I whanau a DeGeneres i roto i Metairie, Louisiana, ki a Elizabeth Jane (née Pfeffer, i whanau i te tau 1930), he kaiwhakangungu korero, me Elliott Everett DeGeneres (c.1925<unk>2018), he kaihoko inihua. Kotahi tana teina, ko Vance, he kaiwaiata me te kaiwhakanao. He uri French, Ingarihi, Tiamana, me Irish. I whakaarahia ia hei Kairangahau Karaitiana. I te 1973, i tukuna e ona maatua te wehenga me te whakarere i te tau e whai ake nei. I muri tata mai, i marenatia te whaea o Ellen ki a Royess Gruendorf, he kaihokohoko. I neke a Betty Jane me Ellen Gruessendorf mai i te rohe o New Orleans ki Atlanta, Texas. I noho a Vance ki tona papa. I te waahanga o te Hui-tanguru 2011 o tana whakaaturanga Gene, i korero ia ki tana whare mo te reta mai i te New England Historical Society e whakapumau ana ko ia te tuakana o 15 ki Cambridge, a Catherine, Duchess o Thomas, he kaihanga me te kaihanga.
Ko Laura Gillen