LOS ANGELES – FEB 08: Taylor Swift arrives to the Grammy Awards 2015 on February 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, CA photo by DFree/bigstock.com
Birth Name: Taylor Alison Swift
Place of Birth: West Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Date of Birth: December 13, 1989
Ethnicity: German, English, some Scottish, Irish, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Welsh, and 1/16th Italian, as well as distant French, Swedish, Dutch, and Belgian Walloon
Taylor Swift is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for the songs “Love Story,” “You Belong with Me,” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” “Bad Blood,” “Look What You Made Me Do,” “Cardigan,” “Willow,” “All Too Well,” “Anti-Hero,” and “Cruel Summer” (2023). She has appeared in the films Valentine’s Day, Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, The Giver, Cats, and Amsterdam, and the documentary Miss Americana. She has recorded in the genres country, rock, electronic, synth-pop, indie folk, alternative rock, and chill-out. Taylor has sold over 200 million records worldwide, and has been the most-streamed female artist on Spotify. She advocates for artists’ and women’s rights. She has also been credited as Nils Sjöberg.
Taylor is the daughter of Andrea, a marketing executive, and Scott Swift, a stockbroker. Her brother is actor Austin Swift. She was raised partly in Wyomissing and Reading, Pennsylvania, the latter on a Christmas tree farm, and Hendersonville, Tennessee.
Taylor is descended from a number of German immigrants to the United States, in the 1800s and earlier. Some of her ancestral lines also trace back to Colonial America of the 1600s, and to English immigrants of that time period. Aside from other German and English lines, her ancestry includes Scottish, Irish, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Welsh, one sixteenth Italian, and distant roots in France, Sweden, The Netherlands, and Belgium, with Walloon ancestors.
Taylor’s Swift lines traces to a William Swift, who was born, c. 1593, and lived in Bermondsey, England.
Taylor’s paternal grandfather was Lt. Col. Archie Dean Swift, Jr. (the son of Archie Dean Swift and Bernice Maude Thompson). Taylor’s grandfather Archie was born in Ridgway, Elk, Pennsylvania. Taylor’s great-grandfather Archie was the son of Charles Julius/James Fox Swift and Josephine Reno; the Reno line originates with French ancestry. Bernice was the daughter of Willis Wilbur Thompson and Barbara Maria Jane “Jennie” Kingsley.
Taylor’s paternal grandmother was Rose Baldi Douglas (the daughter of Charles Gwynn Douglas and Louise Eurindine Baldi). Rose was born in Pennsylvania. Charles was the son of Charles Douglass/Douglas and Mary Gwynn. Louise was the daughter of Charles Carmine Antonio “C. C. A.” Baldi, an Italian man, born in Castelnuovo Cilento, Province of Salerno, Campania, Italy, and of his wife, Louisa/Louise Eurindine Sobernheimer, who was born in Pennsylvania, to German parents, Frederick Sobernheimer and Catherine Louise Hammel. Thus, Taylor Swift is of 1/16th Italian ancestry. C. C. A. Baldi was a community leader, who organized a bank and owned a daily Italian-language newspaper, among other businesses.
Taylor’s maternal grandfather was Robert Bruce Finlay (the son of Lancelot George “Lance” Finlay and Eleanor A. “Ella” Mayer). Robert was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Lancelot was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England, to a Scottish-born father, George Finlay, and to an Irish-born mother, Emma Lynch. Eleanor was born in Dunkirk, Chautauqua, New York, the daughter of German parents, Julius Mayer, from Bavaria, and Delia Gunther.
Taylor’s maternal grandmother was Marjorie Finlay (born Marjorie Moehlenkamp, the daughter of Elmer Henry Moehlenkamp/Molencamp and Cora Lee Morrow). Marjorie was born in Tennessee, and was an opera singer and television personality. Elmer was the son of Henry J. Moehlenkamp and Emma Bruns, who were of German descent. Cora was born in Arkansas, the daughter of Sanford Hewitt Morrow and Sallie Wells Faulkner.
Swift in 2011, kathclick/bigstock.com
“The Silence Breakers” won Time Magazine’s Person of the Year for 2017, women speaking out about sexual harassment/abuse. Taylor was one of six persons chosen to represent that title on the magazine’s cover, along with Isabel Pascual, Adama Iwu, Ashley Judd, Susan Fowler, and a woman who chose to remain anonymous. Taylor was, in a solo context, Time Magazine’s Person of the Year for 2023.
Taylor is a first cousin, once removed, of Charles Douglas III, who was a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Hampshire, from 1989 to 1991. She is also a great-great-niece of politicians Charles Baldi, Jr. and Joseph Baldi.
Sources: Genealogies of Taylor Swift – http://famouskin.com
http://familypedia.wikia.com
https://www.geni.com
http://www.wikitree.com
http://gw.geneanet.org
Genealogies and obituaries of Taylor’s paternal grandparents, Lt. Col. Archie Dean Swift, Jr. and Rose Baldi Douglas – http://www.findagrave.com
Taylor’s paternal great-great-grandparents, Charles Carmine Antonio “C. C. A.” Baldi and Louisa/Louise Eurindine Sobernheimer, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Biography of Taylor’s Italian paternal great-great-grandfather, Charles Carmine Antonio “C. C. A.” Baldi – http://www.baldims.org
Obituary of Taylor’s paternal great-great-grandfather, Charles Carmine Antonio “C. C. A.” Baldi – http://www.pennsylvaniaburialcompany.com
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