Raya Yarbrough

Birth Name: Raya Zahkiya Yarbrough

Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, United States

Date of Birth: December 23, 1979

Ethnicity:*father – African-American, likely some Louisiana Creole [African, French]*mother – Ashkenazi Jewish

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Raya Yarbrough is an American singer and songwriter.

She is the daughter of composer Martin Yarbrough and author, screenwriter, and professor Pamela Douglas. Her aunt (father’s sister) is musician, actress, poet, activist, television producer, and author Camille Yarbrough. Raya is married to musician and composer Bear McCreary, with whom she has one child.

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Raya’s paternal grandfather was Ernest Burnice Yarbrough (the son of William Yarbrough and Dorie Collier/Couler). Ernest was born in Alabama.

Raya’s paternal grandmother was Ada May/Mae Wheatley (the daughter of Albert Walter Wheatley and Ada Wilkins). Raya’s grandmother Ada was born in Illinois. Albert was born in Ohio, the son of Henry Wheatley and Mary Ann McCoy. Raya’s great-grandmother Ada was born in Ohio, the daughter of James Wilkins and Josephine Balaire/Bellaire, whose father was from either Louisiana or Haiti.

Raya’s maternal grandfather was Irving Allen Dodes (the son of Jacob Dodes and Anne/Anna Willens/Wilens). Irving was born in New York, to Russian Jewish parents. Jacob was the son of David Israel Dodes and Sarah Baron/Sure, who was born in Odessa. Anne was the daughter of Solomon Willens/Wilens and Fanny Margolin.

Raya’s maternal grandmother was Dorothy Virginia Bardach (the daughter of Monroe Paul Lederer Bardach and Lucile May Lowenberg). Dorothy was born in New York, to a Jewish family. Monroe was born in New York, the son of Simon Bardach, who was from Austria, and of Josephine Lederer, whose parents were from Bohemia. Lucile was born in Virginia, the daughter of Harry Lee Lowenberg, whose father was from Germany, and whose mother was the daughter of parents from Germany; and of Leonora S. Leterman, whose parents were from Germany, her father from Württemberg, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, and her mother from Achim, Lower Saxony.

Sources: Obituary of Yara’s paternal grandmother, Ada May/Mae (Wheatley) Yarbrough –

Genealogy of Raya’s mother –

Obituary of Raya’s maternal grandfather, Irving Allen Dodes –

Marriage record of Raya’s maternal grandparents, Irving Allen Dodes and Dorothy Virginia Bardach –

Marriage record of Raya’s maternal great-grandparents, Jacob Dodes and Anne/Anna Willens/Wilens –