Sydney Sweeney and Marilyn Monroe Share a Distant Ancestor

Sydney Sweeney and Marilyn Monroe have a newly reported family connection that reaches back nearly four centuries. Genealogy company MyHeritage says its researchers identified the two actors as ninth cousins, once removed, through a shared ancestor who lived in colonial Massachusetts.

The finding adds an unexpected historical layer to comparisons that have followed Sweeney throughout her rise in Hollywood. It does not suggest a close family relationship, but it does place the two performers on distant branches of the same extended family tree.

The connection runs through Ezra Perry

According to the research, both family lines lead to Ezra Perry, an English settler born around 1625 who lived in Sandwich, Massachusetts. Sweeney’s branch is traced through her father, Steven Sweeney, while Monroe’s runs through her biological father, Charles Stanley Gifford.

MyHeritage described the relationship as ninth cousins, once removed. In genealogical terms, that “once removed” label means the two people sit one generation apart within the distant cousin relationship. The company has publicized the result, and multiple entertainment outlets reviewed the same named ancestor and family-line description.

Sweeney has not publicly commented on the finding. The connection is therefore best understood as a genealogy report rather than a personal announcement from the Euphoria and The Housemaid star.

Hollywood comparisons came before the family-tree search

Interest in the discovery grew from longstanding visual and fashion comparisons between Sweeney and Monroe. At the 2025 premiere of The Housemaid, Sweeney wore a white dress that prompted references to Monroe’s famous look in The Seven Year Itch. She later appeared in a vintage Ceil Chapman gown similar to one Monroe wore for a 1952 Life magazine cover.

Those moments were style choices, not evidence of a biological link. MyHeritage said the repeated comparisons inspired its researchers to examine the two family trees more closely.

The result does not change either actor’s individual story. Monroe remains one of classic Hollywood’s defining figures, while Sweeney’s career belongs to a very different era of film, television and celebrity culture. Still, the shared branch offers a striking footnote: two performers repeatedly linked by audiences may also be connected through an ancestor from the 1600s.