Lourens Alma Tadema was born on 8 January 1836 in the village of Dronryp in the province of Friesland in the north of the Netherlands. The surname "Tadema" is an old Frisian patronymic, meaning 'son of Tade', while the names "Lourens" and "Alma" came from his godfather. He was the sixth child of Pieter Jiltes Tadema (1797–1840), the village notary, and the third child of Hinke Dirks Brouwer (–1863). His father had three sons from a previous marriage. His parents' first child died young, and the second was Atje (–1876), Lourens' sister, for whom he had great affection.