AncestralFire

Ancestral Fire · Family stories

Marilyn Monroe's family tree: a father found by DNA.

Marilyn Monroe was born on 1 June 1926 in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Charles Stanley Gifford and Gladys Pearl Monroe, and died on 4 August 1962 in Brentwood, California, at 36. She married James Edward Dougherty, Joseph Paul DiMaggio and Arthur Asher Miller.

Marilyn Monroe, born in Los Angeles, CaliforniaMarilyn Monroe1926–1962Charles Stanley Gifford, born in Newport, Rhode IslandCharles Stanley Gifford1898–1965Gladys Pearl Monroe, born in Piedras Negras, CoahuilaGladys Pearl Monroe1902–1984Frederick Almy Gifford, born in New Bedford, MassachusettsFrederick Almy Gifford1867–1957Elizabeth Easton Tennant, born in Newport, Rhode IslandElizabeth Easton Tennant1866–1904Otis Elmer Monroe, born in Indianapolis, IndianaOtis Elmer Monroe1866–1909Della Mae Hogan, born in Brunswick, MissouriDella Mae Hogan1876–1927Charles Adam Gifford, born in New Bedford, MassachusettsCharles Adam Gifford1839–1874Susan Bateman Almy, born in Tiverton, Rhode IslandSusan Bateman Almy1841–1908William Congdon Tennant, born in Newport, Rhode IslandWilliam Congdon Tennant1838–1898Easton Elisabeth Cutting, born in Newport, Rhode IslandEaston Elisabeth Cutting1837–1921Jacob Monroe, born in Hendricks, IndianaJacob Monroe1831–1870Mary Elizabeth Appleton, born in Plainfield, IndianaMary Elizabeth Appleton1841–1932Tilford Marion Hogan, born in Adams, IllinoisTilford Marion Hogan1851–1933Charlotte Virginia Nance, born in Carroll, MissouriCharlotte Virginia Nance1857–1935John Allen Gifford, born in Westport, MassachusettsJohn Allen Gifford1802–1872Lydia Tompkins, born in Rhode Island, United StatesLydia Tompkins1799–1872Samuel Elam Almy, born in Little Compton, Rhode IslandSamuel Elam Almy1800–1889Susan Bateman, born in Newport, Rhode IslandSusan Bateman1805–1865William Congdon Tennant, born in Newport, Rhode IslandWilliam Congdon Tennant1815–1889Mary Lawton Bliven, born in Newport, Rhode IslandMary Lawton Bliven1818–1886John William Easton, born in Newport, Rhode IslandJohn William Easton1809–1872Frances Ann Franklin, born in Newport, Rhode IslandFrances Ann Franklin1812–1872William C. Monroe, born in Kentucky, United StatesWilliam C. Monroe1790–1853Mary Cunningham, born in Indiana, USAMary Cunningham1798–1864James Appleton, born in Fayette, KentuckyJames Appleton1818–1850Elizabeth Jane Smith, born in Preble, OhioElizabeth Jane Smith1821–1904George Willis Hogan, born in Garrard, KentuckyGeorge Willis Hogan1816–1887Sarah Ann Owen, born in Loudoun, VirginiaSarah Ann Owen1822–1900Levi Nance, born in Indiana, United StatesLevi Nance1822–1906Sarah Caroline Jones, born in Livingston, MissouriSarah Caroline Jones1837–1900
Five generations, as the FamilySearch Family Tree has them: 30 of the 30 places filled. Each name opens that person's page on FamilySearch.
Marilyn Monroe, born in Los Angeles, CaliforniaMarilyn Monroe1926–1962Charles Stanley Gifford, born in Newport, Rhode IslandCharles Stanl…1898–1965Gladys Pearl Monroe, born in Piedras Negras, CoahuilaGladys Pearl …1902–1984Frederick Almy Gifford, born in New Bedford, MassachusettsFrederick Alm…1867–1957Elizabeth Easton Tennant, born in Newport, Rhode IslandElizabeth Eas…1866–1904Otis Elmer Monroe, born in Indianapolis, IndianaOtis Elmer Mo…1866–1909Della Mae Hogan, born in Brunswick, MissouriDella Mae Hog…1876–1927
Three generations, as the FamilySearch Family Tree has them: 6 of the 6 places filled. Each name opens that person's page on FamilySearch.

Marilyn Monroe's family, year by year.

  1. 1926Los Angeles, CaliforniaOn 1 June 1926, Marilyn Monroe is born to Charles Stanley Gifford and Gladys Pearl Monroe.
  2. 1933Los Angeles, CaliforniaOn 11 May 1933, her half-sister Doris Elizabeth Gifford dies. She is 6.
  3. 1933Pineville, KentuckyOn 16 August 1933, her half-brother Robert Kermitt Jasper Baker dies. She is 7.
  4. 1962Brentwood, CaliforniaOn 4 August 1962, Marilyn Monroe dies at 36.

Where the lines came from.

Up her father's line: Charles Stanley Gifford, her father, born 1898 in Newport, Rhode Island; Frederick Almy Gifford, her grandfather, born 1867 in New Bedford, Massachusetts; Charles Adam Gifford, her great-grandfather, born 1839 in New Bedford, Massachusetts; John Allen Gifford, her 2nd great-grandfather, born 1802 in Westport, Massachusetts; Abner Gifford, her 3rd great-grandfather, born 1780 in Westport, Massachusetts; Christopher Gifford, her 4th great-grandfather, born 1737 in Dartmouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony; Christopher Gifford II, her 5th great-grandfather, born 1698 in Sandwich, Massachusetts Bay Colony; Christopher Gifford, her 6th great-grandfather, born 1658 in Sandwich, Plymouth Colony.

Up her mother's line: Gladys Pearl Monroe, her mother, born 1902 in Piedras Negras, Coahuila; Otis Elmer Monroe, her grandfather, born 1866 in Indianapolis, Indiana; Jacob Monroe, her great-grandfather, born 1831 in Hendricks, Indiana; William C. Monroe, her 2nd great-grandfather, born 1790 in Kentucky, United States; Alexander Monroe, her 3rd great-grandfather, born 1756; Alexander Monroe, her 4th great-grandfather, born 1715 in Westmoreland, Virginia; William Monroe, her 5th great-grandfather, born 1690 in Westmoreland, Virginia; William Monroe, her 6th great-grandfather, born 1666 in Westmoreland, Virginia.

The family as the FamilySearch Family Tree holds it: 371 people, 367 of them her ancestors. The earliest on her direct line is Elizabeth Mill, born 1621 in Montrose, Angus.

What history says.

Her birth certificate named her mother's husband, Martin Edward Mortensen, as her father. In 2022, DNA research for the documentary "Marilyn, Her Final Secret", comparing a lock of her hair with a great-grandchild of Charles Stanley Gifford, named Gifford as her father, as the FamilySearch Family Tree does.Variety, April 2022

Gaps in the record.

The FamilySearch Family Tree is built by the people who use it, and Marilyn Monroe's has places nobody has filled yet. Eight generations back, 218 of the 254 places are filled. Most of the open ones are in Pennsylvania, colonial America in the 18th century, and in Rhode Island, United States in the 18th century: if that's where you research, they're your question. If you know who they were, add them on FamilySearch, with a source, and the next person to look will find them.

Your family has stories like this.

Marilyn Monroe's family is famous, but every family has a year like these, waiting in the dates. Sign in with a free FamilySearch account, and Ancestral Fire will find your family in the FamilySearch Family Tree and show it to you like this.

Connect your tree

More family stories.

From the FamilySearch Family Tree, read on 7 November 2026: 371 people around Marilyn Monroe, up to eight generations back and two down. Thanks to everyone who has added to it. The tree is its contributors' work; where it and history differ, this page says so and names the source. Everyone named on this page has died.