Katie Couric's 2 kids: What to know about daughters Ellie and Carrie

Katie Couric, former TODAY co-anchor, is a proud mother of two daughters, as well as a newly minted grandmother.

The 67-year-old has Elinor and Caroline Monahan from her first marriage to Jay Monahan, who died in 1998 of colon cancer at the age of 42.

Couric became a mother in 1991 with the arrival of daughter Ellie, then gave birth to Carrie in 1996. In 2014, she was remarried to John Molner.

Speaking in a July 2023 interview about transitioning into life as a single parent after the loss of Jay Monahan, Couric says her kids gave her “such strength.”

“I think what I set out to do was to create a good life for my kids that could be happy and healthy and productive, even though they had a big piece of their lives stolen from them unexpectedly,” she said.

At a 2012 event, Couric credited her daughters once again when speaking about what she is most proud of.

“Probably the fact that I think I did a pretty good job of raising my kids,” Couric answered. “My daughters are, first and foremost, incredibly nice girls with good values.”

Read on to learn more about Couric's two children.

Ellie Monahan, 32

Elinor Tully Monahan, who goes by Ellie, was born July 23, 1991 in Washington, D.C., according to IMDb. After graduating from Yale University in 2013 with a degree in American studies, Ellie Monahan moved to Los Angeles for graduate school.

She works as a television writer and has credits on shows like “The Boys” and “Mr. Robot.”

Before her daughter's wedding in July 2023, Couric shared a series of sweet throwback photos and wrote a heartfelt message on Instagram.

“It seems like yesterday when Ellie was crawling up my body like a little gymnast and doing a back flip off my shoulders. When she wouldn’t take off her Belle dress—ever. When she got her wisdom teeth pulled and was so loopy she asked the dentist to lunch. When she would spin the volleyball before a serve,” Couric wrote.

The former NBC journalist wrote that Ellie Monahan met her now-husband, Mark Dobrosky, while in college and detailed her move to LA to become a “successful TV writer.”

“It went by in a flash and today Ellie is getting married to her beloved Jersey boy. My heart is full of unbridled happiness for them both and for all of us who are coming to celebrate their love and life itself. Jay would be so proud. Here’s to love, here’s to joy, here’s to the future,” Couric concluded, adding a red heart emoji.

Dobrosky and Ellie Monahan were engaged in February 2019, when he proposed using the engagement ring that Couric received from her late husband, Jay Monahan. The couple wed on July 4, 2021 at Cedar Lakes Estate in New York.

In a 2019 interview with AOL, Couric described her eldest daughter as a “private person.”

“She’s actually pretty low-key. When she was 16 and I did an interview with a magazine, I told a story about her and she said, ‘Mom, I’d really prefer that you not talk about me in public, and if you do, can you just ask me first?’” Couric said at the time. “I was like, ‘You’re absolutely right.’”

Sisters Ellie and Carrie Monahan host podcast “All Each Other Has” together, with their latest episode airing on Apple Podcasts in March 2023.

As described in their bio, the podcast covers “fame by proxy, sleep-away camp in the American imagination, their adolescence of Carnegie Hill etiology, Sontag’s portents of the influencer economy, dialectical thinking, cyberbullies, the enduring power of Madame Alexander dolls,” among other areas.

In December 2023, Couric shared an adorable clip on Instagram from when she learned she was become a first-time grandmother. The mother of two was sitting outside when daughter Carrie Monahan handed her a bracelet.

Initially struggling to read what the bracelet said, Couric then reads, “Granny to be.”

“I’m pregnant,” Ellie Monahan said, off camera.

“You are?” Couric replied as her jaw dropped. “Wow!”

“Are you freaked out?” Ellie Monahan asked.

Laughing, Couric responded “No!”

Ellie Monahan and Dobrosky welcomed their first child, John Albert Dobrosky, on March 23. Couric revealed the meaning behind his name in an Instagram announcement the next day.

“He will be called Jay in honor of his maternal grandfather. Albert is after Mark’s paternal grandfather,” Couric wrote.

On her website, Couric explained why she chose Gogo as the nickname she wanted to be called as a new grandmother.

“I decided on Gogo after a friend told me that was what she used,” Couric wrote. “Plus it seemed fitting, because I’m like the Energizer Bunny, always on the go-go.”

“But this boy can call me whatever he wants,” she added.

Carrie Monahan, 28

Caroline Monahan, who goes by Carrie, was born to Couric and Jay Monahan on Jan. 5, 1996 in New York, New York, per IMDb. After studying American studies and French at Stanford University, she went on to receive her master's degree in journalism from Columbia University, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Following jobs at Reuters and Ark Media, Carrie Monahan has been a development producer at RadicalMedia since October 2023.

Couric has also noted Carrie Monahan's impressive singing voice, which was on full display at her older sister wedding, where she served as Ellie Monahan's maid of honor.

In an July 2021 interview with PEOPLE, Ellie Monahan said her younger sister sang Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird” during their wedding service and Kacey Musgraves’ “Late to the Party” at the reception.

“It was so moving and beautiful!“ Ellie told the publication. “We were so lucky to have our musically inclined family and guests perform.”

Couric has previously noted Carrie Monahan’s supportive nature, specifically when it comes to being there for her mom — even at 10 years old.

Appearing on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in 2021, Couric recalled a time when she began crying at the dinner table, explaining to her daughters that she was “having a really hard time” while serving as anchor of CBS Evening News.

“Carrie said, ‘Mom, remember what Samantha says ... If I listened to what every b---- in New York said about me, I’d never leave the house,’” Couric said, laughing.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com