Birth Name: Vanna Marie Rosich
Place of Birth: North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States
Date of Birth: February 18, 1957
Ethnicity:
*Puerto Rican, Spanish (including Catalan), likely some Croatian
*Greek, possibly Italian, English, and German (mother)
Family Background: Vanna White is an American actress and television personality. She is the hostess of the television game show Wheel of Fortune.
Vanna is the daughter of Miguel Angel (García) Rosich and Joan Marie White (Nichols). Miguel abandoned the family when Vanna was still a child, and she was eventually adopted by her stepfather, Herbert Stackley White, Jr. Miguel was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico.
Vanna’s uncle was actor Christopher George, who was of Greek descent. It is not clear exactly how they are related. Christopher’s mother was Vaseleke Nicolas, whose surname is similar to Vanna’s mother’s maiden name, Nichols. Vaseleke was born in Athens, Greece, and Nichols is likely an anglicized version of her surname. It is possible that Vaseleke was the mother of both Christopher George and Joan Marie White, but with different fathers. With any other relation between them it would be a stretch to call Christopher George Vanna’s uncle.
Vanna is often described as having Croatian, English, Italian, Puerto Rican/Spanish, German, and Greek ancestry. His father is known to have been Puerto Rican. Evidently, her Croatian ancestry is from her father as well, due to the surname Rosich (Rosić) having slavic origins. Her Greek ancestry is from her mother’s side, evident because of her relation to Christopher George. The rest of her alleged ancestry is not known.
Vanna’s paternal grandparents were Carlos Miguel Benigne/Benigno Tomás Rosich Y Pasarell (the son of José Rosich Y Alomar and Eudoceia/Eudoxia Pasarell Y Torres) and Gloria Maria García de Rosich. José was born in Mallorca, Spain. Eudoceia/Eudoxia was born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Gloria was born in Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico. According to a rumor, one of Vanna’s ancestors, with the surname Barnes, was one of the first mayors of Ponce, Puerto Rico.
Sources: Records of Vanna White – https://familysearch.org
https://familysearch.org
Genealogy of Vanna White – http://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Vanna’s father – https://familysearch.org
Record of Vanna’s father – https://familysearch.org
Vanna’s father on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Birth certificate of Vanna’s paternal grandfather, Carlos Rosich – https://familysearch.org
Genealogy of Christopher George – http://www.geni.com/people/Christopher-George/6000000029909316228
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