Tiffani Thiessen

Thiessen in 2012, photo via PRphotos

Birth Name: Tiffany Amber Thiessen

Place of Birth: Orange, California, United States

Date of Birth: January 23, 1974

Ethnicity: English, German, with Scottish, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Irish, and Welsh

Tiffani-Amber Thiessen is an American actress, also credited as Tiffani Thiessen. She has starred on the shows Saved by the Bell and Beverly Hills, 90210. She is the daughter of Robyn and Frank Thiessen, a park designer and landscape architect. She is married to actor Brady Smith, with whom she has two children.

In 1998, Tiffani told InStyle Magazine:

I’m a mutt. I have so much of everything in me, and half of it I don’t even know. German on one side, Greek, Turkish and Welsh on the other. My mom is very olive-skinned; I get my blue eyes from my dad.

This statement, about Greek and Turkish ancestry, does not appear to be correct. Tiffani’s maternal grandfather, Robert Howell Ernest, is listed as having died in Turkey, but he was not of Turkish descent. Robert was born in New Jersey, of approximately three quarters German and one quarter English ancestry.

Tiffani’s paternal grandmother remarried to Lowell Henry Thiessen, who adopted Tiffani’s father. Tiffani’s father subsequently took on the surname Thiessen. Lowell’s ancestry traces to Johann Abraham Thiessen, who was born, c. 1866, in Russia. He was an ethnic German.

Tiffani’s biological paternal grandfather was Franklin Arthur “Frank” Chadwick (the son of Andrew William Chadwick and Pearl Genevieve McCoy). Frank was born in Iowa. Andrew was born in Iowa, the son of Jerome P. Chadwick and Sarah Ellen Ulin. Tiffani’s great-grandmother Pearl was also born in Iowa, the daughter of William McCoy and Nellie Spencer.

Tiffani’s paternal grandmother was Beverly Jean Bondshu (the daughter of Albert Clarence Bondshu and Esma Amanda Hamlett/Hamlet). Beverly was born in California. Albert was born in California, the son of Francis/Frank Albert Bondshu and Mary Elizabeth Halstead. Francis’s father, Karl/Charles Albert Bondshu, was German, from Baden, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Tiffani’s great-grandmother Esma was the daughter of Frank B. Hamlett and Harriett Louise Turner.

Tiffani’s maternal grandfather was Robert Howell Ernest (the son of Otto Bernard Ernest and Gladys Natalie Inderlied). Robert was born in New Jersey. Otto was born in Saxony, Germany, the son of Bernhardt Otto Ernst/Ernest and Bertha Auguste Ziegler, who was from Falkenstein, Upper Palatinate, Bavaria. Gladys was born in New York, the daughter of Charles Franklin Inderlied and Natalie Clara Wolfe.

Tiffani’s maternal grandmother was Therese/Theresa Frances Hood (the daughter of William Aaron/Alexander/Andrew Jackson Hood and Ora Irene Ecton). Therese was born in Californa. William was born in Georgia, the son of Enoch Chapman Hood and Amanda Jane Townsend. Ora was born in Utah, the daughter of Jesse Alexander Ecton and Emma Williams, who was born in Utah, to Welsh parents, her father from Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent and her mother from Swansea.

Sources: Tiffani mentions that her father was adopted by his own stepfather – http://www.tiffanithiessen.org

Genealogy of Tiffani Thiessen – https://www.geni.com

Tiffani’s paternal grandfather, Franklin Arthur “Frank” Chadwick, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Franklin Arthur “Frank” Chadwick on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org

Wedding announcement of Tiffani’s paternal step-grandfather, Lowell Henry Thiessen, and Tiffani’s paternal grandmother, Beverly Jean Bondshu – http://www.newspapers.com

Tiffani’s maternal grandfather, Robert Howell Ernest, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Tiffani’s maternal grandmother, Therese/Theresa Frances Hood, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org