Emmerich was born on February 27, 1965, in New York City, New York, to a Jewish family. His mother, Constance, is a concert pianist; and his father, André Emmerich (1924–2007), was a gallery owner and art dealer who was born in Frankfurt, Germany and fled Nazi Germany with his family, relocating first to Amsterdam, Netherlands, and then New York in 1940. Noah has two brothers: Toby Emmerich, President and Chief Operating Officer at New Line Cinema, as well as a screenwriter; and Adam Emmerich, a partner at the firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in New York, specializing in mergers and acquisitions.