yara sayeh shahidi was born in minneapolis, minnesota, to keri salter and afshin shahidi. her mother, keri salter, is of mixed african american and native choctaw heritage, and her father, afshin, is iranian. the family moved to california for her father 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. rapper nas is their cousin. keri shahidi states the name "yara" means in persian "someone who is close to your heart", the name "sayeed" means "blessing", and "ehsan" means "to act as though god is watching".