Duchovny was born in
New York City in 1956. He is the son of
Amram "Ami" Ducovny (1927–2003), a writer and publicist who worked for the
American Jewish Committee, and Margaret "Meg" (
née Miller), a school administrator and teacher. He is the first son and the oldest child of three children. He has a younger brother,
David (b. 1960) and a younger sister, Laurie (b. 1966). Dan attended Downtown Community School (DCS) in lower Manhattan where his 5th grade teacher was poet Sonia Sanchez. Dan attended The McBurney School on west 63rd Street from 6th thru 8th grades. He played shooting guard on the 8th grade basketball squad which went 10-0. Dan attended Friends Seminary from 9th grade thru 12th grade. Duchovny's mother is a Scottish immigrant from
Whitehills, Aberdeen,
Scotland. His father was Jewish, and his mother was Lutheran. His father dropped the
h in his last name to avoid the sort of mispronunciations he encountered while serving in the Army. In the
Polish language,
duchowny means 'clergyman', and in the
Ukrainian language it means 'spiritual'. Duchovny's paternal grandfather was a Jewish emigrant from
Berdychiv,
Ukraine, and Duchovny's paternal grandmother was a Jewish emigrant from
Congress Poland (now in Poland). ==Career==