Family Tree of Modern Family: How Are They Related?
Originally posted at Modern Family Family Tree | Treemily
Having enjoyed consistent success with audiences worldwide for 11 years as well as universal critical acclaim (22 Primetime Emmy Awards), Modern Family can easily be considered as one of the best sitcoms of the 21st century. Its mockumentary-style depiction of three intertwined LA-based families of different natures (nuclear, blended, same-sex) has made millions of people both laugh and think about what a strong family really is.
Family Tree Chart of Modern Family
(SPOILER ALERT) In this article, we’re looking to explore the deep connection between these families and tell you all about their most prominent members — this the Modern Family family tree.
The Pritchett Family
Jay Pritchett
The Modern Family tree starts with Jason Francis “Jay” Pritchett, the patriarch of the Pritchetts. Jay can sometimes be portrayed as being somewhat rigid and even manipulative due to his time in the military; but most of the time he is a caring man who is concerned about the wellbeing of his family. He’s also highly respected by most of the people he works with in his closet business.
Jay finds it especially challenging to be emotionally available with people and his parenting has been called into question. His son Mitchell, for instance, didn’t feel supported when he came out as gay, and recalled that Jay was not the affectionate father he should have been.
Jay also rues a lot of mistakes he believes he’s made in the past; and a lot of them he feels are connected to his rough childhood. As a young man, Jay felt constant pressure to impress his incredibly harsh father, which eventually caused Jay to become affected by his father’s view of what it meant to be a man — emotionless and at times cruel.
Gloria Pritchett (Jay’s wife)
Gloria Maria Ramirez Pritchett is the feisty wife of Jay Pritchett, and the mother to Manny Delgado and Joe Pritchett. Gloria is frequently characterized by her boisterous, outspoken demeanor — so much so that a neighbor mistakenly believed she was a pet parrot, hearing her loud voice from the outside.
She often tries to stand out, especially when it comes to her beauty, and she tends to feel envious when other women receive more attention than her. She also seems to be quite proud of her Colombian heritage and insists on passing down various Colombian customs to her new family — she also strongly suggests that her son Manny continue his Spanish language studies.
Gloria is also a devoted Catholic and is seen to place a high priority on her family and faith. That said, she’s not above violence, especially when it involves animals; as shown once, she savagely decapitated a rat with a shovel and left its head to “send a message to the other rats”.
DeDe Pritchett (Jay’s late ex-wife)
DeDe Pritchett is Jay Pritchett’s ex-wife, and the mother to Mitchell Pritchett and Claire. DeDe doesn’t have many appearances in the show, and when she’s on screen, she isn’t shown to have many redeeming qualities.
DeDe appears to be at odds with the other family members, despite the fact that she is still begrudgingly regarded as a part of the family. She is often hostile towards Gloria and frequently tries to physically attack her; she is passive aggressive towards Cameron regarding his weight; and she also frequently criticizes Claire’s appearance and domestic abilities. On top of that, DeDe is highly shrewd when it comes to using Mitchell as a tool to further her agenda.
Joe Pritchett (Jay’s son with Gloria)
Fulgencio Joseph “Joe” Pritchett is the young son of Jay and Gloria Pritchett. Joe is shown to be a highly animated child, to the point of being unintentionally violent or troublesome to others. Some examples of his flamboyant behavior include harming chicken, stealing various items from the hotel and exposing his mother Gloria as the one who shot Jay’s foot in “The Day Alex Left For College.” Still, he’s mostly a well-meaning kid who just hasn’t yet learnt to contain his energy.
Manny Delgado (Jay’s step-son)
Manuel Alberto “Manny” Delgado is the son of Gloria from her past marriage to Javier Delgado. Manny is portrayed as being extremely intelligent and mature for his age, and he is often seen acting like an adult, engaging in intense emotional dialogue, and solving complex adult life problems. He is also demonstrated to be knowledgeable in a variety of arts, music, and literature. Manny is also shown as a kind person who treats everyone with respect.
The Dunphy Family
Phil Dunphy
Philip Humphrey “Phil” Dunphy is the husband to Claire Dunphy and father of their three children, Haley, Alex and Luke. He is a passionate father who continually seeks out opportunities to strengthen his relationships with his three children, but often fails due to him trying a bit too hard. He employs a parenting strategy he calls “peerenting,” which combines talking to children like a peer while still acting as a parent.
Phil is also very sensitive and empathic — he’s shown to often give others the benefit of the doubt and is always eager to help his family, friends, and even Jay who has long harbored resentment against him. And because of his overall jovial attitude to life, the only thing that Phil seems to take seriously is his career in real estate, to the annoyance of wife Claire. The success at his job mostly comes from his ability to easily get along with others, notably divorcees.
Claire Dunphy (Phil’s wife and Jay’s daughter with DeDe)
Claire Melinda Dunphy is the daughter of Jay and DeDe Pritchett. She is also married to Phil with whom they have three children — Haley, Alex and Luke. When it comes to taking care of her family, Claire is a perfectionist — she can be very bossy about getting things done around the house, which often results in arguments with the laid-back Phil. Others have criticized her for being tactless and unlikable, although she does try to integrate herself into society by helping in event planning and being actively involved in her children’s school activities.
A feature Claire seems to have inherited from her father Jay, is her strong competitiveness; she is also brazenly honest and appears to almost like breaking terrible news to others. Claire will also use all means necessary to succeed, even if it takes some dishonest or cunning methods.
Haley Dunphy (Daughter)
Haley Gwendolyn Marshall is the eldest child of Claire and Phil Dunphy, and the wife to Dylan Marshall. Haley is characterized as ditzy, reckless and rebellious, enjoying a lot of popularity at school because of her charming personality. She violates curfews, sneaks out to parties, and consumes alcohol while still being underage, which sometimes puts her in trouble.
She is also shown to struggle academically and need more time to understand different concepts, for which her family tends to make fun of her. At the same time, she has excellent street smarts — she is sly and occasionally takes advantage of her parents and others around her for both her own and others’ gain.
Alex Dunphy (Daughter)
Alexandra Anastasia “Alex” Dunphy is the middle child of Phil and Claire Dunphy. She is portrayed as likely the most intellectual and well-read member of the family, despite her young age. Being an overachiever, she often speaks to others in a patronizing and sarcastic manner; and much like her mother Claire, she is extremely competitive and independent. Her father Phil even went as far as to compare her to a self-cleaning oven due to her exceptional abilities.
Alex also likes to play pranks on her family by deceiving them into thinking things that aren’t true. For example, sShe once persuaded Luke and Haley that they could both charge devices by holding the battery in their mouths and rubbing it on their heads. Still, she always has her brother and sister’s back when they’re in trouble and she clearly cares for them, in her own way.
Luke Dunphy (Son)
Lucas Philip “Luke” Dunphy is Claire and Phil Dunphy’s youngest child. Luke is a boisterous, energetic, and sometimes immature youngster who frequently goes off on his own. He is believed to have a relatively low IQ, which gives him the innocence to sometimes not fully comprehend the consequences of his actions. At the same time, he’s kind-hearted and rarely means bad to others.
Frank Dunphy (Phil’s dad)
Franklin Bernard “Frank” Dunphy is Phil Dunphy’s father. Not much is known about Frank as his appearances on the show are quite limited; but he is shown to get along well with his son Phil. This is mostly because they both share a host of qualities such as being generally carefree, laid-back and kind-hearted.
The Tucker-Pritchett Family
Cameron Tucker (Mitchell’s husband)
Cameron Scott “Cam” Tucker-Pritchett is the husband of Mitchell Pritchett and adoptive father to Lily and Rexford. Cameron is very outgoing and has a flair for the dramatic, which often contrasts his husband’s stiff demeanor and results in conflict amongst them. Cam Tucker is also shown to have a great heart and a drive to help everyone who needs it, even if it means missing out on time with his family. Cam enjoys a variety of odd pastimes, including making home videos, clowning at kids’ events, collecting vintage fountain pens and Japanese flower arranging.
Moreover, Cam Tucker has a tendency to like being the center of attention. At the same time, he is perceived as being extremely sensitive and unable to accept criticism, particularly when it comes to his looks and his abilities.
Mitchell Pritchett (Cameron’s husband and Jay’s son with DeDe)
Mitchell Vincent “Mitch” Tucker-Pritchett is the son of Jay and DeDe Pritchett, the husband to Cam Tucker and the adoptive father of Lily and Rexford. He and Cam often quarrel because of how different their personalities are, but that also seems to be the thing that bonds them together so well. When amongst people, Mutch tends to feel uneasy and is shown to have some obsessive-compulsive traits, especially when it comes to parenting his kid.
Mitchell normally tries to avoid conflicts and favors professionalism when things become tough. At the same time, he makes every effort to avoid disappointing others and his family unless he is forced to tell them the bitter truth.
Lily Tucker-Pritchett
Lily Elizabeth Tucker-Pritchett is Mitchell and Cameron’s adopted Vietnamese daughter. Lily is a lively character that easily endears herself to others; and she’s not without an edge. For instance, Lily is heard repeatedly using the F-word in front of a crowd of people just to make her father laugh uncontrollably in one of the episodes. Lily takes up on new words or phrases fast, particularly those said by her aunt Claire Dunphy — Lily is shown to quote her, also using rather scathing language.
Rexford Tucker-Pritchett
Rexford Jason Tucker-Pritchett is Mitchell and Cameron’s adopted son. He is born during the final season of the show and is transferred to the Tucker-Pritchett’s through an adoption agency. The adopted parents initially were going back and forth between whether or not they should have another kid at their age, but in the end, they decided to go for it. The youngest of the Modern Family members, Rexford is only a week old at the time of the show finale.
Other Family Members
Javier Delgado (Gloria Pritchett’s ex-husband)
Javier Delgado is Gloria Pritchett’s ex-husband and Manny’s biological father. Javier is known to be very daring and well-traveled; thanks to that he has made many influential contacts. Gloria also claims that Manny inherited a lot of Javier’s qualities such as being very passionate about many things.
Javier is often seen as a “dad who doesn’t show up,” and he does tend to rarely assume responsibility, which annoys many people that know him, most notably Jay. Despite that, Javier appreciates Gloria’s parenting style quite a lot — at Manny’s graduation, he expressed his gratitude for her and said that without her, his son would not have matured into the man he is today.
Dylan Marshall (Haley Dunphy’s husband)
Dylan Stardust Marshall is Haley’s husband. Dylan isn’t thought of as particularly intelligent by the majority of the family, and Claire in particular doesn’t think this makes him suitable for her daughter Haley. Still, Dylan is always kind to everyone and is never seen acting or saying anything nasty towards anybody else. He frequently finds himself in difficult and strange circumstances due to his lack of intelligence, yet he never intentionally does anything nasty or malicious. And in that, he resembles Haley’s father (and future father-in-law), Phil, quite a lot.
Modern Family Family Tree
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