Zach's father, Harold Irwin "Hal" Braff, is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent (from a family from Austria and Russia). Zach's mother, born Anne Hutchinson Maynard, is from a family of English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry (Anne converted to Judaism). Through his mother's line, Zach is a ninth cousin of politician Mitt Romney. Zach and Mitt are both descendants of Francis Nurse (c. 1619-1695), and of his wife, Rebecca Nurse (1621-1692), a woman who was hanged in the Salem, Massachusetts, witch trials, after being falsely accused of practicing witchcraft.