The Top 11 Nerdiest Celebrity Moms
I’ve rounded up the nerdiest celebrity moms and scored their nerdiness on three scales from one to five:
- Brains: First, how smart is mom? Did she graduate high school with honors, go to college, or get a PhD?
- Nerd hobbies: Next, what does mom do for fun in her spare time? Does she like stuff like video games, reading, writing, Dungeons and Dragons, or cosplaying?
- Is she raising nerdy kids? And finally, what kind of nerdy stuff are the kids into? Do they play video games? Have they inherited mom’s brains or been to any conventions?
Natalie Portman: The Goody Two-Shoes
- Nerd Score: 8/15
- Brains: 5/5
- Nerd hobbies: 0/5
- Is she raising nerdy kids? 3/5
“I’m going to college. I don’t care if it ruined my career. I’d rather be smart than a movie star.”
Natalie Portman
First up, straight-A student Natalie Portman skipped the premiere of Star Wars Episode I: Phantom Menace to study for her high school final exams.
After high school, she received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Harvard in 2003.
What does Natalie do with her free time? This self-proclaimed goody two shoes started her own vegan shoe company, supports anti-poverty causes, and advocates environmentalism. All noble causes, but nothing nerdy.
Natalie has two kids, son Aleph and daughter Amalia. But her children have no idea how famous she is, and she keeps them out of the media spotlight.
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Kate Beckinsale: The Polyglot
- Nerd Score: 8/15
- Brains: 4/5
- Nerd hobbies: 0/5
- Is she raising nerdy kids? 4/5
“Books have always helped me make sense of things. With any life experience, you can find someone who has documented it in a poetic way.”
Kate Beckinsale
Second on our list, English actress Kate Beckinsale, born as Kathrin Romary Beckinsale, starred in the films Pearl Harbor, Serendipity, Van Helsing, Whiteout, Contraband, Total Recall, and of course, Underworld where she played Selene. But did you know she won two writing awards in high school, and attended Oxford University, where she studied French and Russian literature? She knows Russian, French, and German. After her third year, she dropped out to focus on her acting career.
But Beckinsale doesn’t have any particularly nerdy pastimes.
And she has one daughter, Lily Mo Sheen, born in 1999. Lily certainly inherited her mother’s brains- she attended a gifted school and was accepted into college.
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Tina Fey: The Supernerd
- Nerd Score: 9/15
- Brains: 4/5
- Nerd hobbies: 2/5
- Is she raising nerdy kids? 3/5
“I was the editor of the school newspaper and in drama club and choir, so I was not a popular girl in the traditional sense, but I think I was known for being relatively scathing.”
Tina Fey
Third on our list is supernerd Elizabeth Stamatina “Tina” Fey. Tina is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and playwright, best known for her roles on Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Fey made the honor roll in high school and then attended the University of Virginia, where she received her bachelor’s degree in drama.
However, Fey’s hobby is comedy, nothing particularly nerdy. She works hard on a huge variety of comedy projects!
Did you know Fey has two daughters, Alice Zenobia Richmond, and Penelope Athena Richmond? I see some nerd cred here, Penelope celebrated her sixth birthday at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. And the girls want to be comedians and actresses like mom! Tina debuted in the show they put on together, called The Butt Show.
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Mila Kunis: The World of Warcraft Addict
- Nerd Score: 12/15
- Brains: 4/5
- Nerd hobbies: 4/5
- Is she raising nerdy kids? 4/5
“I’m still a Star Trek fan. You never stop being one
Mila Kunis
Ukranian-American actress Mila Kunis is famous for playing Jackie on That 70s Show and voicing Meg on Family Guy. She moved to the US when she was 7 years old with her parents, a physics teacher and a mechanical engineer. She graduated high school while acting and attended UCLA and Loyola Marymount University but left when the classes interfered with acting.
As for hobbies, Mila played an Alliance mage in World of Warcraft but forced herself to quit because she was so addicted! And her character’s name? CaptainPicard!
Of course, Blizzard added the NPC Mina Kunis to the game in her honor!
Mila’s daughter Wyatt Isabelle Kutcher was born in 2014 and her son Dimitri Portwood Kutcher was born in 2016. He was almost named Hawkeye, which is pretty nerdy!
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Rashida Jones: The Bookworm
- Nerd Score: 12/15
- Brains: 4/5
- Nerd hobbies: 4/5
- Is she raising nerdy kids? 3/5
Mostly, though, college was me trying to look cooler than I was. There were definitely some Carhartt jeans and backward kangol caps in my repertoire.
Rashida Jones
American actress, writer, and producer Rashida Jones played Ann Perkins from Parks and Recreation. But did you know she’s a huge nerd?
Jones’s dad would find his six year old under the covers after bedtime, reading five books at once! In high school, Jones was in the National Honors Society and voted “most likely to succeed.” And at Harvard, Jones planned to study law, but she studied philosophy and religion instead. She was actually considering pursuing a graduate degree in public policy, but her acting career started taking off!
And Jones has a few nerdy hobbies. For instance, she’s co-authored a graphic novel called Frenemy of the State. In her spare time, she also raises money to support cancer research and to fight poverty.
What about her son, Isaiah Jones Koenig? It’s too soon to say! Born in 2018, Jones has kept her son out of the limelight.
Jamie Lee Curtis: The Cosplayer
- Nerd Score: 13/15
- Brains: 3/5
- Nerd hobbies: 5/5
- Is she raising nerdy kids? 5/5
Children are paparazzi. They take your picture with their minds when you don’t want them to see you at your worst. Trust me, they SEE and HEAR everything.
-Jamie Lee Curtis
Famous for her roles in horror movies like Halloween, Jamie Lee Curtis also loves World of Warcraft and cosplay!
After high school, Curtis attended University of the Pacific and studied law for 1 semester before dropping out to pursue acting.
She has attended BlizzCon and Comic-Con incognito as a Forsaken and an orc! And along those lines, Curtis shares her love of Warcraft with her son Thomas and helped him with his cosplay of Kael’thas Sunstrider in a BlizzCon costume contest. And they attended the Warcraft movie premiere in Hollywood in 2016!
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Kari Byron: Artist and Scientist
- Nerd Score: 12/15
- Brains: 3/5
- Nerd hobbies: 5/5
- Is she raising nerdy kids? 4/5
Art and science are both creative processes about using the tools at hand, being struck with bright ideas, and getting your hands dirty. By living as a “scientist,” I saw how adding an “artist” sensibility to science and vice versa lifted them both.
Kari Byron
Kari Byron of Mythbusters fame is definitely a nerd. Byron studied film and sculpture at San Francisco State University where she graduated magna cum laude, then worked as an artist after graduation. After that, she interned at M5 Industries with Jamie Hyneman, and the rest is history.
She continues making art as a hobby. At first glance, it’s not a particularly nerdy pastime, but she uses explosives (check out her Instagram!) to create artwork! Byron is also the Chief Creative Officer of Smart Gurlz, an innovative new toy company that makes STEAM toys for children 6 and up.
Finally, Byron has a daughter named Stella Ruby. While there aren’t many details about Stella, if her mom is part of a company that makes dolls to encourage girls to go into computer programming, then it sure sounds like she’s raising a nerd!
Jessica Chobot: Went Viral
- Nerd Score: 12/15
- Brains: 3/5
- Nerd hobbies: 5/5
- Is she raising nerdy kids? 5/5
Next, we have Jessica Chobot. She’s hosted IGN Strategize and Weekly Wood, and shows on Nerdist. Recently, she’s joined the show Expedition X on The Discovery Channel.
After high school, Chobot went to college in Ohio, where she got her fine arts degree and played Vampire: The Masquerade. After college, she was hardcore into World of Warcraft, and then became internet famous when Kotaku published a photo of her licking a Sony PSP in 2005.
Chobot is definitely a geek! She’s modeled for the J!NX female gamers clothing line and a limited edition anime sculpture. She’s also co-authored a sci-fi script for Soul Code with Steve Lisberger, the creator of Tron.
Chobot has a son named Emerson Rolland Herter born in 2013. Her husband’s blog shows pictures of Emerson sporting a Minecraft hoodie, playing with Legos, and planning content for his (nonexistent) YouTube channel!
Felicia Day: The Tabletop Gamer
- Nerd Score: 13/15
- Brains: 5/5
- Nerd hobbies: 5/5
- Is she raising nerdy kids? 3/5
When we graduate from childhood into adulthood, we’re thrown into this confusing Cthulu- like miasma of life.
Felicia Day
American actress and producer Felicia Day is well-known for her roles in the tv show Supernatural, and the web series Dr. Horrible’s Singalong Blog, The Guild, and Geek & Sundry.
Day was a National Merit Scholar and valedictorian of her high school class. At the age of 16, she started college. As an accomplished violinist, she was accepted at Juilliard, but chose to attend University of Texas at Austin. Day double majored in Mathematics and Violin Performance, and graduated at age 19.
It’s obvious from Day’s current projects that she’s got a ton of nerdy hobbies. Tabletop games and video games like WoW Classic just scratch the surface! She’s written an interactive self help book to help nerds with anxiety, called “Embrace Your Weird.” And she’s starting the second season of her podcast Voyage to the Stars.
Day has one daughter, Calliope Maeve, born in 2017. While Calliope is still young, nerds who follow Day on Instagram know that she’s met R2D2, dressed up as Wonder Woman, and been to more cons than most adults!
Mayim Bialik: The Neuroscientist
- Nerd Score: 14/15
- Brains: 5/5
- Nerd hobbies: 5/5
- Is she raising nerdy kids? 4/5
I came to parenting the way most of us do – knowing nothing and trying to learn everything.
Mayim Bialik
Actress Mayim Bialik is known for her roles as Blossom and Amy Fowler from The Big Bang Theory. As a kid, she was a celebrity contestant on Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
She was accepted into both Harvard and Yale as an undergraduate, but chose to go to UCLA instead, where she received her bachelor’s and PhD in neuroscience. Her thesis was titled “Hypothalamic regulation in relation to maladaptive, obsessive-compulsive, affiliative and satiety behaviors in Prader–Willi syndrome.”
In addition, she plays bass guitar, piano, and trumpet, and learned to play harp for The Big Bang Theory. In her free time, she started the group Grok Nation (a Stranger in a Strange Land reference!), “to engage readers in online conversations that lead to… changing the world as a community.” She’s written two books, and co-authored two more: Beyond the Sling, Mayim’s Vegan Table, Girling Up, and Boying Up.
And here’s another way to evaluate Bialik’s nerd cred. You’re probably familiar with the “Bacon Number,” also known as “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.” To take the concept to an even nerdier level, some people compute their “Erdös-Bacon-Sabbath” number (click to read more on Wikipedia). Erdös was a famous Hungarian mathematician, and Sabbath refers to the band Black Sabbath.
Well, along with folks like Stephen Hawking, with an EBS of 8, Richard Feynman (14), Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman (11), Bialik also has a score of 11, one of the lowest on the planet!
Bialik has two sons, Miles Roosevelt Bialik Stone, and Frederick Heschel Bialik Stone. Based on the books she wrote about children, their mother loves them very much and clearly goes to great lengths to learn about what’s best for them!
A lot of stuff I wear I’ve had since high school.
Mayim Bialik
Danica McKellar: The Queen of the Nerds!
- Nerd Score: 15/15
- Brains: 5/5
- Nerd hobbies: 5/5
- Is she raising nerdy kids? 5/5
When I originally entered UCLA, I had planned to go for a film major, but I kept finding myself taking math classes for fun, ’cause I missed them from high school!
Danica McKellar
Finally, we have Danica McKellar! Famous for playing Winnie Cooper on The Wonder Years, she edges out Mayim Bialik by showing off just how much of a nerdy mom she is!
After high school, Danica graduated summa cum laude from UCLA with a BS in mathematics, received her PhD in mathematics, and is fluent in French.
And her Erdos number is 4 and her Bacon number is 4! Plus, as an education advocate, Danica published six books, including Kiss My Math and Math Doesn’t Suck
What about her kid? She named her son Draco McKellar Verta after the constellation and Latin word for dragon! And she shares her love of reading, math and science with him by helping Draco understand the world around him. They spend time reading together every day.
Conclusion
It was a tough call between Mayim Bialik and Danica McKellar, but there you have it!
Know of any other nerdy celebrity moms? Let me know in the comments and I’ll add them to the post!
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- Roundup of Nerdy Movie Trivia
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- How to throw a Celebrity-inspired Baby Shower
Up for some fun reading? Check out our list of the worst celebrity baby names!
Don’t forget that Mayim is co-host of “Jeopardy!” when it is in primetime on ABC television.