Emily's paternal grandfather, Joseph T. Ratajkowski, was born in Illinois, to Polish parents, Joseph D. Ratajkowski and Clementine Tanski. Emily's paternal grandmother, Mary Lee Hays, was from West Virginia, and had Irish, German, and English ancestry. Emily's maternal grandfather, Ely D. Balgley, was a Polish Jewish immigrant, and Emily's maternal grandmother, Margaret Josephine O'Hara, was of Irish and German descent.