He’s got a mop of brown curls, a Hebrew tattoo and a smash-hit single with lyrics that kind of sound like “Watermelon sugar chai.” So… is pop icon Harry Styles Jewish? Just adjacent to the Jewish community? Or a secret third option?
Let’s investigate!
If you’ve been following along with our previous investigations of this nature, you know that we’re looking to check at least one of two boxes. Does Harry Styles identify as culturally or religiously Jewish? And/or, does Harry Styles have Jewish ancestry? If the answer to either of those questions is a resounding yes, he’s a member of the tribe!
Let’s start with the first question. Does Harry Styles have any Jewish ancestry? It seems that Styles’ background is mostly English. A 2013 Mirror article identified Harry’s ancestry as “farm laborers in Norfolk.” Meanwhile, Styles’ father Des weighed in on Twitter about Harry’s potential Jewish ancestry earlier that year:
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But what about Harry Styles’ identity? Does he identify as religiously or culturally Jewish? This is where things get intriguing.
Over the years, Harry has exhibited a deep knowledge of Jewish culture. “It’s Yom Kippur tonight so just wanted to wish my Jewish followers well over their fast,” he wrote in 2011. “Gemar Tov!!” The next year he wished One Direction’s Jewish fans “Shana tova” and the year after that he tweeted about Purim and Passover, revealing that he has sung the Ma Nishtana before.
He clearly has a firm grip of Yiddish and Hebrew words and phrases, as evidenced below and in the Hebrew tattoo he has of his sister’s name. In a photoshoot in Fabulous magazine in 2013, he wears a necklace with both a cross and a Star of David. And as of 2025, he might be dating self-proclaimed Black Jewish queen Zoë Kravitz.
So Harry Styles is Jewish, right?! Not quite. Harry’s fascination with Judaism and Jewish culture stems from Styles’ friendship with Orthodox Jewish director and producer Ben Winston. The pair met when Winston directed the documentary “One Direction: A Year in the Making,” and Winston became a “friendly mentor,” according to Rolling Stone, to One Direction. In 2012, Harry actually began living with Ben Winston and his wife. Per the same Rolling Stone article: “The Winstons’ Orthodox Jewish lifestyle, with a strong family emphasis, helped keep him sane.”
“As for Harry, he loves the Jewish community and wearing a Magen David,” Ben told Jewish News in 2012. “All the boys [of One Direction] love Judaism. They are fascinated by it and they enjoy the family atmosphere.”
Verdict: Harry Styles is not Jewish. But you can read a far more detailed account of Harry Styles’ Jewish adjacent-ness here.
