Ever sat there looking at a picture of a young Paul Newman or maybe Florence Pugh and thought, “Wait, is that my nose?” It’s a fun rabbit hole to fall down. Honestly, most of us have a family legend about being a distant descendant of a Cherokee princess (usually a myth) or a long-lost cousin to a European duke.
But figuring out what celebrity am i related to isn't just about staring at cheekbones in the mirror. It's actually a mix of hardcore data, weird historical overlaps, and sometimes, a spit tube.
The truth is, if you go back far enough, we’re all tangled up. If you have European ancestry, for instance, there is a statistical certainty that you are related to Charlemagne. Every single person. But that doesn't get you a seat at the Oscars, does it? You want the "cool" relatives. The ones where you can actually point to a family tree and say, "Yeah, my great-great-aunt twice removed is why I have this singing voice."
Why Everyone Thinks They’re Related to Someone Famous
We love the "Prince and the Pauper" narrative. It makes our mundane lives feel a little more sparkly. Plus, surnames are a massive tease. If your last name is Hanks, you’ve probably been asked if you’re related to Tom a thousand times.
Spoiler alert: You probably aren't.
Surnames are tricky. In the old days, people took names based on their jobs (Smith, Miller) or even just the town they lived in. Sharing a name with a star usually just means your ancestors lived in the same county or did the same work.
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Take the case of Ashley Tisdale and Austin Butler. They worked together for years on High School Musical spin-offs and Aliens in the Attic, always joking that they felt like siblings. It wasn't until a 2022 episode of 2 Lies & A Leaf by Ancestry that they found out they are actually 10th cousins once removed. 10th cousins! That’s a tiny sliver of DNA, but it was enough to make them scream.
The Best Tools to Actually Verify Your Claims
If you want to stop guessing and start proving, you need to ditch the "Who is my celebrity twin" quizzes. Those are just facial recognition toys. To find a blood connection, you need records.
Relative Finder (The BYU Secret)
This is probably the most addictive tool on the internet for genealogy nerds. It was developed by Brigham Young University and hooks directly into the FamilySearch database.
- How it works: You create a free FamilySearch account and build your tree back a few generations.
- The Magic: Relative Finder then cross-references your tree with their massive "Famous People" database.
- The Result: It might tell you you’re the 9th cousin of Tom Hanks (who, fun fact, is actually related to Abraham Lincoln).
23andMe Historical Matches
As of 2024 and 2025, 23andMe really stepped up their game with "Historical Matches." They aren't just looking for your living aunt in Florida anymore. They are matching segments of your DNA to actual historical figures whose remains have been sequenced. We’re talking about connections to people like Ludwig van Beethoven or even 9th-century Vikings.
AncestryDNA and "ThruLines"
Ancestry is the giant in the room. Their "ThruLines" feature is pretty slick because it shows you how you might be related to other users—and some of those users are celebrities.
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Expert Tip: Celebrities usually use pseudonyms on DNA sites for privacy. You won't see "Brad Pitt" in your match list. You'll see "B.P." or a random username. The way you find them is by looking at the ancestors you share in your trees.
Celebrities With Shocking Family Ties
Sometimes the connections are already hiding in plain sight within Hollywood. It’s a small world, and the "nepo baby" conversation only scratches the surface.
- Snoop Dogg and Brandy: They are first cousins. They didn't even broadcast it for years because they wanted to make it on their own merits.
- Al Roker and Lenny Kravitz: This one always breaks people's brains. The Today Show weather legend and the rock star are second cousins.
- Nicolas Cage and Jason Schwartzman: Both are part of the massive Coppola family tree. Cage (born Coppola) is the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, making him cousins with Jason and director Sofia Coppola.
- Meryl Streep and Brooke Shields: They are second cousins once removed. High-end talent clearly stays in the pool.
Can You Trust "Celebrity Relation" Apps?
Short answer: No.
Long answer: Most apps that claim to find your "celebrity relative" are just comparing your selfie to a database of Getty Images. That’s not a relationship; that’s just having a similar jawline.
To find out what celebrity am i related to in a way that would hold up in a court of law (or at least a Thanksgiving dinner argument), you need a paper trail.
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- Start with what you know: Get the full names, birthdates, and death dates of your grandparents and great-grandparents.
- Use Census records: These are gold. They show who lived in which house and often reveal "lost" siblings who might have moved to California to become actors in the 1920s.
- Check for stage names: This is where most people fail. Reginald Kenneth Dwight became Elton John. If you’re looking for "Uncle Elton" in the 1940s census, you’re going to have a bad time.
The Science of the "Distant" Cousin
Here is a reality check. You share about $0.78%$ of your DNA with a 3rd cousin. By the time you get to a 10th cousin (like Ashley Tisdale and Austin Butler), the amount of shared DNA is so small it might not even show up on a standard test.
At that point, you aren't really "related" in a biological sense that affects your traits. You’re just two people who happen to share a great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparent. But hey, it's still a great icebreaker.
Actionable Steps to Finding Your Famous Roots
Don't just wonder about it. If you’re serious about tracing your lineage to the stars, follow this workflow:
- Join a Collaborative Tree: Use WikiTree or FamilySearch. These sites allow researchers to merge branches. If a celebrity’s genealogy has already been done by a pro, and you connect your branch to the right "trunk," the system will automatically flag the connection.
- Search "Common Name" Variants: If you suspect a link to a specific star, research their genealogy first. Sites like Ethnicelebs or Geneastar have pre-built trees for famous people. See if any of their 18th-century ancestors have the same names and locations as yours.
- Focus on the "Gatekeepers": Look for the grandmothers. In many families, one person kept the scrapbooks. That’s where the "We’re related to the Barrymores" rumors start. Find those papers.
- Upload your Raw DNA: If you've tested with Ancestry or 23andMe, download your raw data and upload it to MyHeritage or GEDmatch. These sites have different user bases, including many international celebrities and their families.
Finding out your place in the grand human tapestry is a trip. Whether you're related to a TikTok star or a Golden Age icon, the real joy is in the hunt. Just remember: even if you don't find a movie star in your tree, your ancestors survived plagues, wars, and migrations just so you could be here today. That’s pretty legendary on its own.
Go log into FamilySearch and run the Relative Finder tool. It takes ten minutes and might just change how you watch the next awards show.