Ximena Cid was born in Sacramento, California, to Armando Cid and Josephine Talamantez. She has a twin sister. Her father was born in Zacatecas, Mexico, and was an artist who participated in the Royal Chicano Air Force in Sacramento. Her mother is Chicana and Yaqui, and was a cofounder of Chicano Park in San Diego, and also worked within the California Arts Council. Her maternal grandfather was also a member of the Yaqui tribe. Growing up, she and her family were involved in community organizing and activism in the Chicano Movement as well as the American Indian Movement, including marching alongside labor leaders and activists Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. In high school, she played the viola as well as the violin professionally with Mariachi Femenil las Aguilas, the first all-female mariachi band in northern California