Nicholas an haife shi ne a Gatchina Palace a Gatchina ga Grand Duke Paul, da Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna na Rasha (née Sophie Dorothea na Württemberg). Watanni biyar bayan haihuwarsa, kakarsa, Catherine the Great, ta mutu kuma iyayensa sun zama sarki da kuma sarauniya na Rasha. Ya kasance dan uwan sarki Alexander I na Rasha, wanda ya yi nasara a kan kursiyin a 1801, da kuma Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich na Rasha. Riasanovsky ya ce shi ne, "mafi kyawun mutum a Turai, amma kuma mai fara'a wanda ke jin daɗin kamfanin mata kuma yana da kyau tare da maza".A ranar 13 ga Yuli, 1817, Nicholas ya auri Princess Charlotte na Prussia (1798-1860), wanda daga baya ya tafi da sunan Alexandra Feodorovna lokacin da ta tuba zuwa Orthodoxy. Iyayen Charlotte sune Frederick William III na Prussia da kuma Louise Frederick na Prussia-Strecklenburg.
Fadar Gatchina a cikin Gatchina