Cruz was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where his parents, Eleanor Darragh and Rafael Cruz, were working in the oil business.[9][10] His father was a Cuban immigrant to the United States during the Cuban Revolution.[11] His mother was born and reared in Delaware, in a family of Irish and Italian descent.[10][12] Cruz's family returned to the U.S. when he was four years old.[11]
Cruz attended high school at Faith West Academy in Katy, Texas,[13] and then graduated from Second Baptist High School in Houston