Uma Thurman

Entertainment Press / Shutterstock.com

Birth Name: Uma Karuna Thurman

Place of Birth: Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.

Date of Birth: April 29, 1970

Ethnicity:
*father – English, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Scottish, German
*mother – German, Swedish, Danish

Uma Thurman is an American actress and model. She has starred in the films Pulp Fiction, Batman & Robin, Gattaca, and Kill Bill.

Uma’s father, Robert Alexander Farrar Thurman, was born in New York City, of English, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Scottish, and German ancestry. Uma’s mother, Nena Birgitte Caroline (von Schlebrügge), a model, was born in Mexico City, Mexico, of five eighths German, one quarter Swedish, and one eighth Danish, ancestry.

Uma has two children, models and actors Maya Hawke and Levon Hawke, with her former husband, actor Ethan Hawke; and a daughter with her former partner, French financier Arpad Busson. Uma is a cousin of Swedish football player Max von Schlebrügge.

Uma’s father is an author, academic, and professor of Tibetan Buddhism, at Columbia University, and was ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk. He raised his children in a Buddhist environment, and Uma spent time in India and the Indo-Himalayan town of Almora as a child. Her first name, Uma, means, “splendor, light,” and is one of the epithets of Hindu female Goddess Parvati. Her middle name, Karuna, means “compassion” or “empathy.”

Uma’s paternal grandfather was Beverly Reid Thurman, Jr. (the son of Beverly Reid Thurman, Sr. and Huella Gibson Bedford). Uma’s grandfather Beverly was born in Tennessee. Uma’s great-grandfather Beverly was born in Tennessee, the son of John Royster Thurman and Jennie Reid. Huella was born in Texas, the daughter of Benjamin Watkins Bedford III and Grace Adam Gibson.

Uma’s paternal grandmother was Elizabeth Dean Farrar (the daughter of Preston Cooke Farrar and Edna Violet Patterson). Elizabeth was born in New York, to parents from Pennsylvania. Preston was the son of Samuel Clark Farrar and Marietta Cooke. Edna was the daughter of David Leslie Patterson and Dunie E. Dean.

Uma’s maternal grandfather was Friedrich Karl Johannes Baron von Schlebrügge (the son of Friedrich Karl Bernhard Felix Heinrich Franz von Schlebrügge and Nanny Schultz). Uma’s grandfather Friedrich was German, and was born in Oberglogau, Schlesien. Uma’s great-grandfather Friedrich was the son of Franz Joseph Friedrich von Schlebrügge and Karoline Adolfine Friederike von Detten.

Uma’s maternal grandmother was Brigit Olga Holmquist (the daughter of Albert Emil Fredrik Holmquist and Julie Tora Krüger/Krueger). Brigit was born in Trelleborg, Sweden. She was the inspiration for the 1930s statue Famntaget (“The Embrace”), by Axel Ebbe, of a nude woman, overlooking the harbor of Smygehuk, Sweden. Albert was Swedish, the son of Johan Edvard Holmquist and Maria Nilsson. Julie was born in Sweden, to a German father, Carl Gustaf/Gustav Adolph Krüger, from Wolfenbüttel, Lower Saxony, and to a Danish mother, Caroline Marie Sörensen, from Copenhagen.

Thurman in 2009, photo by David Shankbone

Sources: Genealogies of Uma Thurman – http://www.wargs.com
https://www.geni.com

ethnic

Curious about ethnicity

50 Responses

  1. ichbinich says:

    I don’t know if she is in major part German but she doesn’t look German she is too light

  2. nnnnn says:

    Killian and Ligon are not german names. Sadly, she
    doesn’t look her beautiful mother, she looks her father

    • Sweetpea says:

      Interesting her German ancestor has an surname which origin is Ireland.”Killian”
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killian

      @nnnn her ancestor with the surname “Ligon” is the English one that follers mentioned.

      • nnnnn says:

        Plenty of people, who LIVE IN GERMANY named
        Killian… or f.e. Ozturk. It doesn’t mean, it’s native
        german name

      • nnnnn says:

        Google:” Killian is anglised form of irish name Cilian”
        Let’s be correct

      • Sweetpea says:

        @ Follers
        Yes of course i was not implying this ancestor was not German.
        Just stating the surname was in fact an Irish one.
        I would also think it was strange if an Irish person had a German surname ie Schröder or something.

        While looking this up i found Killian is also commonly used in Ireland as boys first name.
        I found this.
        http://www.babynamesofireland.com/killian

        MEANING: cille means “”associated with the church.”” One St. Cillian left Ireland in about 650 AD with eleven companions and carried out his missionary work in the Rhine region of Germany where he became Bishop of Wurzburg after converting the local lord, Duke Gosbert of Wurzburg, to Christianity.

        I have noticed people use surnames a lot one here as help to finding celebs origin.So it is useful sometimes but not in every case.

      • Sweetpea says:

        The city of Wurzburg still celebrates a festival of mystery plays each year, known as Killianfest.

      • Sweetpea says:

        Eh eh follers
        You totally misinterpreted my point where did i say that this ancestor was Irish?I just thought it was interesting and found out that an Irish St KiLLIAN went to GERMANY IN 650 AD.And that maybe that some Germans adopted this surname or something.Also that a festival is held in Germany called KILLIANFEST after this Irish priest.
        I thought this was interesting information to go with the name.If you don’t well this is ok.

      • Alice says:

        @Sweetpea – Thanks for that information it is really interesting. A lot of Irish monks went all over Europe in the Middle Ages and started monasteries so don’t be surprised if you find Irish derived names in unusual places. Also a lot of Irish soldiers had to leave Ireland in the 16th and 17th centuries and went to fight in continental armies like France, Spain and the Netherlands. They were called the Wild Geese. A French President was Patrice de MacMahon whose ancestor was one of these Wild Geese.

      • Alice says:

        Also another famous person who was a descendent of one of these exiled Irishmen was Desiree Clary (original name Cleary) who was at one time a fiance of Napolean Bonaparte and later became Queen of Sweden.

  3. Erik says:

    Also to the comment about German women being prettier, lol no. 99% of Uma’s hottery has to come from the Swedish/Danish combo. I don’t know if you’ve been to Germany. Sure there are some hot girls, but not as high a proprotion as Scandinavia. Most German women have masculine faces and square jaws…..not really the ideal look for a standard beautiful woman.

  4. Mairnafey says:

    Her mother was born in Mexico, but they don’t metion it.

    • Erik says:

      Being born in a country does not automaticaly make your ethnic origin from that country :/

      Why the hell would Uma say she’s ethnicaly Mexican when she’s not? Lol

  5. eMI says:

    I HOPE THAT HER IRISH SIDE IS NOT BLACK IRISH,SHE IS VERY BEAUTIFUL BLONDE!

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