 18, 1996

Ethnicity: German (almost half), along with English, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Scottish, Irish, remote Welsh

Noah Ringer is an American actor and martial artist. He is known for starring as Aang in the 2010 film The Last Airbender. The film’s director, M. Night Shyamalan, stated of Noah, “To me, he felt mixed race with an Asian quality to him.” He also co-starred in the film Cowboys & Aliens in 2011, his only other role to date. As of 2010, he was a second degree black belt in American Taekwondo.

Noah’s father is of three quarters German descent, with his other ancestry being English, and remote Welsh. Noah’s mother has German, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Scottish, English, and Irish lineage. All in all, Noah is of at least 43.75% German ancestry, though adding in more distant lineages, his total percent of German ancestry is probably in the high 40s.

In a 2010 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Noah stated that he has Native American ancestry:

Racebending.com confirmed that when asked by Entertainment Weekly reporter Karen Valby about his ethnicity, Noah Ringer self-identified as “American Indian.”

It is not clear if this Native American ancestry has been verified/documented. As far as can be found, Noah’s recent American ancestors, going back to all of his American great-great-grandparents, are listed as “White” on United States Censuses.

In this video, he states about his Native American ancestry:

…and I don’t know why it came out so strong in me ’cause it’s literally like 1/25ths or something ridiculous like that…

A picture of Noah’s paternal grandmother can be seen here (on the far left of the page). A picture of Noah’s maternal grandfather can be seen here.

Noah’s paternal grandfather is Jurgen Fritz Ringer (the son of Friedrich Karl Franz Ringer and Ernestine M. Lorinser). Jurgen was a German who immigrated to the United States after World War II, along with his parents and siblings. Noah’s great-grandfather Friedrich was a chemist, who worked for the IG Farben chemical company, and was responsible for all of IG Farben’s contracts with major oil companies. Friedrich was the son of Friedrich R. Ringer and Holst.

Noah’s paternal grandmother is Barbara Maynard (the daughter of Harold Bright Maynard and Hilda Marie Koch). Barbara was born in Pennsylvania. Noah’s great-grandfather Harold was from a New England family. Harold’s parents were William Clement Maynard (the son of Charles Albert Maynard and Mary Bailey Clement) and Edith Lucia Clark (the daughter of Lucius Clark and Julia Sandford Bright). Noah’s great-grandmother Hilda was from Pennsylvania, and was of German descent. Hilda’s parents were Edward Nicholas Koch (the son of Charles E. Koch and Anna Martha Maria Stippy) and Laura A. Kingelhofer (the daughter of William Klingelhofer and Susan Backofer).

Noah’s maternal grandfather was Willis Floyd Fagan (the son of William Ellis Fagan and Lottie Helen Martin). Willis was born in Oklahoma. William was the son of William Lon Fagan and Rosa/Rosie May Dillard. Lottie was the daughter of Jett Imri Martin and Lois Earnest/Ernest Hudspeth.

Noah’s maternal grandmother was Ann Elizabeth McDonald (the daughter of Cecil C. McDonald and Gladys Mary Altman). Ann was born in Oklahoma. Cecil was the son of Norman McDonald and Mattie Stiteler. Gladys was the daughter of William Yoder Altman, who was of German descent, and of Myrtle B. Sargent.

Sources: Wedding announcement of Naoh’s paternal grandparents, Jurgen Fritz Ringer and Barbara Maynard – http://news.google.com

Who’s who in Germany, Volume 2; Volume 4, Part 2, 1972, by Horst Kliemann – http://books.google.com

Marriage record of Noah’s paternal great-great-grandparents, William Clement Maynard and Edith Lucia Clark – https://familysearch.org

Noah’s paternal great-great-grandparents, William Clement Maynard and Edith Lucia Clark, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Noah’s paternal great-grandmother, Hilda Marie Koch, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Hilda Marie Koch on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Obituary of Noah’s paternal great-grandmother, Hilda Marie (Koch) Maynard – http://nl.newsbank.com

Birth record of Noah’s paternal great-great-grandfather, Edward Nicholas Koch – https://familysearch.org

Noah’s paternal great-great-grandmother, Laura A. Kingelhofer, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Obituary and genealogy of Noah’s maternal grandfather, Willis Floyd Fagan – http://www.findagrave.com

Obituary of Noah’s maternal grandfather, Willis Floyd Fagan – http://azlenews.net

Noah’s maternal great-grandfather, William Ellis Fagan, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Noah’s maternal great-great-grandparents, William Lon Fagan and Rosa/Rosie May Dillard, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Noah’s maternal great-grandmother, Lottie Helen Martin, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Lottie Helen Martin on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Noah’s maternal great-great-grandparents, Jett Imri Martin and Lois Earnest/Ernest Hudspeth, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Noah’s maternal grandmother, Ann Elizabeth McDonald, on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Obituary of Noah’s maternal grandmother, Ann Elizabeth (McDonald) Fagan – http://nl.newsbank.com

Noah’s maternal great-grandfather, Cecil C. McDonald, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Genealogies of Noah’s maternal great-great-grandparents, Norman McDonald and Mattie Stiteler – http://findagrave.com

Noah’s maternal great-grandmother, Gladys Mary Altman, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

67 Responses

  1. Jonas says:

    Definitely part east asian or Native American, theres NO WAY this dude is full West/Northwest european, some complicated family history would explain this.

  2. Andrew133 says:

    Europeans could have ”asian” features, because they have ancient siberian ancestry

  3. Andrew133 says:

    there are europeans who look more asian than noah ringer

    look at this guy

    https://www.themoviedb.org/person/124870-onni-tommila

  4. bearboy says:

    When you say, “why those people are lying” are you suggesting that these ancestors listed in Noah’s profile are made up being that they are from Northern Europe?

    • follers says:

      To be fair, I did make a few of them up, so you could argue that neiltennant is somewhat correct.

      • bearboy says:

        lol, sorry neiltennant I guess Noah Ringer is really Asian :)

        • follers says:

          He is. Ringer’s maternal great-grandfather, who was born Chao Ying-Sei (later changed to Jesse Chao in the U.S.), was from Guangdong Province, China, and moved to South Carolina around 1915, as best as I can tell from census records. He married Ringer’s great-grandmother, Marybelle Louise Prather, around 1930, presumably out of state.

        • bearboy says:

          Oh then. my sincerest apologizes Neil Tennant I assumed you were trolling.

        • bearboy says:

          Wait why are all of his great grandparents listed as white then??? and why didn’t you add the Chinese ancestry?

        • madman says:

          In was surprisingly common for Asian immigrants to be listed as white, especially on the 1930 census. Although it is often overlooked in history books, the south saw a considerable wave of Asian immigrants in the 1910’s. Another famous southerner of Asian ancestry is Miley Cyrus, whose maternal grandmother, Azra KerimoÄŸlu, was born 1919 in Kentucky, to Turkish parents, and married Cyrus’ maternal grandfather, Donald Finley, who converted to his wife’s islamic faith upon their marriage (also very common).

          Why follers is choosing to cover these up and listing made up ancestors is beyond me, since it is so obvious for anyone looking at them what their true ethnicity is.

        • follers says:

          Isn’t Miley Cyrus’ biological father Turkish musician Mehmet Asar, from Bodrum?

          At the time… working as a cab driver, [he] had an affair with Cyrus’ mother while she was on holiday in Bodrum in July-August 1987 (which corresponds with Cyrus’ birth in November 1992).

          So that would make Cyrus three quarters Turkish.

        • bearboy says:

          I always thought Miley Cyrus is mainly Turkish. I also always thought Abigail Breslin might have been adopted from Jewish biological parents living in Belarus.

        • bearboy says:

          Follers, you agree that she looks like a mixture of Irish Apfel and Barney Frank both of Belarusian Jewish descent.

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