{"id":283,"date":"2008-01-05T12:19:24","date_gmt":"2008-01-05T20:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/shakira"},"modified":"2026-02-09T15:30:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T23:30:02","slug":"shakira","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/shakira","title":{"rendered":"Shakira"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Shakira in 2011, photo by kathclick\/bigstock.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Birth Name: Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll<\/p>\n

Place of Birth: Barranquilla, Atl\u00e1ntico, Colombia<\/p>\n

Date of Birth: 2 February, 1977<\/p>\n

Ethnicity:
\n*father<\/em> – Lebanese
\n*mother<\/em> – Colombian, including Spanish [Castilian, Andalusian, Aragonese, Cantabrian], Indigenous, African, Catalan, Basque, Galician, and Italian\/Sicilian<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shakira is a Colombian singer, songwriter, dancer, belly dancer, record producer, model, choreographer, and actress. Her singles include “Whenever, Wherever,” “Underneath Your Clothes,” “La Tortura,” “Hips Don’t Lie,” “Beautiful Liar,” “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa),” “Loca,” “Can’t Remember to Forget You,” “Chantaje,” “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” and “TQG.” She has had acting roles on the show El Oasis<\/em> and in the Zootopia<\/em> films. She is known as the “Queen of Latin Music.”<\/p>\n

Shakira was born and raised in Barranquilla, on Colombia’s northern coast, the daughter of Nidia del Carmen Ripoll Torrado and William Alberto Mebarak Chadid, a jeweler. Her father was born in New York City, New York, U.S., and is of Lebanese descent; his family moved to Colombia when he was a child. Her mother is Colombian, born in Arenosa. Shakira’s mother’s ancestry includes Spanish [Castilian, Andalusian, Aragonese, Cantabrian], Indigenous, African, Catalan, Basque, Galician, and Italian\/Sicilian. Shakira was raised Catholic.<\/p>\n

Shakira has two children, Milan Piqu\u00e9<\/a> and Sasha Piqu\u00e9<\/a>, with her former partner, Catalan professional footballer Gerard Piqu\u00e9<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The name Shakira means “thankful” in Arabic. She uses Turkish-Arabic belly dancing in many performances.<\/p>\n

Shakira is said to be related to Lebanese singer, actress, and performer Carole Samaha.<\/p>\n

Shakira’s paternal grandfather was named Alberto Mebarak Spath (the son of Mois\u00e9s Isaac Mebarak and Labibe Spath S.). Alberto was born in Cartagena, Bol\u00edvar Dept, Colombia, to Lebanese emigrants, from Beirut and Zahl\u00e9, respectively. Mois\u00e9s was the son of Isaac Mebarak and Marta. Labibe was the daughter of Mois\u00e9s D. Spath and Marie (or Mar\u00eda in Spanish) S.<\/p>\n

Shakira’s paternal grandmother was Isabel Chadid Baizer (the daughter of Pedro Chadid Raide and Rosa Baizer Gandur). Isabel was born in Sincelejo, Sucre Dept, Colombia, to Lebanese parents. Pedro was the son of Tannus Shdid, later Antonio Chadid Harb, and of Sade Raide. Pedro moved to Colombia in 1895. Rosa was the daughter of Abraham Baizer and Juana Gandur.<\/p>\n

Shakira’s maternal grandfather was Tom\u00e1s Eduardo Ripoll Jim\u00e9nez (the son of Crist\u00f3bal Ripoll Carrasquilla and Elena Leocadia Jim\u00e9nez). Tom\u00e1s Eduardo was born in Pioj\u00f3, Atl\u00e1ntico. Crist\u00f3bal was the son of Jos\u00e9 Antonio Ripoll Ramos and Rosaura “Rosa” Carrasquilla. Elena was the daughter of an unknown father and Magdalena Jim\u00e9nez.<\/p>\n

Shakira’s maternal grandmother was Josefina Torrado N\u00fa\u00f1ez (the daughter of Adriano Natividad Torrado Verjel and Mercedes N\u00fa\u00f1ez). Josefina was born in \u00c1brego, Norte de Santander. Natividad was the son of Francisco Jos\u00e9 Torrado Carvajalino and Mar\u00eda Victoria Verjel Torrado. Mercedes was the daughter of Mil\u00e1n Navarro and \u00c1ngela N\u00fa\u00f1ez Pisciotti. Shakira has said that she has Italian\/Sicilian ancestry from her Pisciotti line. She stated this here<\/a> and here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Shakira is a third cousin, once removed, of internet personality Manolo Gonz\u00e1lez<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"shakira

Shakira with her parents and then-partner Gerard Piqu\u00e9 in 2013, photo by Prphotos<\/p><\/div>\n

Sources:<\/strong> BBC article on Shakira’s Lebanese ancestry – http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

Genealogy of Shakira (focusing on her father’s side) – https:\/\/www.geni.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Baptismal record of Shakira’s father – https:\/\/familysearch.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Baptismal record of Shakira’s paternal grandfather, Alberto Mebarak Spath – https:\/\/familysearch.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Confirmation record of Shakira’s paternal grandfather, Alberto Mebarak Spath – http:\/\/www.rodriguezuribe.co<\/a><\/p>\n

Baptismal record of Shakira’s paternal grandmother, Isabel Chadid Baizer – https:\/\/familysearch.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Records of some of Shakira’s father’s family – http:\/\/www.rodriguezuribe.co<\/a><\/p>\n

Interview with Shakira’s father about her mother’s ancestry – http:\/\/www.lavanguardia.com<\/a><\/p>\n

YouTube video about Shakira’s Catalan ancestry – http:\/\/www.youtube.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Family histories of Shakira’s mother – http:\/\/orlandoclavijotorrado.blogspot.com<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/misescritosgloriabarriga.blogspot.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1434,1440,1435,1439,98],"tags":[720,2511,1784,1811,855,2570,2065,3611,846,1925,801,966,833,869,1205,1782,665,2373,757,2174,696,756,1201,4330],"class_list":["post-283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actoractress","category-3-model","category-4-musician","category-7-tv-personality","category-s-celebs","tag-african","tag-african-caribbean","tag-african-colombian","tag-andalusian","tag-arab","tag-arab-colombian","tag-aragonese","tag-b1977","tag-basque","tag-cantabrian","tag-castilian","tag-catalan","tag-colombian","tag-galician","tag-indigenous","tag-indigenous-colombian","tag-italian","tag-italian-colombian","tag-lebanese","tag-lebanese-colombian","tag-sicilian","tag-spanish","tag-spanish-colombian","tag-triracial"],"yoast_head":"\nShakira - Ethnicity of Celebs | EthniCelebs.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/shakira\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shakira - Ethnicity of Celebs | EthniCelebs.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/shakira\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ethnicity of Celebs | EthniCelebs.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-01-05T20:19:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-09T23:30:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/01\/bigstock_LOS_ANGELES_-_NOV___Shakira_25184675.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ethnic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ethnic\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/shakira#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/shakira\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ethnic\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ceb6a6af16a2298afae7672868d22e16\"},\"headline\":\"Shakira\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-01-05T20:19:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-09T23:30:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/shakira\"},\"wordCount\":684,\"commentCount\":280,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/shakira#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2008\\\/01\\\/bigstock_LOS_ANGELES_-_NOV___Shakira_25184675.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"African\",\"African-Caribbean\",\"African-Colombian\",\"Andalusian\",\"arab\",\"Arab-Colombian\",\"Aragonese\",\"b1977\",\"basque\",\"Cantabrian\",\"Castilian\",\"Catalan\",\"Colombian\",\"Galician\",\"Indigenous\",\"Indigenous Colombian\",\"Italian\",\"Italian-Colombian\",\"Lebanese\",\"Lebanese-Colombian\",\"Sicilian\",\"Spanish\",\"Spanish-Colombian\",\"triracial\"],\"articleSection\":[\"1 Actor\\\/Actress\",\"3 Model\",\"4 Musician\",\"7 TV Personality\",\"S\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/shakira#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/shakira\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/shakira\",\"name\":\"Shakira - Ethnicity of Celebs | EthniCelebs.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/shakira#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/shakira#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2008\\\/01\\\/bigstock_LOS_ANGELES_-_NOV___Shakira_25184675.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-01-05T20:19:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-09T23:30:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ceb6a6af16a2298afae7672868d22e16\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/shakira#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/shakira\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/shakira#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2008\\\/01\\\/bigstock_LOS_ANGELES_-_NOV___Shakira_25184675.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2008\\\/01\\\/bigstock_LOS_ANGELES_-_NOV___Shakira_25184675.jpg\",\"width\":\"400\",\"height\":\"600\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/shakira#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Shakira\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ethnicity of Celebs | EthniCelebs.com\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ceb6a6af16a2298afae7672868d22e16\",\"name\":\"ethnic\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3a75c501b17deb8d5fef39570a385198bd780c8027a1409a39392179b1e8d944?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3a75c501b17deb8d5fef39570a385198bd780c8027a1409a39392179b1e8d944?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3a75c501b17deb8d5fef39570a385198bd780c8027a1409a39392179b1e8d944?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g\",\"caption\":\"ethnic\"},\"description\":\"Curious about ethnicity\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ethnicelebs.com\\\/author\\\/ethnic\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Shakira - Ethnicity of Celebs | EthniCelebs.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/shakira","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Shakira - Ethnicity of Celebs | EthniCelebs.com","og_description":"...","og_url":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/shakira","og_site_name":"Ethnicity of Celebs | EthniCelebs.com","article_published_time":"2008-01-05T20:19:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-09T23:30:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":400,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/01\/bigstock_LOS_ANGELES_-_NOV___Shakira_25184675.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"ethnic","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ethnic","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/shakira#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/shakira"},"author":{"name":"ethnic","@id":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ceb6a6af16a2298afae7672868d22e16"},"headline":"Shakira","datePublished":"2008-01-05T20:19:24+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-09T23:30:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/shakira"},"wordCount":684,"commentCount":280,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/shakira#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/01\/bigstock_LOS_ANGELES_-_NOV___Shakira_25184675.jpg","keywords":["African","African-Caribbean","African-Colombian","Andalusian","arab","Arab-Colombian","Aragonese","b1977","basque","Cantabrian","Castilian","Catalan","Colombian","Galician","Indigenous","Indigenous Colombian","Italian","Italian-Colombian","Lebanese","Lebanese-Colombian","Sicilian","Spanish","Spanish-Colombian","triracial"],"articleSection":["1 Actor\/Actress","3 Model","4 Musician","7 TV Personality","S"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/shakira#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/shakira","url":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/shakira","name":"Shakira - Ethnicity of Celebs | EthniCelebs.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/shakira#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/shakira#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/01\/bigstock_LOS_ANGELES_-_NOV___Shakira_25184675.jpg","datePublished":"2008-01-05T20:19:24+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-09T23:30:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ceb6a6af16a2298afae7672868d22e16"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/shakira#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/shakira"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/shakira#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/01\/bigstock_LOS_ANGELES_-_NOV___Shakira_25184675.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/01\/bigstock_LOS_ANGELES_-_NOV___Shakira_25184675.jpg","width":"400","height":"600"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/shakira#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Shakira"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/","name":"Ethnicity of Celebs | EthniCelebs.com","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ceb6a6af16a2298afae7672868d22e16","name":"ethnic","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3a75c501b17deb8d5fef39570a385198bd780c8027a1409a39392179b1e8d944?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3a75c501b17deb8d5fef39570a385198bd780c8027a1409a39392179b1e8d944?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3a75c501b17deb8d5fef39570a385198bd780c8027a1409a39392179b1e8d944?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g","caption":"ethnic"},"description":"Curious about ethnicity","url":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/author\/ethnic"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":411715,"href":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283\/revisions\/411715"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnicelebs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}