Meryl Streep
Streep was born in Summit, New Jersey. Her mother, Mary Wolf (née Wilkinson; 1915–2001), was a commercial artist and an art editor, and her father, Harry William Streep, Jr. (1910–2003), was a pharmaceutical executive. She has two brothers, Dana David and Harry William III. Her patrilineal ancestry traces back to Loffenau, Germany, from where her second great-grandfather, Gottfried Streep, emigrated to the United States, and where one of her ancestors served as mayor. Another line of her father's family was from Giswil in the canton of  Obwalden, a small town in Switzerland. Her mother had English, German, and Irish ancestry. Some of Streep's maternal ancestors lived in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, and were descended from 17th century immigrants from England. Her eighth great-grandfather, Lawrence Wilkinson, was one of the first Europeans to settle Rhode Island. Streep is also a distant relative of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, and records show that her family is among the first purchasers of land in the state. One of Streep's maternal great-grandmothers, Grace Strain, was from Creeslough, County Donegal, Ireland.