It’s a “Family Affair” between Ellen DeGeneres and Madonna

Entertainment
12 December 2013
by Ancestry Team

Surprising Fact: Ellen DeGeneres and Madonna Are Cousins

It turns out Madonna isn’t the only “Lucky Star” in her family. In fact, the queen of pop and former American Idol judge Ellen DeGeneres are 11th cousins.

Madonna and Ellen DeGeneres related through French Great Grandfather

Family history experts at Ancestry uncovered that the two entertainment giants are related through a common 10th great-grandfather—a Frenchman named Martin Aucoin. In the early 1600s, Aucoin’s daughters Jeanne and Michele left their native country of France to settle in Nova Scotia, where both Madonna and Ellen’s families remained for several generations.

DeGeneres’s family left Canada in the late 1700s when her 5th great-grandfather Joseph Martin relocated to Louisiana. It wasn’t until the late 1870s that Madonna’s 2nd great-grandmother Emilie Daniel left Quebec and crossed the “borderline” to Michigan, where the singer herself calls home.

“It’s not every day you discover two celebrity icons are related, but it’s their similarities that make the connection so extraordinary,” said Anastasia Tyler, a genealogist at Ancestry. “They were born the same year, have both written books and been on tour, and are known for their impressive dance moves.”

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