 Aitken was born in Maple, Ontario, Canada, in 1879, one of the ten children of William Cuthbert Aitken, a Scottish-born Presbyterian minister, and Jane (Noble), the daughter of a prosperous local farmer and storekeeper.When he was a year old, the family moved to Newcastle, New Brunswick, which Aitken later considered to be his hometown.It was here, at the age of 13, that he set up a school newspaper, "The Leader".