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
Is he really 100% white? He looks to be part Asian
Your fetish for eye colours is unbelievable. I personally never thought to a distinction between “brown” or “dark brown” eyes. To me his eyes are simply “brown”.
Why does he look part Asian tho??????
He “looks Asian” due to his mixed heritage apparently, one of which he claimed to be American Indian, though it is not clear to us how from his family tree. I know a kid who “looks Hispanic” because he has a white father and a black mother, so similar recombination of facial features may in play here.
Anywho, if you check out his photos on his facebook, he looks “off-white” whenever he gives his broad smile.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Noah-Ringer/109306182466431?id=109306182466431&sk=photos_stream
However, when he didn’t smile, like in his the first prom image of Aang for The Last Airbender AND in the kidswithacause photo linked by follers below, he can pass as white quite easily. xP
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KJkZI37bJ8Y/SlwdrK4SGLI/AAAAAAAAAEU/iH_Gkf6bjKU/s400/Noah+Ringer+Aang.jpg
http://kidswithacause.org/projects/noah-ringer/
This kid HAS to be part Asian. He looks mixed.
LOL ! Caucasian ethnicity while he obviously looks asian ( or latino).
Please try again :)
I’m thinking of changing it to half Cambodian, a quarter Peruvian, and a quarter German. I hope people like the idea.
might make people rest easier lol
I’ll make the change.
Look you do not see someone like Noah who is native to the countries listed in his ancestry. Look at Catherine Zeta Jones she is an example of a person from Britain with dark hair and eyes. Noah does have some other ancestry not stated. He is from the US and it is not impossible that he has some non-Euro blood. Some people have questioned Robert Sheehan’s Irish ethnicity but even if Robert is a bit out of the mainstream he still can be completely Irish. How long has Noah’s family been in the US? All I can say is there is some other ancestry in Noah’s makeup that is not listed. Otherwise why is there not British and Germans walking around looking like they are from Central Asia? As I’ve said previously I would love to see a dna test result for Noah. You can only put documented ancestry so fair enough but it doesn’t mean that there wasn’t something else there not listed. You just don’t look like Noah with ancestry from just the British Isles and Germany.
Noah Ringer doesn’t look that much more “exotic” to me than Jimmy Fallon. In fact, he looks like he could be Fallon’s son.
Noah’s paternal grandfather was German, and he was “Aryan” enough to live in Germany until well after World War II was over. Noah’s paternal grandmother is descended from (relatively) recent German immigrants on one side, and from New England Yankees on the other. I told you, there is a picture of her here (far left). I think she looks similar to him:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZSgNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BGwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1767,699599&dq=maynard+jurgen+fritz+ringer&hl=en
I told you that Noah’s mother is pictured here. Granted, she is wearing sunglasses, but she doesn’t seem “exotic” to me. Any recent Native American ancestry Noah has would have to come from her.
http://content8.flixster.com/photo/13/94/85/13948550_ori.jpg
BTW, this is a more recent picture of Noah:
http://kidswithacause.org/projects/noah-ringer/
That last picture he didn’t look as non-European. Some photos depending on lighting can make people look a bit exotic. OK I’ll accept he is just a bit out of the mainstream.
I think these things just happen. Probably 95% of people of North-Western European background don’t have the same skin color as George Clooney, for example.
Yes true. There is a range in populations. Good discussion though. Noah is a cute kid no matter what his ancestry.
Sorry, but he looks Asian.
agreed, he looks very mongoloid, he definitely does not look what his ethnicity’s been listed as
It would be interesting to see what would come up on a dna test. He doesn’t look soley German/British Isles.
“solely”
There are many caucasian people who are said to have a “pseudo-Asian” look. It’s pretty common. There is a picture of his paternal grandmother here (far left), and she looks somewhat similar to him.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZSgNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BGwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1767,699599&dq=maynard+jurgen+fritz+ringer&hl=en
I mean, Noah Ringer obviously isn’t Asian. At the most, he could be something like 1/8th Native American, but even that is pretty unlikely.
I think this is his mother here. She would be the one with any Native American ancestry. Noah’s father definitely has no Native American roots in the seeable past.
http://content8.flixster.com/photo/13/94/85/13948550_ori.jpg
Yes there are Europeans with a pseudo-Asian look but Noah doesn’t have a pseudo-Asian look. He looks Asian. Even his skin colour is naturally dark. All the actors that list Native American and don’t look it. Noah does have something else suggested by his looks. It’s not impossible that someone might have something in their ancestry other than what they are led to believe.