Lin was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan, the eldest of four children, having one brother a year younger the other, six years younger, and a half-sister, ten years younger, from her father's second marriage.
林心如在台湾台北出生长大，是四个孩子中的老大，一个弟弟比她小一岁，另一个弟弟比她小六岁，还有父亲再婚后生的一个同父异母的妹妹，比她小十岁。