He was the fourth child born to the Kants, but only the second to survive at that point. At his baptism, his mother found the name "Emanuel" auspicious--it meaning, "God is with him". (Indeed it was, the following five births for the Kants resulting in two more deaths. Only 5 of 9 survivied). Kant was strangely proud of his name, and later changed it to "Immanuel" because it was a more faithful rendering of the original hebrew. but his mother ended up calling him "Manelchen"--which means something like "little manny".

Kant's father was a master harness maker in konigsberg; and his mother was a daughter of another harness maker in konigsberg; they were basically our version of a blue-collar family. they struggled to feed the mouths in the household, but never failed to do so. after nine pregnancy and the struggles of raising the surviving children, Kant's mother died at the age of 40, when Kant was only 13. His father died at the age of 64, when Kant was 21.

Of his parents he said:

"My two parents (from the class of tradesmen) were perfectly honest, morally decent, and orderly. They did not leave me a fortune (but neither did they leave me any debts). Moreover, they gave me an education that could not have been better when considered from the moral point of view. Every time I think of this I am touched by feelings of the highest gratitude".

"I will never forget my mother, for she implanted and nurtured in me the first germ of goodness; she opened my heart to the impressions of nature; she awakened and furthered my concepts, and her doctrines have had a continual and beneficial influence in my life."

From meager beginnings, full of hardships and struggles, but sustained by a loving set of parents, Kant grew to be one of the greatest philosophers ever.