Jon Snow’s Targaryen family tree
He grew up believing he was Eddard Stark’s bastard. He is the son of a Targaryen prince and a Stark, which makes him the only person in the story who is both.
Where Jon sits on the tree
The dashed line to Jon is deliberate. It marks a parentage the television series confirms and the books have never stated.
Drag to move around, zoom with + and −. Tap a name for detail.
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Every Targaryen relation, named
- Father Rhaegar Targaryen Prince of Dragonstone, killed at the Trident
- Mother Lyanna Stark Died at the Tower of Joy shortly after his birth
- Aunt Daenerys Targaryen Rhaegar’s youngest sister, born a year after Jon
- Uncle Viserys Targaryen Rhaegar’s younger brother, the Beggar King
- Grandfather Aerys II Targaryen The Mad King
- Grandmother Rhaella Targaryen Aerys’s sister and wife
- Half-sister Rhaenys Targaryen Rhaegar’s daughter by Elia Martell
- Half-brother Aegon Targaryen Rhaegar’s son by Elia Martell
- Great-great-great-uncle Maester Aemon Served beside him at Castle Black without either knowing
How much of this is actually confirmed
This is the one place on the Targaryen family tree where it matters which version of the story you are working from, and most charts do not tell you.
In the television series it is settled. Bran Stark sees the wedding in a vision: Rhaegar’s marriage to Elia Martell was annulled and he wed Lyanna in secret in Dorne. Lyanna names the boy Aegon Targaryen. Samwell Tarly finds the septon’s written record. Jon is a trueborn heir with a claim ahead of Daenerys.
In the books none of that exists. Jon’s mother is never identified in A Song of Ice and Fire. Eddard Stark is the stated father, and in-text alternatives have been floated: a wet nurse called Wylla, Ashara Dayne, a fisherman’s daughter. The annulment, the secret marriage and the name Aegon are all inventions of the adaptation. R plus L equals J is the leading theory. It is not yet a fact.
Both readings are drawn here rather than picking one and hoping nobody notices. How this tree is sourced.
Jon Snow family tree questions
Is Jon Snow a Targaryen?
Yes. His father was Rhaegar Targaryen and his mother Lyanna Stark. Eddard Stark raised him as his own bastard to protect him from Robert Baratheon, who was killing Targaryen children.
What is Jon Snow’s real name?
Aegon Targaryen, according to the television series, named by Lyanna as she died. The books never name Jon’s mother, so the name is show canon rather than book canon.
Who are Jon Snow’s parents?
Rhaegar Targaryen, eldest son of Aerys II, and Lyanna Stark, sister of Eddard Stark. He was born at the Tower of Joy in Dorne in 283 AC.
Is Jon Snow related to the Starks?
Yes, through his mother. Eddard Stark is his uncle, so Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran and Rickon are his cousins rather than his half-siblings as he grew up believing.
Does Jon Snow have a claim to the Iron Throne?
A strong one, if Rhaegar and Lyanna were wed. As the trueborn son of the king’s eldest son he would rank ahead of Daenerys. He refused to press it.
How is Maester Aemon related to Jon Snow?
Aemon was Jon’s great-great-great-uncle, the brother of Jon’s great-great-grandfather Aegon V. They served together at Castle Black for years and neither ever knew.
Is R plus L equals J confirmed in the books?
No. In A Song of Ice and Fire Jon’s mother has never been identified and Eddard Stark is stated to be his father. The theory is heavily foreshadowed but George R. R. Martin has not confirmed it in print.