Meet Mindy Kaling’s 3 Kids, Katherine, Spencer, and Anne–The “Pure Joy” in Her Life

Mindy Kaling’s multi-hyphenate career as an actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer also includes being a mother to three kids, Katherine, Spencer, and Anne.

The Running Point co-creator has never revealed the father of her children, and she takes on the role of single mom with aplomb. Still, she acknowledges just how overwhelming it can be. “When I had two children, I felt like you would go to my house, and it was like, ‘Ahh, a tasteful, colorful home with a woman who has children,’” she told TODAY back in March. “And now it looks like I run a preschool of 40 children. 

Kaling gets plenty of parenting help from her father, Avu, her friend Reese Witherspoon, and her ex-boyfriend, good friend, and former co-star B.J. Novak, who also happens to be her children’s godfather. Rumors had swirled for years that the father of Kaling’s two children might be Novak, but she shot down the gossip in 2022. “He’s the godparent to both my kids—and they have such a great relationship—and so far [the rumors haven’t] affected my happiness at all, it hasn’t affected my kids or BJ,” she told Marie Claire. “If that’s what is going to be titillating to people, I’ll take it.”

Despite the big names circling her kids’ lives, Kaling has opted to keep their faces obscured from the spotlight. “My sense is that [my kids] have no real consent right now to do that,” she told PEOPLE in 2021. “I feel like I might as well wait until they get old enough so they can tell me if they want to be part of my social media or not.”

In keeping with that desire for privacy, her kids were not present while their mom received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame back in February. But Kaling did post a photo on Instagram of a homemade star that they’d made for her. “We’re so proud,” “We love you,” and “Congrats!” it reads, signed by all three of their names.

Ahead, read everything Kaling has shared about her life with Katherine, Spencer, and Anne.

Katherine “Kit” Swati Kaling

Kaling’s first child, Katherine “Kit” Kaling, arrived on December 15, 2017, with a birth announcement following four months later. Speaking candidly on TODAY, Kaling admitted that new motherhood made her anxious. “I’d like to be the fun mom. I know I’m gonna be the dorky mom,” Kaling said.

Kaling revealed that a classic Hollywood actress inspired her daughter’s name: Katherine Hepburn (her second-born would eventually be named after Spencer Tracy). “I just tried to pick classic names that felt like they would have to work really hard to get mad at me about later,” she told PEOPLE in a 2020 interview.

But it was the death of Kaling’s mother in 2012 that really influenced how she would raise her children. In her 2020 memoir Nothing Like I Imagined (Except for Sometimes), Kaling notes that she was “terrified” to be a single mother without her mom, but she realized her faith would be a spiritual connection between them. She writes that, “I had a little Ziploc bag of my daughter’s hair and put it on the Hindu shrine in my bedroom. … I placed Kit’s hair next to a photo of my late mother.”

“Then, just as suddenly,” she continues, “looking at this photo of my mother and the little bag of Kit’s hair, I realized the one thing that would bridge all three of our lives was our faith, this intangible thing that had been passed on to me and that I would now pass on to my daughter.”

That same year, Kaling told PEOPLE how different her daughter’s personality was from her own, saying “I was a very shy, diffident kid who was really suspicious of people and new situations. And [Katherine] is not at all. She’s very chatty,” As Katherine has gotten older, she’s displayed more of a Type A personality, interested in “order and structure,” as her mom later told TODAY in 2023. 

Despite her commitment to keeping her kids’ faces obscured on social media, Kaling can’t help but gush over special moments. In August 2023, Kaling shared photos on Instagram of Katherine having a blast at the Eras Tour at SoFi stadium, her first concert. One month later, Kaling reveled in Katherine’s first day of kindergarten. In the post, Kaling can be seen walking her daughter to school next to the sweet caption “How is she so big! (This is my son’s backpack not mine. But not mad at it, I love checker.)”

And last August, Kaling let the world in on another major milestone for her eldest daughter: a visit from the Tooth Fairy. In the hilarious photo, Kaling looks on with a big grin while her daughter writes out an imploring note for the Tooth Fairy: “Dear Tooth Fairy, please take my tooth! Love, Kit.”

Spencer Avu Kaling

On October 20, 2020 Kaling let the world know on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that she had given birth to a baby boy, Spencer, one month prior. It was a total surprise, but Kaling had been able to keep her entire pregnancy on the downlow due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spencer occasionally goes by the nickname “Spike,” but Kaling isn’t so sure if the moniker is a good fit for a kid she feels is “one of the sweetest little boys.” “Spike has the connotations of kind of like a punky energy,” she told TODAY.

In 2022, The Office alum spoke about her son’s burgeoning personality with PEOPLE. “He’s so full of joy and he’s not neurotic. He’s not anxious at all,” she said. “He’s just a boy who loves trucks and tires. And if you show him any tire, he’ll be so happy. Like tiny on a car, anything, he just loves it. So that’s a real joy in my life.”

Kaling’s first-born, Katherine, has settled into the role of older sister, but it took a bit of time to get there. As Kaling admitted to TODAY, Katherine was unconcerned with her new brother at first but has since realized he comes in handy. “The 4-year-old is a little bit of a tattle tale,” the actress explained. “I’m excited because she was a little indifferent to her younger brother and now he’s really useful to her because she can be like, ‘Mom, he ate a pretzel off the floor. Get him in trouble!’”

Kaling celebrated her son’s fourth birthday last year with a Cars-themed party. Her carousel post on Instagram showcased photos from the event, which included a giant inflatable bouncy slide, a cake made to look like Lightning McQueen, and Spencer driving around in a little green racecar. “Happy Birthday to my number one guy, Spencer Kaling (who woke up this morning and said ‘I had a great night’s sleep and now I’m four!’) 🚗🚗🚗,” Kaling captioned the post.

Anne

Kaling shared a huge surprise on her own 45th birthday: she had privately welcomed her third child. Anne Kaling’s arrival was celebrated publicly in June 2024 with a sweet Instagram post featuring photos of Kaling’s three kids together, Kaling cradling her bump, and Katherine and Spencer hanging out with their mom in her hospital bed.

“In late February I gave birth to my daughter, Anne,” the caption read. “She’s the best birthday present I could’ve ever imagined. When things are hard, whenever I veer towards cynicism, my three kids are such a great reminder of the pure joy in my life. I’m so lucky I live in a place where I could do this by myself, on my own timeline. Thanks for all the birthday wishes!” Fans were impressed by Kaling’s consistent ability to keep her pregnancies so under the radar.

Anne recently celebrated her first birthday, which Kaling posted about on Instagram featuring a carousel of adorable photos from her new daughter’s first year. “A year with our favorite banana, Anne Kaling!” Kaling wrote. “I love you so much Annie girl.”