Yara Shahidi

Yara Sayeh Shahidi was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Keri Salter Shahidi and Afshin Shahidi, a photographer. Her mother, Keri Shahidi (born Keri Jamelda Salter), is of African American and Choctaw heritage, and her father Afshin Shahidi is Iranian. Afshin was one of the principal photographers for musician Prince, who kept a signed photo of Yara in his editing suite at Paisley Park. The Shahidi family moved to California for Afshin's work when Yara was 4 years old. She is the older sister of child actor and model Sayeed Shahidi and they have a younger brother, Ehsan. The rapper Nas is her cousin. Yara means "Someone who is close to your heart" in Persian; Shahidi is a common surname in Iran and means "martyr" in Persian.

Shahidi attended Immaculate Heart Middle School and part of Immaculate Heart High School before leaving to excel in her acting career. Shahidi graduated in 2017 from Dwight Global Online School. In 2017, Shahidi was admitted to Harvard University, and she began her studies there in 2018 after taking a gap year, with a plan to major in Interdisciplinary Sociology and Black American Studies. Shahidi graduated from Harvard in 2022.