Isaac Asimov was born in the rural town of Petrovichi, Russia, and immigrated with his family to the US in 1923. His actual birthdate is uncertain because his mother enrolled him in school early by stating that his birthday was in September 1919, but Asimov himself insisted that he was born on January 2, 1920. He became a naturalized US citizen in 1928.

The Asimovs were from a family of Russian Jewish millers, and their family name means “winter grain.” When the family arrived in the US, Asimov’s father spelled the name with an S, believing this letter to be pronounced like Z. This pronunciation error is referenced in the title of one of Asimov’s short stories, “Spell My Name With an S.” An interest in language, labels, and meanings is likewise present in other works by Asimov, including the short story “Jokester,” in which characters remark that puns are the only original jokes. In “Rain, Rain, Go Away,” the family name Sakkaro is a pun on “saccharine,” or excessively sweet.

As an immigrant of Russian Jewish ancestry, Asimov encountered some of the anti-immigrant attitudes common in the early 20th-century US, and conflict resulting from prejudice and scapegoating later became key themes in the author’s work.