William James Nesbitt was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, on 15 January 1965. His father, James "Jim" Nesbitt, was the headmaster of the primary school in Lisnamurrican (near Broughshane), while his mother, May Nesbitt, was a civil servant. He has three older sisters named Margaret, Kathryn, and Andrea, all of whom eventually became teachers. The family lived in the house adjoining the one-room school where Nesbitt was one of 32 pupils taught by his father, while the other pupils were all farmers' children. He grew up "completely" around women and spent a lot of time alone, "kicking a ball against a wall". He had ambitions to play football for Manchester United or to become a teacher like his father. His parents were Protestants, and Lisnamurrican was in "Paisley country". The family spent Sunday evenings singing hymns around the piano. Jim marched in the Ballymena Young Conquerors flute band and Nesbitt joined him playing the flute. After the Drumcree conflicts, they stopped marching with the band. The family's residence in the countryside left them largely unaffected by the Troubles, although Nesbitt, his father, and one of his sisters narrowly escaped a car bomb explosion outside Ballymena County Hall in the early 1970s.