Tia Carrere

Carrere in 2011, Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com

Birth Name: Althea Rae Duhinio Janairo

Place of Birth: Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.

Date of Birth: January 2, 1967

Ethnicity: Filipino, Chinese, Spanish

Tia Carrere is an American actress, singer, and model. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, she has Filipino, Chinese, and Spanish ancestry. She is sometimes described as having Native Hawaiian ancestry as well, but it is not clear if this is accurate.

Tia was born Althea Rae Duhinio Janairo. She received her stage first name because her little sister could not pronounce her full name, Althea. The surname Carrere is a tribute to former James Bond Girl Barbara Carrera.

Tia has a daughter with her former husband, British photojournalist Simon Wakelin.

Tia’s maternal grandfather was Alfred Cornelio Duhinio (the son of Ciriaco Abagala Cantiberos and Enorata Alfeche Cornelio). Alfred was born in Hawaii, to Filipino parents, from Cebu.

Tia’s maternal grandmother was Raymonda Villaverde (the daughter of Juan Postrano Villaverde and Juana Cayampat). Raymonda was born in Hawaii, to Filipino parents, from Cebu. Juan was the son of Manuel Villaverde and Olimpia Postrano. Juana was the daughter of Francisco Gomilao Cayampat and Juliana Lomansoc Manongsong.


Curious about ethnicity

28 Responses

  1. bablah says:

    Tia’s maternal grandfather was Alfred Cornelio Duhinio (son of Ciriaco Abagala Cantiberos and Enorata Alfeche Cornelio). He was born in Hawaii to Filipino parents, both of Cebu.

    Tia’s maternal grandmother was Raymonda Villaverde (daughter of Juan Postrano Villaverde and Juana Cayampat). She was born in Hawaii to Filipino parents, both of Cebu.


  2. Bobatu says:

    She is Bulgarian

  3. Tom R. says:

    Happy birthday Mrs.Tia

  4. Ku'ualoha says:

    Priscilla, you sound ridiculous. There is no such thing as being a ethnicity “at heart”. If a white person feels they are black does that make them black “at heart”? NO! You are still white. You may WISH you are something else, but it doesnt change the fact that you are what you are.

    Tia is NOT hawaiian.

    Nessa, you need to educate yourself. Hawaiian is a ethnicity. Hawaiians are polynesian which includes Samoans, Tahitians, Fijians, Maoli of New Zealand etc. much like how Spaniards, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans etc are hispanic. They (as we) are distinct yet of the same ethnic group. Hawaiians are the indigenous people of Hawai’i prior to colonization by foreigners.

    Some people try to say they are Hawaiian but are not. Much in the way that people who are from California call themselves Californians and people from Texas call themselves Texans, some people who are not of Hawaiian decent but live in Hawai’i call themselves Hawaiians not caring that they are being rude and insensitive to the actual Hawaiians (indigenous people of Hawai’i). I explain it like this.. if you are white and live in Asia you might call yourself Asian but that would be rude and insensitive to actual indigenous Asia and therefore no white people typically do that. When is the last time you met someone who lived in Asia but was white and called themselves Asian? It doesnt happen because people realize it is wrong. People do not care about this fact in Hawaii and call themselves Hawaiian sometimes even when they are NOT Hawaiian.

    • nathalie says:

      well … what you said actually makes sense to me. my dad is chinese, and he was born in taiwan. much of the population of taiwan is chinese ppl not of indigenous taiwanese heritage but of various chinese ethnicities that can be traced back to mainland china. when i see him as taiwanese i only see it as a nationality for him not a ethnicity. his family has adopted the culture and food and dialect for generations but he is not an indigenous person of taiwan.

      • Deshawn says:

        the taiwanese identity, and nationality did not exist until after 1972, when the united nations ceased to recognize them as representing the chinese gov, which was fairly recent. prior to 1940s, they were under japanese occuption. after 1972, under the leadership of the west, tw created a new identity out of thin air with no consultation from the aborginals. tw aboriginals (who were wiped out by han settlers, and their associates) also represent a very small % of tws population, whereas hawains are sizable. taiwanese food, and culture is also generally based on han food, and culture rather than aboriginal. there are also many aboriginal dialects throughout tw that is not generally taught in schools. even the min dialect is seldomly used in instruction. there is little chance hans can speak aboriginal dialects.

    • smiley says:

      I agree with the fact that Hawaiian is an ethnicity, but not that people who live in Hawaii are being rude by calling themselves Hawaiians. Even if you don’t have Native American ancestry, you are still an American. Perhaps, Native Hawaiian, would be the best term to differientiate.

      • sho says:

        @smikey..people from Hawai’i don’t refer to themselves as Hawaiian if they aren’t of Hawaiian descent. Maybe people who have transplanted their refer of themselves that way.

    • Carter says:

      Ku’ualoha, The Polynesians are not the indigenous people of the Hawaiian islands. The Polynesians came to the islands just as the Wetserner’s did. The Polynesians wiped out the indigenous people of the Hawaiian islands. The indigenous people of Hawaii were similar to the original inhabitants of the Philippines before the Spaniards came.

      So be careful who you call a foreigner in Hawaii, while the Polynesians have been there longer than the people of Europe they are not the indigenous people

      • sho says:

        This is completely false, Hawaiians are the indigenous people of Hawai’i. Our population was decimated post contact when Europeans brought their diseases to the islands.

  5. nessa says:

    That has always been on my mind. why do people from Hawaii think talk about themselves like its a race. Isn’t it a culture??? Like nicole scherzinger who always talks about herself as being hawaiian, but she’s half filipino half something else.

    • sillau says:

      nicole said shes proud of all her ethnicities,but out of the 3(which is hawaiian,russian and filipino)she was most proud of her hawaiian culture

      • ComeOn says:

        Tia Carrere is Filipina and that’s all!! Being from Hawai’i does NOT make a person Native Hawaiian!

        Nicole Scherzinger is a full HALF Filipina and the other half is divided between Russian and Native Hawaiian. She carries her German-American stepdad’s last name, but is not German herself. Now, I’ve heard Nicole say she’s proud of being Filipina (when the Dolls visited the Phlilipines) and proud of being Hawaiian (when she visits her birthplace, Hawai’i). That’s how being multi-ethnic works–you get to be proud of all your heritages.

    • sho says:

      It’s because most people from Hawai’i are of mixed race. When you refer to someone it’s common to say “the Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese guy over there”. We are raised knowing and being connected to all of our ethnic cultures

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