Carville, the oldest of eight children, was born on October 25, 1944, in Carville, Louisiana, the son of Lucille (née Normand), a former school Teacher who sold World Book Encyclopedia door-to-door, and Chester James Carville, a postmaster as well as owner of a general store. The town of Carville was named after his paternal grandfather, Louis Arthur Carville, the postmaster. Carville attended Ascension Catholic High School in Donaldsonville, Louisiana. Louis Arthur's mother, Octavia Dehon was of Belgian parentage and had married John Madison Carville, described in a biography as "Irish-born" and a "carpetbagger", both of whom established the general store operated by the family in Carville in 1882. He was born in Ireland in 1847 and his father, Alexander Carville, in 1810.