Birth Name: Janelle Bianes Olafson
Place of Birth: San Diego, California, United States
Date of Birth: October 17, 1989
Ethnicity:
*paternal grandfather – Icelandic
*paternal grandmother – Dutch, English, French, German, Irish, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Scottish, Welsh, as well as remote Cornish, Powhatan Native American, Swedish, and Swiss-French
*mother – Filipino
Janelle Sengsouvannapraseuth, previously credited as Janelle Olafson, is a Filipina-American beauty queen and model. Her father, Kristinn Allen Olafson, is American. Her mother, Nenita Reyes Bianes, is Filipina. Janelle is married to Danny Sengsouvannapraseuth.
Janelle’s patrilineal ancestry can be traced back to her fifth great-grandfather, Árni Gellisson.
Janelle’s paternal grandfather was Stefan Daniel Murdock Olafson (the son of Hallur Magnússon, later Olafson, and of Þuríður Ingibjörg Breiðfjörð). Stefan was born in North Dakota, U.S. Hallur was born in Kirkjubæ, Norður-Múlasýsla (now part of Eastern Region), Iceland, the son of Magnús Ólafsson and Ragnheiður Eiríksdóttir. Janelle’s great-grandmother Þuríður was the daughter of Icelandic emigrants, Einar Jónsson Breiðfjörð, of Hvammur í Hvammissveit, Dalasýsla (now part of Western Region), and Guðný Jónasdóttir, of Breidabolsstadur a Skogarstrand, Snæfellsnessýsla (now part of Western Region).
Janelle’s paternal grandmother is Laura Belle Walton (the daughter of Lawrence Fredrick Walton and Ethel Lucilla Dare). Lawrence was the son of James William Walton and Lora Hester Chandler. Ethel was the daughter of Benjamin Franklin Dare and May Belle Ward.
Janelle’s maternal grandfather was surnamed Bianes.
Janelle’s maternal grandmother was surnamed Reyes.
Sources: Family history of Janelle Olafson –
Genealogy of Janelle Olafson (focusing on her father’s side) –
Janelle’s paternal grandfather, Stefan Daniel Murdock Olafson, on the 1930 U.S. census –
Janelle’s paternal great-grandfather, Hallur Magnússon, on the 1901 Icelandic census –
