Genealogy Study Confirms Sydney Sweeney and Marilyn Monroe Are Distant Cousins

A genealogy study by MyHeritage has confirmed that Sydney Sweeney and Marilyn Monroe are related — specifically, ninth cousins once removed. The two share a common ancestor in Ezra Perry (1625–1689), an early English settler in Sandwich, Massachusetts.

Sweeney has long been compared to Monroe and has embraced the resemblance at high-profile events. At the 2025 premiere of The Housemaid, she wore a white dress evoking Monroe’s iconic look from The Seven Year Itch, and her outfit at the 2025 Governor’s Ball was also widely seen as a Monroe homage. Earlier in the year, she donned a vintage Ceil Chapman gown reminiscent of Monroe’s 1952 LIFE magazine cover.

Sydney Sweeney clearly had Marilyn Monroe on her mood board when she got ready for the Governors Awards red carpet on Sunday. : Getty; Shutterstock pic.twitter.com/VjkiWCgZOP

— Page Six (@PageSix) November 17, 2025

MyHeritage’s findings add another layer to the comparison. The company noted that Sweeney’s reported interest in converting to Judaism and her discussions with Scooter Braun about marriage echo Monroe, who converted to Judaism in 1956 before marrying Arthur Miller.

First look at Dakota Johnson as Marilyn Monroe in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s short film ‘FLESH IMPACT.’

(Source: pic.twitter.com/HMCxqNCAU9

— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) July 27, 2026

Though Sweeney has never portrayed Monroe onscreen, Dakota Johnson and Ellen Burstyn both play versions of the icon in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s short film Flesh Impact, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival. MyHeritage also found that Johnson is Monroe’s ninth cousin, three times removed, turning the casting into a real-life family connection.

Sweeney faced backlash last month from Olympic athletes over a suggestive sports betting ad. British athlete Lucy Davis called it out, writing, “It’s 2026…stop sexualising women in sport.” The controversy follows her divisive American Eagle “great jeans” campaign, accused of racist undertones, to which Sweeney eventually responded by stating she did not “support the views some people chose to connect to the campaign.”

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