Ferdinand of Habsburg was born in Alcalá de Henares, Spain, the second son of the Trastamara Princess Joanna ("Joanna the Mad"), and Habsburg Archduke Philip the Handsome, who was heir to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.

Ferdinand shares his customs, culture, and even his birthday with his maternal grandfather Ferdinand II of Aragon.

He was born, raised, and educated in Spain, and had not learned German when he was young.

On the death of his grandfather Maximilian I and the accession of his nineteen-year-old brother, Charles V, to title of Holy Roman Emperor in 1519, Ferdinand had been entrusted with the government of the Austrian hereditary lands, roughly modern-day Austria and Slovenia.

He is Archduke of Austria from 1521.