{"id":108386,"date":"2015-09-17T23:57:41","date_gmt":"2015-09-18T06:57:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/?p=108386"},"modified":"2026-04-19T15:21:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T22:21:44","slug":"kehlani","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/kehlani","title":{"rendered":"Kehlani"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

03\/11\/2018 – Kehlani – 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards – Arrivals – The Forum – Inglewood, CA, USA – Photo Credit: David Gabber \/ PRPhotos.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Birth Name: Kehlani Ashley Parrish<\/p>\n

Place of Birth: Oakland, Alameda, California, United States<\/p>\n

Date of Birth: April 24, 1995<\/p>\n

Ethnicity:
\n*paternal grandfather<\/em> – African-American
\n*paternal grandmother<\/em> – Scottish, English, German, Scots-Irish\/Northern Irish, Welsh, distant Cornish and Irish, possibly Choctaw Native American
\n*mother<\/em> – Blackfoot and Cherokee Native American, Spanish, Mexican, Filipino<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kehlani is an American singer, songwriter, and dancer.<\/p>\n

Kehlani was adopted and raised by Kehlani’s maternal aunt, Tanya Marie French. Kehlani’s biological mother is evidently of Blackfoot and Cherokee Native American, and Spanish, Mexican, and Filipino, descent. A picture of Kehlani’s mother can be seen here<\/a>. Kehlani’s biological father, Elon Thompson Parrish, died when she was a toddler. Kehlani’s paternal grandfather was African-American. Kehlani’s paternal grandmother was of Scottish, English, German, Scots-Irish\/Northern Irish, and Welsh, as well as distant Cornish, Irish, and possibly Choctaw Native American, ancestry.<\/p>\n

Kehlani has identified as “Black, White, Native American and Spanish” in an interview<\/a> on Hot 97, and specified<\/a> that “Blackfoot Cherokee” are Kehlani’s Native American tribes. Kehlani has also claimed<\/a> a small amount of Filipino ancestry, and, in another interview<\/a>, Mexican (at 24:14 at the link). She added<\/a>:<\/p>\n

I have a grandma by marriage who’s full Chinese and did grow up in the Philippines, and then I have a grandma who is this much Filipino and everytime I go anywhere she’d be like ‘Kehlani, don\u2019t forget you’re Filipino’.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Kehlani has a daughter with her former partner, her guitarist Javaughn Young-White. Javaughn’s brother is comedian Jaboukie Young-White<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kehlani’s paternal grandfather is Guy Corwin Parrish (the son of Robert Lawrence Parrish and Jean Andra Thompson). Guy was born in Los Angeles, California, and is African-American. Robert was the son of J. A. Parrish and Belle Way. Jean was the daughter of Jesse Thompson and Kathryn Morris.<\/p>\n

Kehlani’s paternal grandmother was Ruth Suzanne Thompson (the daughter of James Buchanan Thompson, Jr. and Ruth Imogene Wallace). Suzanne was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. James was the son of James Buchanan Thompson, Sr., whose own parents were Scottish, and of Barbara Adelaide Brown. Kehlani’s great-grandmother Ruth was the daughter of Baxter Boxbe Wallace and Nancy J. Jones.<\/p>\n

Kehlani’s maternal grandfather was named Christopher French.<\/p>\n

\"Agenda

Kehlani in 2014, photo by Prphotos.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Sources:<\/strong> Birth record of Kehlani’s father – https:\/\/www.familysearch.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Marriage record of Kehlani’s paternal grandparents, Guy Corwin Parrish and Suzanne Ruth Thompson – https:\/\/www.familysearch.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Divorce record of Kehlani’s paternal grandparents, Guy Corwin Parrish and Suzanne Ruth Thompson – https:\/\/www.familysearch.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Birth record of Kehlani’s paternal grandfather, Guy Corwin Parrish – https:\/\/www.familysearch.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Marriage record of Kehlani’s paternal great-grandparents, Robert Lawrence Parrish and Jeana Andra Thompson – https:\/\/www.familysearch.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Marriage record of Kehlani’s paternal great-grandparents, James Buchanan Thompson, Jr. and Ruth Imogene Wallace – https:\/\/www.familysearch.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Kehlani’s paternal great-grandfather, James Buchannan Thompson, Jr., on the 1920 U.S. Census – https:\/\/www.familysearch.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Obituary of Kehlani’s paternal great-grandfather, James Buchannan Thompson, Jr. – http:\/\/www.ralphrobinsonandson.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Marriage record of Kehlani’s paternal great-great-grandparents, James Buchanan Thompson and Barbara Ade Brown – https:\/\/www.familysearch.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Obituary of Kehlani’s paternal great-grandmother, Ruth Imogene (Wallace) Thompson – http:\/\/www.ralphrobinsonandson.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15539,"featured_media":249210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1435,18],"tags":[1076,3635,875,2818,707,856,1189,690,2817,683,686,687,688,714,1043,796,677,756,1171,4330,788],"class_list":["post-108386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-4-musician","category-k-celebs","tag-african-american","tag-b1995","tag-blackfoot","tag-blasian","tag-cherokee","tag-choctaw","tag-cornish","tag-english","tag-eurasian","tag-filipino","tag-german","tag-irish","tag-mexican","tag-native","tag-northern-irish","tag-scots-irish","tag-scottish","tag-spanish","tag-spanish-mexican","tag-triracial","tag-welsh"],"yoast_head":"\nKehlani - Ethnicity of Celebs | EthniCelebs.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/kehlani\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kehlani - 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