Emmanuelle Grey Rossum was born on September 12, 1986, in New York City. She is the only child of Cheryl Rossum, a single mother who worked as a corporate photographer. Her parents separated while her mother was pregnant; as of 2007, she had met her father twice. Rossum's mother is Jewish (of Russian-Jewish descent), whereas her father is Protestant (of English and Dutch ancestry). Rossum identifies as Jewish, and has stated that her mother instilled in her the "Jewish code of ethics and morals". She was named for her great-grandfather, whose first name was Emanuel, using the feminine spelling. She is a relative, by marriage, of designer Vera Wang, who was married to Rossum's cousin, investor and real-estate developer Arthur P. Becker.