Life Is Like a Box of Natas: Tom Hanks Is Portuguese

Tom Hanks is a national treasure, and considered one of the living legends of American cinema. He has created characters on screen that we have come to know as friends, from Forrest Gump to Woody to Josh Baskin and beyond.

Yet how much do you really know about Hanks himself? Did you know, for example, that Tom Hanks is Portuguese?

He may not top Cristiano Ronaldo on the list of the world’s most famous Portuguese people, but he’s probably a close No. 2. He’s definitely ahead of, say, Nelly Furtado (we love you, though, Nelly).

It’s not like Hanks has ever really pushed his Portuguese and Azorean roots; there are no movies called Jose vs. the Volcano or Sleepless in Sao Jorge.

Tom Hanks’ Mom Was Portuguese

Hanks is Portuguese on his mother’s side. Janet Hanks was born Janet Frager, which was an anglicized version of the family’s original name from the Azores, Fraga.

When he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016 from President Barack Obama, it was written up in the Portuguese American Journal as “Honor: Portuguese American actor Tom Hanks awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom – Washington, DC.”

The article noted that “some of Tom Hanks’ Portuguese ancestral surnames include Enos, Rosa, Borges, Fraga, and Silveira.”

Tom Hanks’ Portuguese Ancestry

The website EthniCelebs.com, which traces the ethnicity of celebrities, reported that Hanks’ maternal great great grandfather Francisco Goncalves Fraga and great great grandmother Barbara Nancy Silveira emigrated to America from the Azores.

His great grandfather Manuel Gonsalves Fraga, whose name was anglicized to William G. Frager, married Frances Enos (originally Ignacio), the daughter of Portuguese parents. Hanks’ grandfather was their son, Clarence Peter Frager.

Hanks’ maternal grandmother was Elexio Norrine Rose (originally Rosa), born to a Portuguese immigrant named Emmanuel Rose (born Manuel L. Rosa, Jr). and his wife Josephine Borge, also of Portuguese descent.

Tom Hanks’ Famous Family Members

Hanks found out in 2019 that he is a sixth cousin of children’s television host Fred Rogers, who he played that year in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. He is also a seventh cousin, once removed, of fellow actor George Clooney.

Hanks is also a third cousin, four times removed, of President Abraham Lincoln. Although Hanks has never portrayed Lincoln in a film or television series, he did narrate the NatGeo special Killing Lincoln, based on Bill O’Reilly’s book of the same name, and did briefly appear as Civil War General George Meade in an episode of the Yellowstone spinoff 1883.