Ora an haife ta ne a Pristina, SFR Yugoslavia (Kosovo na yanzu), ga iyayen Albaniya. Mahaifiyarta, Vera (née Bajraktari), likitan kwakwalwa ce, kuma mahaifinta, Besnik Sahatçiu, mai gidan giya ne, wanda ya yi karatun tattalin arziki a baya. Ora tana da 'yar'uwa babba, Elena, da ƙaramin ɗan'uwansa, Don. An haife ta ne a matsayin Rita Sahatçiu (an furta [sahatˈtʃiu]; sunan mahaifiyar da aka samo daga kalmar Baturke, saatçi, wanda ke nufin "mai sa'a"), amma iyayenta daga baya sun ƙara Ora (wanda ke nufin "lokaci" a Albanian) ga sunan mahaifiyar don a iya furta shi da sauƙi. Iyalinta sun bar Kosovo saboda dalilai na siyasa, saboda tsanantawar Albaniya da aka ƙaura tare da rushewar Yugoslavia. Sun koma London, Ingila a 1991, lokacin da ta ke shekara ɗaya. Ta girma a Notting Hill, ta yi karatu a makarantar wasan kwaikwayo na Mathias Earls, kuma a shekara guda ta kammala karatu a Makarantar Fasaha ta Mathias Earls, inda
Shekara ta 1991