The fifth of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperors children by Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg, she was baptised "Maria Anna Josepha". She was born in Linz as the Austrian royal family had to flee Vienna from the Turkish army which destroyed the capital. Maria Anna was a sister of two future Holy Roman Emperors Joseph I and Charles VI. Through Charles VI, she was an aunt of Empress Maria Theresa. Her first cousins included Elisabetta Farnese as well as Charles II of Spain. 