Born at the Ducal Palace of Colorno as the second child and only son of Philip, Duke of Parma, and Princess Louise Élisabeth of France, he was considered to be the favorite grandson of his maternal grandfather King Louis XV of France. As a grandson in the male line of King Philip V of Spain, he was created an "infante" of Spain after upon his father's death. As a grandson of King Louis, Ferdinand was also a direct descendant of England's William the Conqueror.