Ngata was born in Inglewood, California, to Solomone Ngata and 'Ofa (née Moala), who had emigrated from Tonga to the United States in the early 1970s. He has two older brothers, Solomone Jr. and Finau, a younger brother, Vili, and a younger sister, Ame. Haloti Ngata was named after his maternal uncle, Haloti Moala-Liava'a, who was a middle linebacker for the Utah Utes (1984–1988). The family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1990. In December 2002, Ngata's father died in a single-vehicle truck accident, while trying to climb the on-ramp to Interstate 80 from Route 215 just outside Salt Lake City. His mother, having battled with Chronic Kidney Disease/Diabetic Nephropathy for years, died in January 2006.