Robert De Niro’s 7 Children: Everything to Know

Robert De Niro is a family man through and through.

The Academy Award winner has seven children. De Niro and his first wife, Diahnne Abbott, are parents to daughter Drena, 53, and son Raphael, 48. In 1995, he welcomed twin sons Julian and Aaron, 29, with his former girlfriend, model and actress Toukie Smith. De Niro shares son Elliot, 26, and daughter Helen Grace, 13, with his ex-wife, Grace Hightower. In April 2023, the proud father welcomed a baby girl, Gia, with his girlfriend Tiffany Chen.

While talking to PEOPLE in February 2024, De Niro said his favorite thing to do with his children is “just being together, taking trips to warm places.”

“The fact that they’d all be together is everything to me,” he said.

Also a grandfather, De Niro has said that the best thing a parent or grandparent can do is push their kids to reach for their dreams.

“For my kids, I tell them, ‘If you want to be an actor or you want to do this or that, that’s fine as long as you’re happy. Just don’t sell yourself short,’ ” De Niro told PEOPLE in January 2020. “That’s the most I would say — push yourself a little more and reach for what you really think it is you want to do. Don’t be afraid.”

Here’s everything to know about Robert De Niro’s children.

Drena De Niro, 53

Drena De Niro was born to Diahnne Abbott and her then-husband on Sept. 3, 1971. De Niro adopted Drena when he married Abbott in 1976, at which point Drena took the actor’s surname.

As the child of two successful actors, Drena spent many of her younger years on film sets and traveling the world — De Niro was filming The Godfather Part II and 1900 throughout Italy when Drena was a toddler. In a 2011 interview with Avenue magazine, she described her time in Italy as some of the most cherished memories of her childhood.

“They were very happy years in my life,” she told the outlet. “There was a lot of traveling, and, for a young kid, it definitely implanted a comfort and a love of travel.”

Drena eventually became a model and made her runway debut at New York Fashion Week. She has since worked with designers like Patrick Kelly, Jean Paul Gaultier, Vivienne Westwood and Giorgio Armani. Following her impressive modeling career, Drena worked as a DJ, but acting had always caught her eye.

“I knew that, really, what I wanted to do was act. What struck me was the work aspect,” she told Avenue magazine. “Everyone was really committed and dedicated to the work.” Her résumé includes movies like Great Expectations, A Star is Born and Joy.

She also tried her hand at producing, and launched the production company Daredevil Films and Television in the early aughts. “I was more inclined to get involved as a producer,” Drena told Avenue. “I didn’t really want to just be told what to do; I also wanted to tell people what to do. … That’s more my nature.” In 2001, she directed her first documentary short, Girls & Dolls, for which she won an award at the New York Independent Film and Video Festival, per her website.

In 2003, Drena and her then-boyfriend, Carlos Rodriguez, welcomed their son Leandro De Niro Rodriguez. “Kids really put everything in perspective. Suddenly, certain things that one would consider so important are not important at all,” she said. “Life definitely changes, but it’s a great change.”

Leandro died on July 2, 2023. Drena shared the news of her 19-year-old son’s death on Instagram.

“My beautiful sweet angel. I have loved you beyond words or description from the moment I felt you in my belly,” she captioned a photo of her only child. “You have been my joy my heart and all that was ever pure and real in my life. I wish I was with you right now.”

A month later, it was determined by the New York City chief medical examiner’s office that Leandro died of an accidental overdose. According to the medical examiner, there were “toxic” levels of “fentanyl, bromazolam, alprazolam, 7-aminoclonazepam, ketamine and cocaine” in Leandro’s system at the time of his death.

“You would have been 20 yrs old today 💔 Thank you for the happiest and most profound 2 decades of my life, little angel,” Drena wrote on Instagram just days after the medical examiner’s report was released. “I hope you are at peace and your spirit is filled with joy today and always.”

Raphael De Niro, 48

De Niro and Abbott welcomed son Raphael Eugene De Niro on Nov. 9, 1976. While Raphael didn’t follow in his family’s cinematic footsteps, he has made a name for himself, working for Douglas Elliman real estate.

Raphael has been working with the Manhattan brokerage since the early 2000s. According to his professional website, Raphael launched the De Niro Team with the real estate firm in 2004. His A-list clients have included Jon Bon Jovi, Kelly Ripa and Renée Zellweger. In 2008, Raphael became a partner at the Greenwich Hotel in New York City’s TriBeCa neighborhood. He is also a founding board member of the New York Residential Agent Continuum.

In 2008, Raphael tied the knot with Claudine De Matos in a private destination wedding in the Bahamas. The pair reportedly met at Douglas Elliman. They welcomed three kids together before separating in 2015. Their divorce was finalized in January 2020, per Page Six.

Raphael found love again with stylist Hannah Carnes. Page Six reported that they made their first public appearance at the screening of De Niro’s film The Wizard of Lies in May 2017. The couple had planned to marry in April 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Raphael and Carnes exchanged vows at N.Y.C.’s City Hall l in March 2020.

“We want to celebrate with friends and family over a casual dinner when it is safe to do so, at Milos in Hudson Yards,” he told the New York Post. “It’s one of our favorite restaurants.”

Julian De Niro, 29

After his divorce from Abbott, De Niro began dating actress Toukie Smith in 1988. Their son Julian Henry was born alongside his twin brother Aaron on Oct. 20, 1995.

Julian has inherited his parents’ acting genes. In 2016, Julian joined In Dubious Battle‘s A-list cast, which included James Franco, Selena Gomez and Nat Wolff. The film marked his first credited movie appearance. His TV debut came in 2022: Julian portrayed a young Barack Obama in Showtime’s historical drama series The First Lady.

He also studied computer science and math at New York University. He was even published in the Washington Post after he conducted an in-depth Twitter analysis to uncover “what people craved the most in 2018” with his professor and a classmate.

In December 2023, Julian made a rare public appearance with De Niro and his sister Drena at Art Basel in Miami. The trio spent the evening viewing art and taking silly family photos.

Aaron De Niro, 29

Julian’s twin brother, Aaron Kendrick, was also born on Oct. 20, 1995. Very little is known about Aaron, as he’s remained ultra-private for most of his life. In an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, De Niro opened up about raising his biracial kids.

“My children are all half Black and … even me, I take certain things for granted,” De Niro said, acknowledging that he had gotten more opportunities as a White man. “When people say that they tell their kids, ‘Keep your hands [out] when you’re stopped by any cops, keep your hands on the steering wheel, don’t make a sudden move, don’t put your hands below, don’t do this,’ you understand that.”

Elliot De Niro, 26

Born on March 18, 1998, Elliot De Niro is De Niro and ex-wife Grace Hightower’s first child together. In March 2016, the actor revealed that his son Elliot has autism.

That same year, De Niro advocated for the inclusion of the controversial documentary Vaxxed at the Tribeca Film Festival, of which he is a co-founder. “I think the movie is something that people should see. I, as a parent with a child who has autism, am concerned. I want to know the truth,” De Niro later said during an appearance on the Today show. “And I’m not anti-vaccine, I want safe vaccines.”

Vaxxed, which was directed by discredited physician Andrew Wakefield, attempted to call into question the scientific research that proves there is no link between autism and vaccines. However, scientific research has found that there is no connection between vaccines and autism.

One of Elliot’s passions is playing tennis. In 2018, he was featured in ESPN’s Special Olympics: 50 Game Changers series, honoring the 50th anniversary of the Special Olympics.

“Finding things for kids to do is a hard part of the whole situation with parents of kids with special needs,” De Niro said in the episode. “[Playing tennis] helps him. He is more confident when he sees that he is actually good at this. That’s the best self-motivator anyone can have.”

Helen Grace De Niro, 13

De Niro welcomed his seventh child — his first with girlfriend Tiffany Chen — daughter Gia Virginia Chen-De Niro, on April 6, 2023. She weighed 8 lbs., 6 oz. However, he didn’t reveal the news of Gia’s birth until over a month later during an interview with ET Canada.

When asked about his six children, the Oscar winner corrected the interviewer and said: “Seven, actually.”

“I just had a baby,” he explained, though he didn’t provide any further details about the little one.

On the red carpet at the N.Y.C. premiere of his film About My Father, De Niro spoke to Extra about welcoming another child at the age of 79.

“I’m ok with it. I’m good with it,” he said, adding that raising children “never gets easier” no matter what age you are.

In July 2023, Chen spoke to Gayle King on CBS Mornings about her Bell’s palsy diagnosis, which came shortly after giving birth to Gia. Also in the episode, Gia made an appearance and King got to hold the baby. “You’re making your TV debut on CBS Mornings,” King said as she held Gia up to the camera.

Months later, De Niro opened up in an interview with Rolling Stone about his plans to teach his youngest both Chinese and English.

“[She is] half-Chinese. I want to try to teach her Chinese and show her nursery rhymes in English and Chinese,” the actor said. “I’m trying to have her learn both.”

In February 2024, De Niro told PEOPLE that Gia is “such an adorable baby,” adding that she is “so sweet.”

“[When I] look at her, everything else goes away. So it’s a great joy and relief to just be with her in the moment,” he shared.

He also said that his older children “get a big kick” out of Gia. “The grandkids even. She’s their aunt — [and] they’re about to be teenagers!” he said.

Gia turned one in April 2024. While reflecting on this daughter’s first year of life, the actor told Entertainment Tonight that Gia is “pure joy.”