Quick answer: Jon Snow is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark — which makes him a trueborn Targaryen (born Aegon Targaryen, in the show’s telling), the Mad King’s grandson, Daenerys’s nephew, and the single most inconvenient family-tree fact in the history of Westeros. Here’s the whole Targaryen family tree with Jon Snow, mapped out below and on the interactive family tree.
Aerys II ═ Rhaella Rickard Stark ═ Lyarra
│ │
┌────┴─────┐ ┌─────────┴────────┐
Rhaegar Daenerys Ned Lyanna
║ (Jon’s aunt) (Jon’s “father”) ║
╚════════ R + L = J ══════════════════════════════╝
│
JON SNOW
(born Aegon Targaryen, per the show)Short version: Jon Snow’s father is Rhaegar Targaryen, his mother is Lyanna Stark, and Daenerys is his aunt. For the full branching view, open the interactive Targaryen family tree.
The Reveal, Spoiler-Free-Ish (It’s Been Years, You’ve Had Time)
For six seasons, the story let us believe Jon was Ned Stark’s bastard — the honorable lord’s one shameful mistake. It was a beautiful lie, and it held because the only people who knew the truth were either dead or Howland Reed.
The truth, revealed in Bran’s visions: Ned never fathered Jon. His sister Lyanna, dying in a tower in Dorne in 283 AC, handed Ned a newborn baby and made him promise to protect the boy — because the baby’s father was Rhaegar Targaryen, and Robert Baratheon was busy killing every Targaryen child he could find. Ned spent the rest of his life lying to his wife, his king, and his “son,” and it quietly destroyed him.
His Actual Parents
Father: Rhaegar Targaryen. Crown prince, harp player, prophecy enjoyer, and the man whose decision to run off with Lyanna started Robert’s Rebellion. Rhaegar died at the Trident before Jon was born — read the full saga on Rhaegar’s character page.
Mother: Lyanna Stark. Ned’s sister, Robert Baratheon’s betrothed, and — the show confirms — Rhaegar’s secret wife, following an annulment from Elia Martell. In the books the marriage is unconfirmed; in both versions, the love was real enough to burn the realm down.
Why the Secret Existed At All
Timing was everything. Jon was born at the exact moment the Targaryen dynasty was being exterminated: his half-siblings Rhaenys and Aegon (Rhaegar’s children with Elia) were murdered in the Sack of King’s Landing. A newborn Targaryen heir with a better claim than anyone alive would have had a life expectancy measurable in days. So the boy became “Jon Snow,” bastard of Winterfell, and the greatest dynastic secret in Westerosi history hid in plain sight for seventeen years.
His Full Targaryen Lineage
Targaryen Family Tree With Jon Snow: The Table
| Relation | Person | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Father | Rhaegar Targaryen | Killed at the Trident, 283 AC |
| Mother | Lyanna Stark | Died in childbirth, Tower of Joy, 283 AC |
| Grandfather (paternal) | Aerys II, “the Mad King” | Killed by Jaime Lannister |
| Grandmother (paternal) | Rhaella Targaryen | Aerys’s sister-wife; died birthing Daenerys |
| Grandfather (maternal) | Rickard Stark | Burned alive by the Mad King |
| Uncle (paternal) | Viserys Targaryen | Crown of molten gold, deserved it |
| Aunt (paternal) | Daenerys Targaryen | Yes. Aunt. More on that below |
| Half-brother/sister | Aegon & Rhaenys | Rhaegar’s children with Elia; murdered in the Sack |
| Raised as | Bastard son of Eddard Stark | His mother’s brother — so Ned was his uncle, not his father |
Yes, that means his “father” was his uncle, his “half-siblings” the Stark kids are his cousins, and his aunt was his girlfriend. Welcome to the Targaryen family tree; there’s hand sanitizer by the door.
The Daenerys Problem
Let’s just deal with it: Jon and Daenerys are aunt and nephew. Daenerys is Rhaegar’s baby sister, born months after his death. Neither of them knew when they got together — and by the time the truth came out, they were already in love, at war with the dead, and politically entangled in the worst way possible: as the trueborn son of Rhaegar, Jon had the stronger claim to the Iron Throne. The man who never wanted power was the only person alive who outranked the woman who wanted it most.
We know how that ended. Drogon, a puddle of melted iron, and one very long walk into the snow.
Is Jon Snow a Targaryen or a Stark?
Both. By blood, Jon Snow is a Targaryen through his father, Rhaegar, and a Stark through his mother, Lyanna. That is the whole point of the character: ice on one side, fire on the other, raised in the North with the dragon’s blood hidden.
Known (show, Seasons 6–7): Season 6 (2016) reveals that Jon is Lyanna’s son, and Season 7 (2017) shows that Rhaegar’s marriage to Elia Martell was annulled and that he married Lyanna in secret. That makes Jon legitimate under the show’s version of events, and his true name is Aegon Targaryen, which gives him a better claim to the Iron Throne than Daenerys.
Unknown (books): In George R. R. Martin’s novels, the parentage is strongly hinted at but the annulment and secret marriage are not confirmed on the page, so the books’ version of events remains open.
Rhaegar believed the prince that was promised would carry “the song of ice and fire,” and Jon is the embodiment of that line. For the other half of the story, read how Jon Snow and Daenerys are related and the Rhaegar and Daenerys age gap, or meet Rhaegar Targaryen and Daenerys Targaryen.
FAQ
Is Jon Snow a Targaryen or a Stark?
Both. His father is Rhaegar Targaryen and his mother is Lyanna Stark — ice and fire in one person. In the show, his birth name is Aegon Targaryen.
What does the Targaryen family tree with Jon Snow look like?
Jon sits on two branches. On his father’s side he descends from Aerys II and Rhaella through Rhaegar, which makes Daenerys his aunt; on his mother’s side he descends from Rickard and Lyarra Stark through Lyanna, which makes Ned his uncle and Robb and Sansa his cousins.
What is Jon Snow’s family tree?
Jon Snow is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. Ned Stark raised him as his own bastard to protect him from Robert Baratheon, who wanted every Targaryen dead.
Is Jon Snow Daenerys’s nephew?
Yes — Daenerys is the sister of Jon’s father Rhaegar, making her Jon’s aunt. (She’s also about a year younger than him, which somehow makes it weirder.) He is also about a year older than her: Jon was born around 283 AC, and Daenerys on Dragonstone in 284 AC.
Does Jon Snow have a claim to the Iron Throne?
In the show’s version, yes — as the legitimate son of Rhaegar, the crown prince, Jon’s claim supersedes even Daenerys’s. He never wanted it, which is the most Jon Snow sentence ever written.
Why did Ned Stark lie about Jon?
Jon was born days before the Sack of King’s Landing, when Targaryen babies were being murdered. Lyanna made Ned promise to protect him — and the only protection available was a lie Ned carried to his grave.