Dwayne Douglas Johnson was born on May 2, 1972, in Hayward, California, to Ata Johnson (born 1948)and former professional wrestler Rocky Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles; 1944–2020). Growing up, Johnson briefly lived in New Zealand with his mother’s family,where he attended Richmond Road Primary School in Grey Lynn before returning to the United States.
He then attended Montclaire Elementary School in Charlotte, North Carolina before moving to Hamden, Connecticut, where he spent a couple of years at Shepherd Glen Elementary School and Hamden Middle School. Johnson spent his high school years at President William McKinley High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, Glencliff High School and McGavock High School in Nashville, Tennessee, and Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
He was arrested multiple times for fighting, theft, and check fraud before the age of 17. Johnson also began playing sports, joining his high schools’ gridiron football, track and field and wrestling teams.Johnson is half-Black and half-Samoan. His father was a Black Canadian, from Nova Scotia,and part of the first Black tag team champions in WWE history along with Tony Atlas.
His mother is Samoan and the daughter of Peter Maivia, who was also a pro wrestler.Maivia’s wife, Lia, was the first female pro wrestling promoter, taking over Polynesian Pacific Pro Wrestling after her husband’s death in 1982, until 1988.Through his grandfather Maivia, Johnson is considered a non-blood relative to the Anoa’i wrestling family.In 2008, Johnson inducted his father and grandfather into the WWE Hall of Fame.