Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a star within the Democratic party. She rose to fame as a U.S. Representative in 2019, and has since become an outspoken activist in the years since. She left a big impression on viewers with her speech at the recent Democratic National Convention.
With so much attention on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, fans may be curious about her personal life and her family background. AOC is a figure who seems poised to be part of the Democratic party for decades to come, so the more supporters know about her, the better.
Here’s what you need to know about Ocasio-Cortez’s nationality.
Where was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez born?
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was born in the Bronx, New York in 1989. She grew up the daughter of Sergio Ocasio-Roman and Blanca Ocasio-Cortez, both of whom are Puerto Rican. AOC’s father was similarly born in the Bronx, while her mother, Blanca, was born in Puerto Rico and moved to the Bronx when she was a child.
Ocasio-Cortez reflected on the struggles her mother Blanca went through moving to the Bronx. “She didn’t even speak English,” the U.S. Representative wrote in a 2019 Instagram post. “New languages, new life, new everything… Mami mopped floors, drove school buses and answered phones. She did whatever she needed to do. For me.”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez credits her parents with her strong sense of self. During a 2020 exchange with fellow Representative Ted Yoho, AOC asserted that her parents taught her to stand up against men who disrespected her. “I have to show my parents that I am their daughter — and that they did not raise me to accept abuse from men,” she noted.
Is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Jewish?
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez proudly identifies as a New York Puerto Rican, or Nuyorican. She has noted that Puerto Rican heritage is made up of different ethnic components, but insists that all Puerto Ricans are bound by the same culture.
In 2022, AOC claimed that she’d gotten in touch with her indigenous ancestry, which changed the way she perceived her Puerto Rican roots. She recounted this epiphany in a since-deleted Instagram post, and made it clear that she felt all Puerto Ricans should reacquaint themselves with Taino ancestry:
We were told growing up that we were extinct, that Tainos don’t exist, and it’s really important for Puerto Ricans to understand that that narrative is being challenged right now.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has also claimed Jewish heritage in the past. During a Hanukkah event, the U.S. Representative claimed that her family were originally Sephardic Jews before they fled to Puerto Rico. “So many of our destinies are tied beyond our understanding,” she concluded.
Ultimately, AOC finds beauty in the versatility of her Nuyorican identity. “As is the story of Puerto Rico, we are a people that are an amalgamation,” she told Hanukkah onlookers. “We are no one thing. We are Black; we are indigenous; we are Spanish; we are European.”