Everything We Know About Taylor Swift's Brother Austin

Taylor Swift — Time Magazine's Person of the Year 2023 and the breaker of records left and right — is one of the biggest celebrities on the planet, and as such, the public knows a ton about her life. Her romantic relationships are widely covered (and scrutinized), as is everything from her fashion choices to restaurant visits she makes with her friend squad. 

Public knowledge about Swift's life comes from more than just the media following Swift's every move, as the singer herself has shared much with fans through social media and her autobiographical songs. After all, there are few other stars whose fanbases can list off their favorite number (13) or the name of their high school best friend (Abigail Anderson).

Even those who are not hardcore Swifties have a ton of knowledge about Swift, which extends to her parents. Her mother Andrea, in particular, can be frequently seen in public spaces alongside her daughter, and her cancer battle — which was heartbreakingly referenced in the song "Soon You'll Get Better" — was widely covered by the media. Her father, Scott, is less visible but still certainly out there, as is Swift's brother Austin. Since Austin keeps such a low profile, however, rabid fans are probably the only ones who have done the digging to find out his deal. With limited knowledge about him in the public sphere, we wanted to focus on Austin's life as the younger sibling and self-admitted best friend of such a famous superstar. Here is everything we know about Taylor Swift's brother Austin.

A few years ago, we got a rare glimpse into the fun dynamic between Austin Swift and his famous sister when a video of them on a very competitive Easter egg hunt was posted online. The video is how we imagine things looked when the siblings were growing up and celebrating holidays on the family's Christmas tree farm (featured in the "Christmas Tree Farm" music video and others). 

Much has been made about how Taylor Swift grew up on a Reading, Pennsylvania farm, and her brother Austin was born there as well. Austin was born on March 11, 1992, three years after his sister. In those early years, patriarch Scott worked as a Merrill Lynch stockbroker, while matriarch Andrea worked in marketing.

The whole family made a huge sacrifice when they moved to Nashville so that Taylor could pursue her music career, and Austin was not even a teenager when that happened. He was already regularly driving to Nashville with his mom and sister, waiting in the car so that a preteen Taylor could hand out demos, so the move made sense for the family. Rather than harbor resentment over having to leave the 15-acre farm, Austin has expressed only positive feelings about the 2003 move to Hendersonville, Tennessee; a move that led Taylor to score a songwriting deal the following year. "She found singing, and I knew from very early on that that was her direction. She was never going to quit; that was her thing, that was her life," Austin explained in Vanity Fair.

There are many stories about family members of celebrities struggling to live in the shadow of their famous kin — this has even resulted in shocking tell-all interviews or books that exploit the famous person. While the goal is at times meant to clear up misconceptions, it is more common for a celebrity's relatives to attack them publicly and spill big secrets. But you should not expect Austin Swift to go that route!  

Swift is incredibly close with his famous sister and has been known to accompany her to events, to promote her music on his socials, and to wax poetic about their bond. He even contributes his ideas to her creative pursuits, much like their parents.

We have no idea why Swift calls his sister "Teffy," but it is adorable nonetheless. It is also adorable how he has used social media to post loving tributes to his sister (and she often returns the favor on National Sibling Day). For example, Swift posted about his respect and admiration for his big sis when she decided to speak up about politics for the first time. He also loves a birthday tribute. "I have always had a best friend, a role model, and a caring, tireless, dedicated champion in my corner," he wrote on Instagram in 2018. " ... The gift of getting to witness you become the wonderful person you are today has been the greatest privilege and honor of my life."

Austin Swift spent his high school years in the Nashville suburb of Hendersonville, where he attended Pope John Paul II High School, a Catholic prep school where the music video for "You Belong With Me" was filmed. In a 2009 Rolling Stone article on his sister, a then-16-year-old Swift was described as a "lacrosse player and academic overachiever" who had moved into a garage-level bedroom in the home he shared with his parents and famous sibling. But when Swift himself has discussed his high school years, things have seemed far less rosy. He told Vanity Fair that he was self-conscious of his weight, and he recalled not having many friends back then.

It was because of loneliness that Swift turned to the cinema for comfort. "I would go to the movies, and Daniel Craig was my friend, and Christian Bale was my friend, and Clive Owen was my friend, and Viggo Mortensen was my friend," he said in the Vanity Fair article. He developed a love of the screen that later led him to study film in college and, after graduation, intern at Lionsgate. In particular, Swift has a deep love for his favorite genre, sci-fi, as well as action flicks. He lists "Top Gun," "GoldenEye," and "The Empire Strikes Back" amongst his favorite films, and Star Wars, in particular, has been referenced multiple times on his socials.

Austin Swift started off his college career at the highly-ranked University of Notre Dame. He went there from 2010 to 2011, briefly transferred to Vanderbilt University — near his family in Nashville — and then returned to Notre Dame, where he graduated in 2015. A film studies student with no intent of being on stage or in front of a camera, Swift found acting almost by accident. "I was studying mainly film theory in college, but during one of my classes, a teaching assistant said they were having trouble casting this one role in the play they were putting up. I went and read for it and ended up getting the part, but I had no idea at the time that it was the lead," he told People.

That play was "Six Characters in Search of an Author," and it made the news in 2014 when Swift's famous sister chose to attend the final performance instead of the MTV Europe Music Awards. He appeared in a staging of "Dead Man's Cell Phone" the following year, but it was that first play that Swift credits with making him love acting. "That was a crash course but a good one. I fell in love with the people and the process, and I've been hooked since then," he said in that same article. Swift also admits to worrying he "wasn't good enough" — even if performing is in your blood, it cannot be easy being the younger sibling of someone with a huge on-stage presence — and the play alleviated those fears.

From all of the tributes he has posted about his sister, and that she's posted about him, Austin Swift seems like a really amazing brother. But perhaps the biggest indication that he has Taylor's back is the way he has refused to have any tolerance for her adversaries. The best example of this is how he handled Kanye West, hilariously but very pointedly, by way of Instagram. Swift was seemingly a fan of the rapper, even after the infamous 2009 on-stage incident at the MTV Video Music Awards. After West made a defamatory reference to Taylor in his song "Famous," though,  Austin Swift posted a video of his "spring cleaning," which was just him throwing his Yeezy shoes in the trash. Another example of his familial loyalty is how he unfollowed his sister's ex Joe Alwyn immediately after their breakup.

Swift might not have time for his sister's foes, but he certainly has love for her friends. His very first Instagram post is a series of photos of him hanging out with Taylor, her then-boyfriend Calvin Harris, her close friend Ed Sheeran, and two-fifths of One Direction. There are plenty of images of Swift spending time with members of Taylor's squad of female friends as well, including model Martha Hunt and actor Blake Lively. He has attended Coachella with the group, and in 2015, Lorde Tweeted about partying together. Swift even once threw some playful shade at Taylor's close pal and frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff, posting a photo of him eating a banana with a funny caption.

How is this for cool? Austin Swift counts "GoldenEye" amongst his favorite films, and when he scored his first professional acting gig, it was in a film starring none other than (that era's) James Bond himself. "Grew up loving Pierce Brosnan and John Moore's films. I never could've dreamt I would actually get the chance to work with them," Swift wrote alongside a movie still in an August 2016 Instagram post. Swift plays Lance in the film "I.T.," which is about a millionaire whose life turns chaotic when he fires his tech consultant. Swift left to make the film in Dublin, Ireland, not long after leaving the University of Notre Dame in 2015. While his part was by no means a starring role, it was still a big get for a recent college grad and he has said the experience "felt like a dream."

While Swift was clearly excited about his first on-screen role, so too were his sister and her famous friends. Famous squad members Martha Hunt and Ruby Rose both left encouraging comments on Austin's post, and Taylor posted about it on her socials at the time (since deleted, because the singer wiped her Instagram account a year later). "My brother @austinkingsleyswift just acted in his first movie and I'm all proud and stuff," she wrote (via People). Austin has subsequently had a handful of other acting roles, including a part in "Live by Night," starring Ben Affleck, and an appearance in two episodes of the series "Embeds."

Austin Swift has appeared in projects led by some Hollywood heavy hitters, but he has not yet broken out as a big name himself. Since he is rather private, it is unclear whether Swift is still interested in acting or if he is actively auditioning. His last acting role was in 2019, and he does not appear to have any others on the horizon. It is also unclear what is happening with Swift's interest in producing, but for a while, it appeared like that might be his calling. He has four projects under his belt as a producer, with the first being the 2019 film, "We Summon the Darkness," for which he got a shout-out from his big sis on National Sibling Day in 2020.

Taylor Swift has not only supported her brother on Instagram, but she has also given him opportunities to shine through his involvement with her projects. Austin was brought on as an executive producer for "Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions," released in 2020, and he produced "Taylor Swift: I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor's Version)" the following year. The latter video, which was directed by Taylor's bestie Blake Lively, earned major acclaim. "I was so lucky to get to work with Blake, Taylor, and the entire amazing team behind the video for 'I Bet You Think About Me' and now I am so proud and thankful that we've been nominated for the ACM award for video of the year!" Austin posted on Instagram.

We don't know a ton about Austin Swift, who has opted to keep a relatively low profile and has not made an Instagram post since February 2022. Through the years, however, we have learned some facts about the guy that makes him seem incredibly cool and startlingly normal. One might even go so far as to say that Swift is a nerd — but in the best way possible. For instance, he loves reading graphic novels and has used both comic books and "Star Wars" imagery to make jokes on his Instagram. "Hold up now, this is my song," reads the caption of one post, alongside a photo of Darth Vader pointing like a dorky dad at a party. It is a fantastic example of Swift's fun sense of humor, and the comments on these sorts of posts frequently reference his relatability.

Beyond comics and sci-fi, Swift has also made posts demonstrating an interest in attending concerts, hiking, and photography. In fact, the vast majority of photos on his Instagram grid are gorgeous scenery shots and other artistic images snapped by Swift and coupled with a one-sentence caption requiring interpretation. At one point, Swift was also into jiu-jitsu, which he saw as a good companion to acting. "I had always wanted to try it and I finally started this year," he told People in 2018. "It's very immediate. You never have to wonder how you're doing and yet it can be intellectual in its own way."

Though he has not often demonstrated it in public, Austin Swift definitely has a similar gift for singing to his older sister. While some sources have claimed Austin performed in Nashville-area bars in the aughts, there is no footage or other proof of that. 

The only reason we know he can sing is because he covered one of his sister's songs back in 2020 — but even then, he did not do it using his own name. The "Look What You Made Me Do" cover was instead credited to Jack Leopards & The Dolphin Club when Taylor posted the track online in May 2020. She noted that it had been covered for its use in the series "Killing Eve," and Swifties soon went to work looking for clues.

Not only was this the only song credited to Jack Leopards & The Dolphin Club, but these artists had no social media accounts or any other online presence. Being the diehard information diggers that they are, Swifties quickly uncovered a February 2020 Daily Mail article about Taylor asking "Killing Eve" showrunner Phoebe Waller-Bridge to put Austin on the soundtrack during a Golden Globes chat. If that were not enough, it was then uncovered that Austin had at one point had "The Dolphin Club" as his Twitter name, and that the song's artwork features a picture of him as a child. The track is also credited to Jack Antonoff (presumably the "Jack Leopard" in the equation) and Nils Sjöberg, one of Taylor's known songwriting aliases.

Taylor Swift's dating journey has been painfully public, resulting in an abnormal level of attention, scrutiny, and critique (not to mention misogyny). Heck, even the Swift parents have had to deal with media coverage of their relationship woes and their "secret" 2011 divorce. So, obviously, there has also been interest in who the uber-famous singer's brother Austin has dated. 

Austin has done a relatively good job of keeping his personal life private, but his latest relationship has been tracked by the media just like everything else Swift-adjacent. It remains unknown if Austin had other serious partners prior to his current girlfriend, but his relationship with model Sydney Ness has been somewhat visible. It was in September 2022 that the couple first made headlines, after they were photographed holding hands on a stroll through New York City.

Austin and his girlfriend have become more reclusive since then, although Ness did pop up in Taylor's 2023 Independence Day photos (the singer is known for her 4th of July celebrations). But since neither one posts about the relationship on social media, images of Austin and Ness together are few and far between. However, their public presence increased once Taylor began dating Travis Kelce in late 2023. Austin and his main squeeze were both spotted at numerous Kansas City Chiefs games and post-game outings. They were even at the Super Bowl, where they spent time with Taylor, her parents, the Kelce family, and some famous pals — in a suite that ran Kelce more than $1 million.

Not every younger sibling has the kind of relationship with their older brother or sister where they can look to them for inspiration and rely on them for thoughtful advice. Those who do are extremely lucky, and it truly seems like Austin Swift knows that. He has made it quite clear how much he has learned from his older sister, even when he is simply observing her interactions. "Something I learned myself, and learned through watching her, is respect," he told Vanity Fair. "You just respect everyone's time, everyone that you're working with. They're all there, it's all their lives, and you need to put the work in to be worth that." This aligns with what we know about T-Swizzle, who hands out $100 tips to stadium workers and reportedly gave truckers (plus caterers, riggers, dancers, and everyone else) on her Eras tour $100,000 bonuses.

Austin has spoken about finding motivation by watching his sister take her dreams by the horns. He also gets necessary advice from the star, presumably in between concerts and recording sessions. "I think the best advice I get from Taylor is that she says I can do things — in the sense that a lot of times I'm more reserved and cautious and she's like, 'You can do it, you can handle it,'" Austin told Entertainment Tonight in 2018. "That's always nice to have that in the background." Though his path has been less laser-focused and has included some experimentation, Austin has always had his big sister's support.

For a lot of people, their family's stamp of approval is a must for moving a new relationship forward, and being famous does not change that. Much like Taylor Swift has developed a close relationship with her brother's girlfriend Sydney Ness, Austin has for years befriended Taylor's partners. He built snowmen with Taylor and Calvin Harris, and at one point followed Joe Alwyn on Instagram — but it's Taylor's relationship with Travis Kelce that marks the first time the public has gotten real insight into how the young Swift sibling supports his sister's relationships. A known football fan, it probably has not been that hard for Austin to make it out to watch Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs play. But more than that, he genuinely seems to have fostered a nice bond with Kelce.

While it is not a necessity for family members to get along with one another's romantic partners, it certainly helps make interactions more pleasant and less awkward (or downright hostile, depending on the family). The heartwarming story Kelce told about his Christmas gift from Austin indicates that it should be smooth sailing should they become brothers-in-law one day. Austin wowed Kelce when he attended a Christmas Day Chiefs game dressed like Santa and later gifted him a special present. "He actually made me feel like a child because his gift to me was straight out of the bag," Kelce said on his podcast (via Entertainment Weekly). "And [he] handed me a VHS of my favorite football movie of all time, Little Giants."

The list of famous Swifties is long, and there were countless articles about all of the celebs who attended her Eras tour in 2023. Many of these famous folks gushed about seeing Taylor Swift perform — even "serious actors" like Jeff Goldblum, Jessica Chastain, and Sarah Paulson. The list of people praising Swift also included techies (like Mark Zuckerberg), athletes (like J.J. Watt), and a whole host of musicians (even legends like Billy Joel). If it seems like Swifties are everywhere, it is because they are. Even the singer's family is filled with Swifties, as evidenced by her mother Andrea's prideful reaction at the Eras Tour concert film premiere that went viral. Austin Swift also has no problem letting the world know that he is a full-on fan.

Austin's comments on Taylor's music make it clear he thinks she is a creative genius. Take his 2020 Instagram post about "Evermore," for example, where he called himself a "lifelong fan" and effusively fawned over Taylor's "level of artistry and depth of insight" in the way only a true Swiftie could. Two years before that, Austin expressed love for the song "New Year's Day," his favorite track from the "Reputation" album. "I love how that song, like so many of hers, captures something very honest about the quiet but meaningful moments in a relationship," he told People. "A number of times I've gotten to hear Taylor's songs at the stage where they're just her and a piano. Those are some of the best memories I have."