Lahiri ta girma a Kingston, Rhode Island, inda mahaifinta Amar Lahiri ke aiki a matsayin ma'aikacin ɗakin karatu a Jami'ar Rhode Island; yana da tushe ga jarumi a cikin "The Third and Final Continent", labarin da ya kammala Mai fassara na Maladies. Mahaifiyar Lahiri tana son 'ya'yanta su girma da sanin al'adunsu na Bengali, kuma danginta sukan ziyarci dangi a Calcutta (yanzu Kolkata). Lokacin da ta fara makarantar renon yara a Kolkata, malamin Lahiri na Rhode Island ya kira ta da sunan Jhumpa Lahiri, wanda ya haife ta a lokacin da ta ke da shekaru biyu; Lahiri ta dauki kanta a matsayin Ba'amurkiya kuma ta sami sunan Lahiri a matsayin wani ɓangare na tsohuwar makarantar Ingilishi.
Shekara ta 1989