Aaron Lopez Gomez was the oldest of four children born to Moses Mordecai Gomez and Esther Lopez. His father was the son of Mordecai Gomez by his second marriage, to Rebecca de Lucena, and was called “Junior” to distinguish his from an older half brother of the same name by his father’s first marriage, who had died prior to his birth and for whom he was apparently named. His mother was the daughter of Newport’s Aaron Lopez by his first wife, Abigail, for whom young Aaron was a namesake. Though based in New York, Moses Mordecai moved his young family in search of business prospects, and Aaron was therefore born in Wilmington, North Carolina. Several years after their marriage, the links between the Lopez and Gomez families would be further solidified by a marriage between Esther’s sister Abigail and Moses’ cousin Isaac

When it came time for him to marry, Aaron chose Hetty Hendricks, oldest daughter of early American industrialist Harmon Hendricks, and sister of Uriah and Henry Hendricks. The union marked yet another bond between two powerful and prominent New York Jewish families of the era, as the bride’s paternal grandmother, Eve Esther Gomez, was also the groom’s paternal aunt. Aaron and Hetty would enjoy nearly 40 years of married life and had nine children together.