Noah Centineo Ethnicity: Italian and German Heritage
Noah Centineo’s ethnicity is Italian on his father’s side and German on his mother’s side. The American actor, born Noah Gregory Centineo on May 9, 1996, in Miami, Florida, is of Italian descent through his father, Gregory Vincent Centineo — whose family roots trace to Sicily and Calabria — and of German (Pennsylvania Dutch) descent through his mother, Kellee Janel (née Andres). Centineo himself has described his background as Italian with a bit of Dutch, plus possible distant Native American and Puerto Rican ancestry he has mentioned in interviews.
Who Is Noah Centineo?
Noah Gregory Centineo is an American actor who became a Gen Z heartthrob as Peter Kavinsky in Netflix’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy (2018–2021). He began as a child actor in the 2009 family film The Gold Retrievers, appeared on Disney Channel series including Austin & Ally, Shake It Up, and Jessie, starred in the Disney Channel Original Movie How to Build a Better Boy (2014), and broke through as Jesus Adams Foster on Freeform’s The Fosters (2015–2018).
After the To All the Boys phenomenon, Centineo headlined Netflix rom-coms Sierra Burgess Is a Loser (2018) and The Perfect Date (2019), then pivoted to bigger canvases: playing Atom Smasher opposite Dwayne Johnson in DC’s Black Adam (2022) and starring as CIA lawyer Owen Hendricks in Netflix’s spy series The Recruit (2022–2025). In 2025 he joined A24’s war drama Warfare, signaling a continued move toward prestige projects. Off-screen, he co-founded the nonprofit Favored Nations in 2019, which channels donor funds to causes including voting rights, mental health, and environmental issues. His rise from Disney Channel player to Netflix leading man to action star parallels other young actors whose backgrounds intrigue fans — from Will Theron Roth to contemporaries like Jessica Alba.
Centineo has been open about a difficult period from ages 17 to 21 marked by substance use, followed by sobriety and a public recommitment to his craft and philanthropy. He keeps his romantic life private after high-profile relationships with model Alexis Ren and Anastasia “Stassie” Karanikolaou.
Noah Centineo’s Ethnicity and Heritage
Noah Centineo is of Italian and German descent — Caucasian with Southern European roots on his father’s side and Central European roots on his mother’s. His father, Gregory Vincent Centineo, a businessman and former pastor, is of Italian ancestry, including Sicilian and Calabrian lineage: his paternal grandfather Joseph D. Centineo was born in New York to Ignacio Centineo and Rose Marie Natalizzio, with family roots in Palermo, Sicily. His mother, Kellee Janel (née Andres), is of German descent from Pennsylvania — the Pennsylvania Dutch community, ethnic Germans whose ancestors settled in Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Centineo has personally addressed his ethnicity. On GQ’s Actually Me in 2018, he said: “I’m Italian, Native American. I believe I have a bit of Puerto Rican in me, and I’m Dutch.” Genealogists note that his documented recent ancestors appear to be exclusively Italian and German; the “Dutch” reference likely means Pennsylvania Dutch (German), and the Native American and Puerto Rican claims have no documented family-tree support — a common situation where family lore outruns the paper trail. What is certain is the Italian-German core: a classic American ethnic blend.
That blend shaped his upbringing in Boca Raton, Florida, where he was raised with his older sister Taylor. The Italian-American emphasis on family and the Pennsylvania Dutch traditions of his mother’s side gave him a bicultural household, even if both cultures had been largely assimilated into mainstream American life by his generation. Like many third- and fourth-generation Americans, Centineo’s ethnicity is more a family story than a daily practice — present in his surname, his features, and his own telling of who he is.
His surname, Centineo, is distinctly Sicilian, and his dark hair and hazel eyes reflect his Southern Italian heritage. In an industry where Italian-American actors have a long and storied lineage — from De Niro to Pacino to more recent stars — Centineo carries that tradition into the streaming era. For more on how European heritage backgrounds shape public figures, see the story of Thomas Boone Quaid.
Family Background
Noah Centineo was born in Miami, Florida, and raised in Boca Raton to Gregory Vincent Centineo and Kellee Janel (née Andres). His father worked as a businessman and served as a pastor; his mother was a homemaker. He has an older sister, Taylor Centineo. He attended BAK Middle School of the Arts and Boca Raton Community High School, playing soccer, before moving to Los Angeles in 2012 to pursue acting, finishing at Agoura High School.
The family’s support was instrumental: relocating a teenager across the country for an acting career is a leap of faith, and the Centineos took it. Noah has credited his family with keeping him grounded through early fame and his later personal struggles.
Career Highlights
Centineo’s career breaks into three acts. Act one: child and teen television — The Gold Retrievers (2009), Austin & Ally, How to Build a Better Boy, and the breakout role of Jesus Adams Foster on The Fosters. Act two: Netflix rom-com king — the To All the Boys trilogy made him the defining male lead of late-2010s teen romance, supplemented by Sierra Burgess Is a Loser and The Perfect Date. Act three: action and prestige — Atom Smasher in Black Adam (2022), the lead in The Recruit (2022–2025), and A24’s Warfare (2025), plus upcoming projects including Street Fighter (2026).
His Favored Nations nonprofit, co-founded in 2019, reflects his desire to convert celebrity into civic impact, partnering with established charities on voting rights, racial justice, and mental health. With an estimated net worth of $7 million, Centineo has successfully navigated the perilous transition from teen idol to adult actor — a feat few manage.
Noah Centineo on His Own Background
Centineo’s willingness to discuss his ethnicity publicly — including the unverified Native American and Puerto Rican threads — is characteristic of his open, unfiltered public persona. In the GQ interview, he presented his heritage as he understands it, caveats and all, rather than offering a sanitized version. Genealogy sites have since filled in the documented picture: deep Sicilian and Calabrian roots on his father’s side, Pennsylvania German roots on his mother’s, and no paper trail for the rest.
This gap between family lore and documentation is extraordinarily common in American families, where stories of a distant Native ancestor or a Caribbean connection circulate for generations without records. Centineo’s case is a useful reminder: ethnicity as lived identity can include beliefs about ancestry that genealogy cannot confirm, and both the documented facts and the family stories are part of how a person understands their roots.
Italian-Americans in Hollywood
Noah Centineo joins a long line of Italian-American actors who have shaped American film and television. From the Method generation — De Niro, Pacino, Pesci — to modern stars, Italian-Americans have been central to Hollywood’s storytelling, often bringing a particular intensity and family-centered sensibility to their roles. Centineo represents the newest wave: the streaming-era Italian-American leading man, whose breakout came not in theaters but on Netflix, and whose audience is global rather than domestic.
His Sicilian surname connects him to the specific history of Sicilian immigration to America — the wave of Southern Italians who arrived between the 1880s and 1920s and built new lives in New York, New Orleans, and beyond. That his paternal grandfather was born in New York to a Palermo-rooted family places the Centineos squarely in that classic narrative. Four generations later, the family name that crossed the Atlantic with Sicilian immigrants now headlines global streaming hits — a very American arc.
Noah Centineo Quick Facts
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Noah Gregory Centineo |
| Ethnicity | Italian (father, incl. Sicilian/Calabrian) and German/Pennsylvania Dutch (mother) |
| Date of Birth | May 9, 1996 |
| Birthplace | Miami, Florida, USA (raised in Boca Raton) |
| Nationality | American |
| Known For | To All the Boys trilogy; The Fosters; Black Adam; The Recruit |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is Noah Centineo’s ethnicity?
Noah Centineo is of Italian and German descent. His father is of Italian ancestry (including Sicilian and Calabrian roots), and his mother is of German descent from Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania Dutch).
Is Noah Centineo Italian?
Yes — his father, Gregory Vincent Centineo, is of Italian ancestry with roots in Palermo, Sicily, and Calabria. His surname Centineo is Sicilian.
What did Noah Centineo say about his ancestry?
On GQ’s Actually Me, he said: “I’m Italian, Native American. I believe I have a bit of Puerto Rican in me, and I’m Dutch.” Genealogists note his documented ancestors are Italian and German; the “Dutch” likely refers to Pennsylvania Dutch (German) heritage.
Where was Noah Centineo born?
He was born Noah Gregory Centineo on May 9, 1996, in Miami, Florida, and raised in Boca Raton, Florida.
Who are Noah Centineo’s parents?
His parents are Gregory Vincent Centineo, a businessman and former pastor of Italian descent, and Kellee Janel (née Andres), of German descent. He has an older sister, Taylor.
See Noah Centineo’s Wikipedia biography and the EthniCelebs profile of Noah Centineo for more detail.
She holds advanced qualifications in Sociology, Anthropology, and Ethnic Studies, fields that focus on human cultures, traditions, migration patterns, and identity development across the world. Her expertise allows her to break down complex cultural topics into easy-to-understand articles that readers genuinely enjoy.
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