Uderzo was born in Fismes in the Marne department of France on 25 April 1927 as the fourth child of Italian immigrants Silvio Uderzo (1888–1985) and his wife Iria Uderzo (born Crestini, 1897–1997). His parents had met in 1915 in La Spezia, where Silvio Uderzo was recovering after he had been wounded in his service for the Royal Italian Army during World War I. Uderzo's mother, Iria Crestini, was working in the arsenals of La Spezia, along with many young Italian women at the time. Silvio was dismissed from military service after the end of the war, on 19 June 1919. The two became a couple and married shortly before the birth of their first child, Bruno (1920–2004). After Bruno, they had Rina in 1922. They moved from Italy to France with their then two children, first settling in Chauny in the Aisne departement. Because of Silvio's occupation as a carpenter, they had to change location regularly. In Chauny, a son named Albert was born in 1925 but died of pneumonia at the age of 8 months. The Uderzos decided to name their next son in honor of the late brother, registered as Alberto Aleandro Uderzo. The fact that his name, intended to just be "Albert" like that of his brother, was registered as the Italian "Alberto" is because the responsible government official misunderstood Silvio Uderzo's heavy Italian accent. The name "Aleandro" is in honor of Uderzo's paternal grandfather.