David Berkowitz was born as Richard David Falco. His mother had him out of wedlock when she had an affair with a married real-estate agent named Joseph Klineman.

Her husband Tony Falco had left her a few years before that. His mother gave him up for adoption to Nathan and Pearl Berkowitz who named him David Berkowitz Chicago. Being rejected by his birth mother caused David to develop an inferiority complex especially with women and thought he was unappealing to them.