ANTHONY RAMOS
Puerto Rican (Afro-Latino — African, Taíno, Spanish, Canary Islands Guanche)
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Anthony Ramos — heritage & background
Quick answer: Anthony Ramos is Puerto Rican — his family is of Puerto Rican descent, carrying African, Indigenous Taíno, and Spanish heritage. He is not traditionally "mixed race" in the Black/white sense, but as a Puerto Rican of Afro-Latino heritage, he carries multiple racial and ethnic strands within his Caribbean background.
Is Anthony Ramos Mixed Race? Is He Biracial?
No — in the traditional American biracial (Black/white parent) sense, Anthony Ramos is not biracial. Both of his parents are Puerto Rican. However, as a Puerto Rican of Afro-Latino heritage, he carries African, Indigenous Taíno, and Spanish ancestry — the three-stranded heritage that characterizes much of the Caribbean. In this broader sense, he is of genuinely mixed descent.
Ramos grew up in Bushwick, Brooklyn — a predominantly Puerto Rican neighborhood — and was raised primarily by his mother, Mildred, after his father was largely absent. He has spoken about growing up in a tough part of Brooklyn, navigating poverty, and using performance as both escape and aspiration.
On a 2024 episode of PBS's Finding Your Roots, hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr., Ramos made a stunning discovery about his ancestry: his heritage traces back to the Canary Islands, and his 16th great-grandfather was Pelinor (died 1505), an indigenous Guanche king of the island of Tenerife. This Guanche ancestry — from the original Indigenous people of the Canary Islands — adds a layer of Native heritage to his background that predates the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
Anthony Ramos's race, background, and heritage are Afro-Latino — a category that encompasses Blackness, Latin American identity, and indigenous roots simultaneously. He is proud of his Puerto Rican heritage and has resisted Hollywood pressure to downplay it.
What Is Anthony Ramos's Ethnicity?
Anthony Ramos's ethnicity is Puerto Rican, with roots in Africa, the Canary Islands (indigenous Guanche), and Spain — the three historical forces that shaped the people of Puerto Rico and the broader Caribbean. Born Anthony Ramos Martínez on November 1, 1991, in Brooklyn, New York, he grew up in the Puerto Rican diaspora community of Bushwick, one of Brooklyn's most culturally vibrant neighborhoods.
Puerto Rican identity is itself a product of centuries of mixing: West African enslaved people brought to the island by Spanish colonizers, the original Taíno Indigenous people of the Caribbean, and Spanish colonizers who arrived beginning in 1493 all contributed to the genetic and cultural identity of Puerto Ricans. Anthony Ramos carries this full heritage — and his Finding Your Roots DNA results added the remarkable discovery of Canary Islands Guanche ancestry, stretching his roots back to the Indigenous people of the Atlantic islands that were themselves a stepping stone between Europe and the Americas.
Early in his career, Ramos was advised by industry insiders to be "ethnically ambiguous" and not lean into his Puerto Rican identity. He refused: "I don't want to be hired for being ambiguous," he has said. His Puerto Rican background is central to his artistry and his identity.
Father's Side: Puerto Rican Heritage
Anthony Ramos's father, Mario Martínez, is Puerto Rican. He was largely absent from Anthony's life as he grew up in Bushwick with his mother and siblings, but his Puerto Rican heritage is part of Anthony's background.
Puerto Rican heritage on the paternal side connects Anthony to the African, Taíno, and Spanish strands of Caribbean ancestry. The surname Martínez is of Spanish origin — a surname brought to Puerto Rico through Spanish colonization — reflecting the European layer of Puerto Rican heritage.
The Finding Your Roots discovery of Canary Islands ancestry likely comes through the paternal or mixed line — the Canary Islands were a key stopping point for Spanish ships sailing to the Americas, and many Canarian settlers (including indigenous Guanche people who had been converted and integrated into Spanish society) migrated to Puerto Rico and the Caribbean in the colonial era.
Mother's Side: Puerto Rican Heritage
Anthony Ramos's mother, Mildred Ramos, is Puerto Rican and was his primary parent growing up. She raised Anthony and his siblings in a housing project in Bushwick, Brooklyn — a neighborhood that was one of the poorest and most underserved in New York City during the 1990s and early 2000s. Mildred's strength and sacrifice during Anthony's upbringing have been a frequent subject in his public interviews.
The Ramos surname is also of Spanish origin — common throughout Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Latin America. Mildred's side of the family carries the African, Taíno, and Spanish heritage that is the foundation of Puerto Rican identity.
Puerto Rican culture — music (salsa, reggaeton, plena, bomba), cuisine, language, and spiritual traditions — was the environment Anthony was raised in, and it profoundly shaped his artistry. His breakout role as Alexander Hamilton in the original cast of Hamilton on Broadway, and as John Laurens/Philip Hamilton, connected his Afro-Latino identity to American Revolutionary history in ways that were both powerful and contested.
Grandparents: A Complete Picture
Paternal Grandfather — [Unknown], Puerto Rican: Anthony Ramos's paternal grandfather — Mario Martínez's father — was Puerto Rican, carrying the African, Taíno, and Spanish heritage of the island.
Paternal Grandmother — [Unknown], Puerto Rican: Anthony's paternal grandmother was also Puerto Rican. Her family history connects to the broader Caribbean and possibly to the Canary Islands ancestry discovered in the Finding Your Roots episode.
Maternal Grandfather — [Unknown], Puerto Rican: Mildred Ramos's father — Anthony's maternal grandfather — was Puerto Rican. His family roots in Puerto Rico connect Anthony's maternal lineage to the island's African and indigenous heritage.
Maternal Grandmother — [Unknown], Puerto Rican: Anthony's maternal grandmother was Puerto Rican, further rooting his maternal heritage in Caribbean Afro-Latino culture. The discovery of 16th great-grandfather Pelinor — an indigenous Guanche king of Tenerife in the Canary Islands — traces back through one of these ancestral lines, suggesting deep roots in the pre-colonial Atlantic world.
Spouse's Ethnicity & Children's Heritage
Anthony Ramos married actress Jasmine Cephas Jones in October 2023. Jasmine Cephas Jones is the daughter of actor Ron Cephas Jones (who passed away in August 2023) and Cindy Lentol. Ron Cephas Jones was African American, and Cindy Lentol is of white American descent, making Jasmine herself biracial (Black and white). Jasmine shares a connection to Hamilton with Anthony — they both appeared in the original Broadway production.
Together Anthony and Jasmine have no children as of 2025. If they do have children in the future, those children would carry Puerto Rican Afro-Latino heritage (Anthony) and African American/white American heritage (Jasmine) — a richly multicultural combination.
Anthony Ramos in His Own Words on Race & Identity
"I don't want to be hired for being ambiguous. I am Puerto Rican and I take pride in my Latino identity." — Anthony Ramos, in interviews about his career
This statement, made early in his career when he was being advised to downplay his ethnicity, captures Anthony Ramos's fundamental stance on identity: pride, not concealment. He has spoken about the ways Hollywood tries to make performers of color choose between visibility and employability — and he has consistently chosen visibility.
His appearance in Hamilton — playing two roles in a production that reimagines the founding fathers as people of color — was itself a powerful statement about the relationship between Latino/Black heritage and American identity. His subsequent film and television roles have continued to center Latino characters and stories, with a refusal to be reduced to "ethnically ambiguous" background color.
Is Anthony Ramos Alive?
Yes, Anthony Ramos is alive. Born November 1, 1991, he is currently 33 years old. He continues to work in film, television, and theater. His recent projects include Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023), where he played the lead human character, and he continues to be active in Broadway productions.
Visual Family Tree
Anthony Ramos Martínez
Mario Martínez (Puerto Rican — African, Taíno, Spanish)
[Paternal Grandfather] (Puerto Rican) · [Paternal Grandmother] (Puerto Rican)
Mildred Ramos (Puerto Rican — African, Taíno, Spanish)
[Maternal Grandfather] (Puerto Rican) · [Maternal Grandmother] (Puerto Rican)
Sources
Interviews & Direct Quotes
- Anthony Ramos: "I don't want to be hired for being ambiguous" — NextShark / Yahoo
- What Anthony Ramos discovered about his royal heritage on Finding Your Roots — Reality Blurred
Genealogy & Ethnicity Research
Family Background
EthniCelebrity Research Team
Ethnicity & Heritage Writers
Our team specialises in researching and documenting the ethnic backgrounds, nationality, and ancestry of public figures — drawing on genealogical records, interviews, and verified biographical sources.