Aaron Kendrick De Niro is best known as one of the twin children of Academy Award-winning actor Robert De Niro and actress and model Toukie Smith, born in 1995 via IVF and a surrogate mother.
In April 2025, Aaron publicly came out as a transgender woman and now goes by the name Airyn De Niro.
Who is Aaron Kendrick De Niro?
Aaron Kendrick De Niro, now known as Airyn De Niro, is an American public figure and the daughter of actor Robert De Niro and actress and model Toukie Smith. She grew up largely out of the public eye, despite being born into one of Hollywood’s most recognized families.
Airyn and her twin brother Julian Henry De Niro were the only set of twins among Robert De Niro’s seven children. Their birth in October 1995 attracted public attention because of both the reproductive technology used and their father’s global fame.
Robert De Niro is one of the most decorated actors in film history, with two Academy Awards earned across a career of more than five decades.
Toukie Smith, Airyn’s mother, built a career spanning fashion runways and television before the twins arrived. Both parents kept their children well away from media attention through most of Airyn’s childhood.
In April 2025, Airyn stepped into her own spotlight for the first time on her own terms, coming out as a transgender woman in an interview with Them magazine.
Aaron Kendrick De Niro Twin
Airyn De Niro and Julian Henry De Niro were born as twins on October 20, 1995, in New York City. They are Robert De Niro’s only twins and are the children he shares exclusively with Toukie Smith.
Robert De Niro and Toukie Smith conceived the twins through in vitro fertilization. A surrogate mother carried and delivered both children.
That was a relatively rare approach to family planning in 1995, and the birth drew considerable media coverage at the time.
Their parents separated in 1996, one year after the twins were born. Despite the split, Robert and Toukie maintained a co-parenting arrangement through the twins’ childhood.
Julian Henry De Niro has since pursued an acting career. He made his film debut in In Dubious Battle in 2016, appearing alongside James Franco and Selena Gomez.
Aaron Kendrick De Niro Parents
Airyn’s father is Robert Anthony De Niro Jr., born on August 17, 1943, in New York City. He trained under acting teachers at the Stella Adler Conservatory and the HB Studio. His film career spans more than five decades and includes some of the most studied roles in American cinema.
Robert De Niro won his first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for The Godfather Part II in 1974. He earned his second Oscar for Best Actor for playing boxer Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull in 1980.
He has worked repeatedly with director Martin Scorsese, appearing in films including Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, and Killers of the Flower Moon. His full filmography on Wikipedia spans more than 100 credited roles.
Airyn’s mother is Toukie Smith, born Doris A. Smith on September 25, 1952, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is a model and actress best known for playing Eva Rawley on the NBC sitcom 227 from 1989 to 1990.
Smith modeled for Chanel, Versace, Issey Miyake, Geoffrey Beene, and Thierry Mugler. In 1978, Bloomingdale’s named her Model of the Year. That same year she became the second Black woman to have a mannequin made in her likeness.
Toukie Smith is the sister of fashion designer Willi Smith, who founded the clothing line WilliWear. Willi Smith passed away in 1987.
Robert De Niro and Toukie Smith dated from 1988 to 1996 but never married. Together they had Airyn and Julian, their only two children.
Early Life of Aaron Kendrick De Niro
Airyn De Niro grew up in New York City, raised in a family connected to two very different but equally prominent careers in American culture. Both Robert and Toukie worked to give their children a private life away from cameras and coverage.
Robert De Niro has spoken about the experience of being the white father of biracial children in America. In an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, he acknowledged the particular conversations that come with raising Black children in a country where race shapes daily experience.
Both Toukie Smith and Robert De Niro remained supportive co-parents following their 1996 separation.
Airyn has described feeling out of place from an early age. She came out as gay in high school, but felt she did not fit the standards of that community either. She told Them magazine that gay spaces often had no room for her because she did not match the narrow beauty standards they enforced.
Aaron Kendrick De Niro Age / Birthday
Airyn De Niro is 30 years old as of 2026, born on October 20, 1995. Her zodiac sign is Libra, a sign often linked to a deep need for fairness and for being truly understood. She began hormone therapy in November 2024, several months before her public coming out in April 2025.
Aaron Kendrick De Niro Ethnicity and Nationality
Airyn De Niro holds American nationality, born and raised in New York City. Her ethnic background is mixed: her father has Irish, Italian, and French roots, while her mother is African-American.
Airyn has spoken publicly about her pride in her Black identity, telling Them magazine that Black women have had a defining influence on her sense of self.
Aaron Kendrick De Niro Height and Weight
Airyn De Niro stands at 5 feet 9 inches tall, or 1.75 meters.
Her weight is reported at 77 kg, or around 170 lbs.
She has dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. Her physical appearance became a topic of public notice after paparazzi photographs in early 2025 showed her in a new look, with long pink hair and heeled boots, ahead of her coming out interview.
Aaron Kendrick De Niro Career
Airyn De Niro spent most of her adult life well outside the entertainment industry’s public record. She has described herself as an aspiring actress and model, though her career output has not been publicly documented in major outlets.
Growing Up in the De Niro Family
Growing up with Robert De Niro as a father placed Airyn and Julian near the center of one of the most famous names in Hollywood. Despite that proximity, both twins largely avoided the film industry that surrounds them.
Several of their half-siblings pursued entertainment careers. Drena De Niro, Robert’s adopted daughter from his first marriage, is an actress who appeared in A Star Is Born.
Raphael De Niro worked as an actor before moving into luxury real estate in New York, where his clients have included Jon Bon Jovi. Julian Henry De Niro made his own film debut in the 2016 drama In Dubious Battle.
Airyn’s path diverged from those of her siblings. She stayed private, building a life away from the industry rather than toward it.
The 2025 Coming Out
The most significant public event of Airyn’s adult life happened in April 2025. Paparazzi photographs of her in New York City, showing a changed appearance, led tabloids to write about her trans identity before she could speak for herself.
On April 29, 2025, Airyn gave an interview to Them, an LGBTQ+ media outlet.
She described the difference between having her image captured and actually being seen on her own terms. “There’s a difference between being visible and being seen,” she said. “I’ve been visible. I don’t think I’ve been seen yet.”
In that same interview, Airyn discussed beginning hormone therapy in November 2024. She credited the influence of Black trans women who shared their experiences publicly with giving her the confidence to move forward with her own transition.
She also reflected on how her parents and the wider De Niro family had always been accepting of her queerness. Still, she described anxiety about whether her family would see her for who she had become, rather than who she had been.
Robert De Niro responded publicly with a clear and direct statement of support. He told The Hollywood Reporter: “I loved and supported Aaron as my son, and now I love and support Airyn as my daughter. I don’t know what the big deal is. I love all my children.”
Modeling and Acting
Airyn has expressed an interest in modeling and acting. Her mother Toukie Smith built a career at the intersection of both industries, which gives Airyn a direct family model for that kind of work.
Her public profile grew after the April 2025 interview, which placed her in the conversation around representation for Black trans women in media.
No major film, television, or modeling credits for Airyn have been confirmed in public records as of 2026. Her work, if any, has remained as private as much of her life.
Aaron Kendrick De Niro Siblings
Airyn is one of seven children fathered by Robert De Niro across four relationships. Her only full sibling is Julian Henry De Niro. The remaining five are half-siblings through her father.
Robert De Niro’s first marriage to actress Diahnne Abbott produced Raphael De Niro, born in 1976, and included his adoption of Drena De Niro. After separating from Toukie Smith, he married actress Grace Hightower in 1997.
Their son Elliot De Niro was born in 1998, and their daughter Helen Grace De Niro arrived in 2011 via surrogate.
Robert De Niro’s youngest child is Gia Virginia Chen-De Niro, born in April 2023 with his current partner, tai chi instructor Tiffany Chen.
Airyn has spoken about family gatherings on her father’s side with warmth. She told Them magazine that relatives consistently remembered how happy her father was when he was with Toukie Smith.
Aaron Kendrick De Niro Social Media
Airyn De Niro is active on Instagram at @voiceofairyn. Her account became more visible after her April 2025 coming out interview.
She has not maintained public profiles under her birth name. Her current social media presence reflects her identity as Airyn De Niro and her focus on being seen clearly, on her own terms.
Airyn has used social media as part of her aspiration to work as a model and voice actor. Her Instagram activity grew significantly following her Them interview, as audiences connected with her story.
Conclusion
Aaron Kendrick De Niro spent nearly three decades living quietly as one of Robert De Niro’s more private children, before coming out as Airyn De Niro in April 2025 and telling her own story publicly for the first time.
Her parents’ immediate and public support, the depth of her own words about identity and visibility, and the cultural moment her story touched made her April 2025 interview one of the more notable celebrity coming-out events of recent years.