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Vivekananda was born as Narendranath in Calcutta, the capital of British India, on 12 January 1863 during the Makar Sankranti festival. He belonged to a traditional Bengali Kayastha (a caste of Hindus) family and was one of the nine siblings. Narendra's father Vishwanath Datta was an attorney of Calcutta High Court. Narendra's mother was a pious woman and a housewife. The progressive rational approach of his father and the religious temperament of his mother helped shape his thinking and personality. Young Narendranath was fascinated by the wandering ascetics and monks.

Narendra was an average student, but a voracious reader. He was interested in a wide range of subjects such as philosophy, religion, history, the social sciences, arts, and literature. He evinced interest in the Hindu scriptures such as the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas. He trained in Indian classical music, and participated in physical exercise, sports, and organisational activities. Narendra joined the Metropolitan Institution of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar in 1871 and studied there until 1877 when his family moved to Raipur. The family returned to Calcutta two years later.