I whanau a Tyson i Manhattan hei tuarua o nga tamariki tokotoru, i roto i te whanau e noho ana i te Bronx. Ko tana whaea, a Sunchita Maria Tyson (née Feliciano), he tohunga mo te Tari Hauora, Mātauranga me te Whanaketanga o te US, a he uri no Puerto Rican. Ko tana papa, a Cyril deGrasse Tyson (1927<unk>2016), he tohunga hapori, he kaitohutohu mo nga rauemi tangata mo te koromatua o New York City a John Lindsay, me te Kaiwhakahaere tuatahi o Harlem Opportunities Unlimited. E rua nga tuakana o Tyson: Stephen Joseph Tyson me Lynn Antipas Tyson. Ko te ingoa waenga o Tyson, deGrasse, no te ingoa wahine o tana whaea matua, i whanau ko Altima de Grasse i te moutere o Ingarangi o West Bronx.
Ko Carl Sagan te tohunga whetū