1. Nicole Scherzinger — Pussycat Doll, X Factor judge, and your mega-fierce pinsan.
Michael Buckner / Getty Images
Nicole’s dad was Filipino, but her parents split when she was a baby. She changed her surname from Valiente to Scherzinger when her stepfather adopted her.
2. Sharon Leal — Dreamgirl and your talented actressate.
Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images
Sharon’s mom is Filipino and her dad was an American military policeman, but they broke up before Sharon was born.
3. Kevin Nadal — author, comedian, and your overachieving Ivy Leaguer kuya.
JJ Casas / Via sdgln.com
Kevin was born into a Filipino family in Santa Clara, California. He rose to fame when he started an online petition against ABC when they made Philippine med schools the butt of a joke on Desperate Housewives.
4. Bruno Mars — singer-songwriter and your super-suave kapatid who rocks at karaoke.
Kevin Winter / Getty Images
Bruno was born Peter Gene Hernandez to a Filipino mom and a Puerto Rican-Jewish dad and grew up in Hawaii. Most likely loves Spam.
5. Christine Gambito — celeb YouTuber and your hilarious auntie who does spot-on impersonations of your dad.
Via thepican.com
Christine, aka HappySlip, is a YouTube star thanks to her comedy skits about her Filipino family. She was born in Virginia and is a super mom to her own three kids.
6. Alec Mapa — actor, comedian, and your fun titowho takes you out shopping.
Gary Gershoff / Getty Images
Alec was born in San Francisco to a Filipino family. He’s best known for his roles onUgly Betty and Desperate Housewives.
7. Lea Salonga — Tony-winning actress, Disney legend, and your fab tita who plays video games with you.
Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images
Lea originated the leading role in the musical Miss Saigon when she was discovered in the Philippines as a teenager and won a Tony Award for her performance.
8. Jose Llana — musical theater actor and your coolninong who takes you to Broadway shows.
Joan Marcus
Jose was the only native-born Filipino to be cast in a new concept musical about Filipinos, Here Lies Love.
9. Vanessa Hudgens — actress and your youngerkapatid whose musicals you always saw in high school.
Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images
Vanessa grew up with an American dad and a Filipino mom. “I love Filipino food,” she told the Philippine Inquirer in 2007. “I love halo-halo, pancit, and adobo. I eat rice every day.” Girl gets it.
10. Allan Pineda — Black Eyed Pea, rapper, and your awesome Grammy-winning kuya.
Allen Berezovsky / Getty Images
Better known as apl.de.ap of the Black Eyed Peas, Allan was born in Pampanga, Philippines, to a Filipina mother and an American father.
11. Charlyne Yi — actor, comedian, and the bunso who will shave her head for laughs.
Kevin Winter / Getty Images
…while singing “Nothing Compares 2 U” by Sinéad O’Connor. She was born to a Filipino mother in Los Angeles.
12. Jo Koy — comedian, Chelsea Lately panelist, and your brother-in-law who brings the 30-rack of San Miguels to the party.
Born Joseph Glenn Herbert, Jo took up “Jo Koy” as his stage name, originally a nickname his Filipino mom gave him.
13. Manila Luzon — drag queen, RuPaul’s Drag Racealum, and your favorite nin@ng.
D Dipasupil / Getty Images
Born Karl Westerberg, Manila’s mother is Filipino. She fashioned her drag name from the capital city of the Philippines (Manila) and the country’s largest island (Luzon).
14. Enrique Iglesias — Platinum-selling artist and your really hot kuya all your friends have a crush on.
Chris McKay / Getty Images
Enrique was born in Madrid to the Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and the Filipino journalist and socialite Isabel Preysler.
15. Caterina Fake — founder of Flickr and your ninangwho always goes, “Uy! Picture, picture!”
Via vev.ru
Caterina was born in Pennsylvania to a Filipino mother. She graduated from Vassar College in 1991 before launching Flickr in 2004.
16. Ben Cayetano — fifth governor of Hawaii and yourlolo who will sneak you ube ice cream behind your mom’s back.
Deborah Booker / Via the.honoluluadvertiser.com
Ben is the first Filipino-American governor in the United States. His father Bonifacio moved from the Philippines to Hawaii where he raised Ben.
17. Monique Lhuillier — fashion designer and your glamorous tita who will create your wedding gown.
Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images
Monique was born in Cebu City to the high-society Lhuillier family that owns a chain of pawn shops in the Philippines. She received the Philippine Medal of Honor in 2006.
18. Lou Diamond Phillips — Tony-nominated actor and your dad’s best pare.
Frazer Harrison / Getty Images
Lou was born at the Subic Bay U.S. Naval Station in Zambales, Philippines, to a Filipino mom and an American military dad.
19. Hailee Steinfeld — Oscar-nominated actress and your pamangkin who will go so far.
Mark Davis / Getty Images
Hailee’s maternal grandfather is Filipino and her mother is Filipino interior designer Cheri Domasin-Steinfeld.
20. Vanessa Minnillo-Lachey — actress, model, and your gorgeous ate who did beauty pageants.
Astrid Stawiarz / Getty Images
Vanessa was born in Angeles City, Philippines, to an American father and a Filipino mother to whom she’s estranged.
21. Jose Antonio Vargas — Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and your kapatid who will fight for your immigration rights.
Donald Bowers / Getty Images
Jose became an immigration activist after he penned a personal essay in The New York Times about moving from the Philippines and growing up without proper legal documentation in California.
22. Jessica Hagedorn — playwright and your funkylola who will impart life lessons over a pot of her delish adobo.
Brad Barket / Getty Images
Jessica was born in Manila to parents who were both half-Filipino. She wroteDogeaters, a novel that illustrates the experiences of the Filipino diaspora. It earned a National Book Award nomination and an American Book Award.
23. Cassie — singer, dancer, and your ate who taught you how to dance hip-hop while it was raining in the streets.
Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images
Cassie’s dad is Filipino — her last name is Ventura — and she grew up in Connecticut.
24. Rob Schneider — actor, comedian, and your wise-cracking tito whose questionable jokes you laugh at anyway.
Noel Vasquez / Getty Images
Rob’s grandmother was a Filipino and married his grandfather, an American army private, while he was stationed in the Philippines.
25. Shannyn Sossamon — actress and your hippinsan who named her son Audio Science.
Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images
Really, though; and her second son’s name is Mortimer. Shannyn cites a mix of ethnicities as her heritage, Filipino among them.
26. Darren Criss — actor, musician, and your other hot, nerdier kuya who all your friends have a crush on.
Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images
Darren’s mom was born in Cebu, Philippines. During a recent trip to the Philippines, he told Spot.ph, “All of my aunts are like, ‘Darren, eat! You’re so thin; eat!’” Sounds about right.
27. Charice Pempengco — songstress and your out-and-proud pinsan who is proud of her heritage and sexuality.
Via nickutopia.com
Charice grew up in Laguna, Philippines, and rose to fame with the help of Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey. She recently came out as gay on the Philippine talk show The Buzz.
