Lloyd Banks was born Christopher Lloyd in Baltimore, Maryland and was raised in South Jamaica, Queens. His mother is Puerto Rican and his father was African American. His parents were young and never married when Banks was born. His father spent most of Banks' childhood in prison which left Lloyd Banks' mother to raise him and his siblings alone. Lloyd Banks was left to care for his younger brothers alone when his mother was not around. He took his great, great grandfather's name, "Banks", which was passed on by his uncles who also shared it.