Is Savannah Guthrie Related to Arlo Guthrie? The Truth Behind the Shared Last Name

Savannah Guthrie’s family has been in the news a lot, and not for good reasons. Savannah’s mother, Nancy Guthrie, has been missing since January, and the case remains active.

The attention has sparked renewed interest in the anchor's family lineage. Folks want to know if she is related to singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie.

Savannah is best known as the NBC TODAY co-anchor and chief legal correspondent. Arlo Guthrie’s official bio identifies him as the son of folk legend Woody Guthrie. His family page lists his children as Abe, Cathy, Annie, and Sarah Lee — not Savannah. Savannah identifies her immediate family as her mother Nancy, her late father, and her siblings Annie and Camron.

The confusion is easy to see. They share the same last name, and Arlo belongs to one of the most recognizable families in American folk music. But the public information attached to each of them points to different family branches. Based on the sources available, this looks like a same-last-name mix-up, not a known celebrity family link.

Savannah has built a name for herself in TV news. According to Britannica, she was born in Australia in 1971 and moved to Tucson, Ariz., as a small child.

She studied journalism, later earned a law degree, and went on to build a TV career that included legal reporting, White House coverage, and a major role at NBC. TODAY says she joined the show’s third hour in 2011 and became co-anchor in 2012, while also serving as NBC News’s chief legal correspondent and a primary election anchor.

The search interest around Savannah’s family has also spiked because of the horrifying case involving her mother, Nancy. As of March 25, the case remains active. The FBI says Nancy, 84, is considered a vulnerable adult, was last seen at her Tucson-area home on Jan. 31, and is believed to have been taken against her will.

The bureau released video showing an armed person appearing to tamper with her front-door camera and is offering up to $100,000 for information leading to Nancy’s location or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved. Savannah’s family has separately offered a $1 million reward.

Investigators have also said they believe something may have happened on Jan. 11, weeks before Nancy’s disappearance, according to AP. However, they have not publicly laid out the evidence behind that theory. No suspect has been publicly identified so far.

In her first interview since the disappearance, Savannah begged for anyone connected to Nancy’s appearance to come forward with information. "Someone needs to do the right thing. We are in agony. We are in agony. It is unbearable," Savannah said on TODAY. "And to think of what she went through. I wake up every night in the middle of the night, every night. … And in the darkness, I imagine her terror. And it is unthinkable, but those thoughts demand to be thought. And I will not hide my face. But she needs to come home now."