Ancestry.ca Discovers Ellen DeGeneres and Madonna are cousins; and Canadian

It turns out Madonna isn’t the only “Lucky Star” in her family. In fact, the queen of pop and the newest judge on American Idol, Ellen DeGeneres, are 11th cousins according to genealogy researchers at Ancestry.ca.

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 rare to discover that two icons are related, but when they are similar in their successes and even their interests, it makes the discovery even more fascinating,” said Lesley Anderson, a genealogist at Ancestry.ca. “They are the same age, they are both published authors who have gone on tour, and are both recognized internationally for their impressive dance moves. And now that Ellen is on American Idol, they are both entrenched in the music industry as well.”

The new-found family connection between DeGeneres and Madonna is one of many interesting discoveries uncovered by Ancestry. In 2009, Ancestry.ca revealed that Emma Watson, who plays Hermione in the Harry Potter movie series, is related to a 16th-century woman accused of witchcraft.

For anyone interested in discovering a long-lost relative or perhaps a famous figure in their family tree, visit www.ancestry.ca.