You’ve seen the photos. One week she’s rocking long, dark braids, and the next, she’s sporting a bronzed glow that looks suspiciously like a tan from a month in the Maldives—or a bottle of her own tanning drops. It’s no wonder that "what race is kylie jenner" remains one of the most Googled questions about the youngest member of the Kardashian-Jenner clan.
The internet has a lot of opinions. Some people genuinely think she’s mixed. Others are convinced she’s trying to "blackfish"—a term used when a white person uses makeup, tanning, and hairstyles to appear Black or racially ambiguous. Honestly, the reality is a lot less mysterious than the Instagram filters make it look.
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The Family Tree: Breaking Down Kylie's DNA
Let’s get the facts straight. Kylie Jenner is white. Specifically, she is of entirely European descent.
Unlike her older half-sisters—Kim, Kourtney, and Khloé—Kylie doesn’t have Armenian heritage. That’s the big point of confusion for most people. The "Kardashian" sisters get their Armenian roots from their late father, Robert Kardashian. But Kylie? Her dad is Caitlyn Jenner (formerly Bruce Jenner).
Kylie’s mother, Kris Jenner, is a mix of several European ethnicities. We’re talking:
- Dutch
- English
- Irish
- German
- Scottish
Caitlyn Jenner’s side of the family brings in more of the same. Her ancestry includes English, Scottish, Irish, Dutch, and Welsh roots. There’s even a fun bit of trivia from genealogical records: Caitlyn is part-Newfoundlander through her grandmother, Bertha Mary Yarn, who grew up in a small fishing village in Newfoundland.
So, if you did a DNA test on Kylie today, you’d see a map of Western Europe lighting up like a Christmas tree. There is no African, Latina, or Middle Eastern ancestry in her bloodline, despite what her "aesthetic" might occasionally suggest.
Why People Keep Getting This Wrong
It’s easy to see why the confusion exists. Kylie has spent her entire life in the shadow of the Kardashians. Since 2007, she was the "little sister" on a show where the primary stars were half-Armenian.
As she grew up, Kylie’s look changed. Dramatically.
She famously admitted to lip fillers after years of speculation, but it wasn't just the lips. The heavy tanning, the streetwear, the wigs, and the surgical "BBL" aesthetic are all hallmarks of a look that borrows heavily from Black culture. When you see her standing next to her children, Stormi and Aire—who are biracial—the visual contrast sometimes leads people to assume she must have some "mixed" heritage herself. She doesn't.
The Cultural Appropriation Controversy
You can’t talk about what race is kylie jenner without mentioning the "B" word: Blackfishing.
Back in 2015, actress Amandla Stenberg famously called Kylie out for wearing cornrows. Amandla’s point was pretty sharp: "When u appropriate black features and culture but fail to use ur position of power to help black Americans." It sparked a massive debate that hasn't really died down.
Then there was the "brown skinned girl" incident. A few years ago, a photo appeared on Kylie's Instagram with a caption that allegedly read "brown skinned girl." Kylie later denied this, claiming the screenshot was fake and that her original caption was "brown eyed girl." Regardless of the truth, the fact that people were so quick to believe she’d claim that title says a lot about her public image.
Comparing the Sisters
It's weirdly fascinating how the family’s branding works.
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- Kendall Jenner: Stays closer to a traditional "high fashion" white look.
- Kim Kardashian: Leans heavily into her Armenian roots (and has faced her own appropriation claims).
- Kylie Jenner: The most experimental with styles that blur racial lines.
The Business of "Looking" Mixed
Kylie Cosmetics didn't become a billion-dollar brand by accident. She sold a look. That look—plump lips, contoured skin, and "exotic" eyes—is often marketed as a universal standard of beauty. But critics argue this standard is actually just a curated version of Black and Brown features on a white woman's body.
In 2020, Kylie faced backlash when her company revealed that only 13% of its employees were Black. While 47% were identified as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), many felt the numbers didn't match the culture the brand was profiting from. It’s a complex layer to her identity. She isn't a person of color, but she is a major architect of a "look" that often erases the origins of those very features.
What This Means for Her Kids
Kylie is the mother of two Black children with rapper Travis Scott. This adds another dimension to the conversation. While Kylie herself is 100% white, she is raising children who will navigate the world as Black/biracial individuals.
This often changes how a person views race, but it doesn't change their own DNA. Kylie has often spoken about wanting her daughter to feel confident and "embracing everything" about herself. It’s a stark contrast to the way Kylie changed her own natural features to fit a specific, often racially ambiguous, trend.
The Bottom Line
Kylie Jenner is a white woman of Western European descent. Her parents, Kris and Caitlyn, have zero non-white ancestry. Any confusion about her race usually stems from her tanning habits, cosmetic procedures, and styling choices that lean into a more "ethnically ambiguous" vibe.
If you're looking for the short answer: She's as white as a tea party in London, even if her Instagram feed suggests she's spending 24/7 in a tanning bed.
How to verify celebrity ancestry yourself:
- Check WikiTree or Geneastar for public family records.
- Look for interviews where they discuss their grandparents’ origins (Caitlyn’s Newfoundland roots are a great example of this).
- Distinguish between "ethnicity" (cultural/ancestral) and "race" (socially defined categories).