xclusive: Taylor Swift’s ancestry uncovers a surprising connection to renowned American poet, Emily Dickinson.

It appears that Taylor Swift’s affinity for words runs in her family. Ancestry, a genealogy company, has made an exclusive discovery that the singer is actually related to the renowned American poet Emily Dickinson. They share a familial connection as sixth cousins, three times removed. According to Ancestry, both Swift and Dickinson can trace their ancestry back to a 17th-century English immigrant who settled in Windsor, Connecticut. Swift’s ninth great-grandfather and Dickinson’s sixth great-grandfather were early settlers in the area. While Swift’s family eventually moved to northwestern Pennsylvania, they had remained in Connecticut for six generations before that and even intermarried with the Swift family line. Interestingly, Swift herself has made references to Dickinson in the past when discussing her songwriting. She has mentioned the influence of the 19th-century poet on the different types of lyrics she writes. In fact, during her acceptance speech for the Songwriter-Artist of the Decade Award in 2022, Swift humorously remarked that if her lyrics sound like a letter written by Emily Dickinson’s great-grandmother while sewing a lace curtain, it falls under the “Quill genre.” Fans have also speculated that Swift’s ninth studio album, “Evermore,” was inspired by Dickinson. Swift announced the album’s release on Dickinson’s birthday, December 10, 2020. Additionally, Dickinson wrote a poem titled “One Sister Have I in Our House,” which includes the word “forevermore,” similar to the title of Swift’s album. Prior to the announcement of “Evermore,” Swift had even discussed the concept for the cover of her album “Folklore,” envisioning a girl sleepwalking through the forest in a nightgown in the year 1830, coincidentally the year Dickinson was born. This isn’t the first time Ancestry has uncovered surprising connections between American icons. In 2019, they revealed that Tom Hanks, who portrayed Mister Rogers in “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” was also related to another notable figure.