The extensive character back stories and relationships in The Sopranos are fascinating, especially how they’re slowly weaved into the plot. But like all series that have a ton of characters, it’s hard to keep track of who is connected to who and how. It’s especially difficult to understand familial relations when only limited details are offered in the show.
For this project, I used Family Echo. All names in grey indicate a dead character.
Part 1: The Aprile Family Tree
This group contains 1 independent family.
Part 2: The Greater Soprano Family Tree
This group contains 3 interconnected families:
- Soprano
- DeAngelis
- Blundetto
Tony Soprano and Christopher Moltisanti’s familial relationship is also explained.
The Aprile Family
Click to enlarge.
None of the Aprile family members are related (via blood or marriage) to the Greater Soprano Family members. There were 3 relationships that occurred between the 2 family groups but none resulted in marriage or children. All these relationships ended because an Aprile was killed:
- Jackie Jr. and Meadow Soprano
- Adriana and Christopher Moltisanti
- Richie and Janice Soprano
Interesting Observations:
- Vito, Jackie Jr., and Adrianna are all 1st cousins to each other.
- Vito killed Jackie Jr, his cousin.
- Vito once brags about Adrianna (his cousin) calling him “all the time” when Christopher was in rehab.
- Adrianna tells Feds that it was Vito doing this.
- Phil Leotardo is a distant relative (through marriage) of this family.
- He is 2nd cousins with Marie Spatafore, Vito’s wife.
The Greater Soprano Family
3 connected families: Soprano, DeAngelis, and Blundetto
The Soprano Family Tree
Click to enlarge.
Interesting Observations:
- A variety of sources say that Johnny Soprano’s real name is Giovanni (his 2 brothers have Italian names). But his gravestone says “John Francis Soprano”.
- I can no longer find the YouTube clip, but but in a deleted scene it’s mentioned that Patsy Parisi (and Philly Parisi, Patsy’s late twin brother) is Tony’s cousin “on his mother’s side” (direct quote from Silvio).
- That would also make Tony Blundetto related to Patsy as well, because he and Tony are maternal 1st cousins.
- If Tony and Patsy are related, that means Meadow and Patrick Parisi are also related.
The DeAngelis Family Tree
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Intersting Observations
- Carmela is 1st cousins with Dickie, Christopher’s late father.
- This makes Carmela 1st cousins once removed with Christopher. Christopher would also be 2nd cousins with Meadow and AJ.
- Carmela has a cousin, Brian Cammarata, who appears in several episodes.
- It’s never mentioned how Carmela and Brian are related so he is not in this family tree.
- Tony mention’s Carmela’s sister several times during the first couple seasons.
- This unnamed sister is said to have adult children who are no longer living at home.
- If Christopher’s cousin, Gregory Moltisanti (Amy Safir’s fiancée in D-Girl), is his 1st cousin, Dickie would have an unnamed brother. Gregory would be related to Carmela the same way Christopher is related to her.
- If Gregory is Christopher’s 2nd cousin (or even more distant), then he would not be related to Carmela. This relationship would be through Dickie’s father, Joseph. Joseph is Carmela’s uncle through marriage and not blood.
- The actor who played Gregory, Dominic Fumusa, played Edie Falco’s husband in Nurse Jackie.
The Blundetto Family Tree
Click to enlarge.
Interesting Observations:
- Tony B’s mother, Quintina, is Livia Soprano’s sister.
- This makes Tony B 1st cousins to Tony Soprano and his sisters.
- Christopher’s mother, Joanne, is sisters with Tony B’s father, Albert.
- This makes Tony B and Christopher 1st cousins.
- Patrizo (Uncle Pat with the farm) is Christopher and Tony B’s uncle. But he is not related to Tony Soprano.
- During Hugh DeAngelis’s birthday party, Tony B calls Joanne Moltisanti “cuz”. This doesn’t make sense because Joanne is his aunt.
How Are Tony Soprano & Christopher Moltisanti Related?
Tony calls Christopher his nephew and says they are blood. Neither of these 2 things are true. But they are connected through 2 family relationships.
- As explained in the DeAngelis family tree, Carmela and Dickie Moltisanti are 1st cousins. This makes Christopher 1st cousins once removed with Carmela and 2nd cousins with Meadow and AJ.
- As explained in the Blundetto family tree, Tony B, through his father, is 1st cousins in Christopher. Through his mother, Tony B is 1st cousins to Tony. Thus, Tony and Christopher are both 1st cousins to Tony B, but not to each other.
But there may be a distant blood relationship:
- After Christopher dies, Tony has a dream session with Dr. Melfi where he refers to Christopher’s mother, Joanne, as his cousin.
- Adriana tells an FBI agent that Joanne is Tony’s distant maternal cousin from back “in the old country”.
- Christopher tells a fellow Alcoholics Anonymous member that Tony is his uncle “once removed”.
Dickie was a soldier in Johnny Soprano’s crew and was a surrogate brother to Tony. Despite not being related, Tony then served as a surrogate father to Christopher.
Related Post:
The Soprano (DiMeo) Crime Family Structure