 Ratajkowski was born in Westminster , London , the only child of Kathleen Balgley and John David " J. D. " Ratajkowski , both American . Balgley , a professor of English , was teaching under the Fulbright Program , when she met J. D. , a painter and art teacher , while they were both teaching at San Dieguito Academy . At the time of their daughter 's birth , they were aged 39 and 45 , respectively , and unmarried . Ratajkowski describes her mother as a " feminist and intellectual " . The family lived in West Kensington and Bloomsbury before they settled in the United States in San Diego , California , when Ratajkowski was five . She was raised primarily in nearby Encinitas in a small house near the ocean . Balgley formerly taught at California Polytechnic State University . 
