Jon Snow's Real Name

[Lucia Targaryen]

To begin, I believe that Jon is Lyanna and Rhaegar's son but I don't think his name is Aegon. Some have suggested that his real name is Jaehaerys, which would make sense, but I'm inclined to a different name - Aemon.

There have been three known Aemon Targaryens-

1. Jaehaerys and Alysanne's son

2. Aemon the Dragonknight 

3. Maester Aemon

Of course Jon's connection to Maester Aemon is obvious but there are connections to the other two.

The first Aemon was the second born son to Jaehaerys and Alysanne. Their first son was named Aegon and he died as an infant. Also Aemon was married to Jocelyn Baratheon. Lyanna of course was betrothed to Robert Baratheon. 

But the closest comparisons are to the Dragonknight. Again he was the younger brother of an Aegon, he wielded a historic Valyrian sword, joined a brotherhood at a young age that required him to forsake lands, titles and wives, rose to Lord Commander and died at his post. 

Now if Young Griff/Aegon really is a Blackfyre (which I personally believe) it creates a parallel between our current "Targaryens" and the Dragonknight's family - Aegon IV/Aegon VI, Naerys/Daenerys and Jon/Aemon. And if the rumor about Daeron II's paternity is true (which I don't believe but it's still worth mentioning) then Jon is descended from the Dragonknight. 

In conclusion, I believe that Jon Snow's real name is Aemon Targaryen. 

[Makk]

IMO neither Lyanna nor Rhaeger were likely to have named him or if they did, to pass along the name to Ned which would make the entire aspect pretty pointless. And if they did in anyway then there is no way it was Aegon, Rhaegar already has a son called Aegon.

If they did name him and you are talking about symbolism (which is the only thing you really can be) then I would say it would be Daeron after the Young Dragon who was one of Jon's childhood heroes and just as Robb was the young wolf, Jon is the new Young Dragon.

[Euron III Greyjoy]

He could've been named pretty much anything. I assume he was given a Targaryen name, since if Lyanna did give him a Northern name, then there would've been no reason to rename him Jon. We might not even find out his real name in the books. 

[The Ned's Little Girl]

His real name is, was and always will be Jon Snow, no matter what Rhaegar or Lyanna or anybody else might have thought.

[kissdbyfire]

48 minutes ago, King Aegon I Targaryen said:

We might not even find out his real name in the books. 

I beg to differ. I think we do know his real name, and it is Jon Snow. And I’ll take it further. I think that upon learning whatever (Robb’s heir, Lyanna and Rhaegar’s son, etc) he will remain Jon Snow. 

[Dorian Martell's son]

7 hours ago, EvanSol919 said:

To begin, I believe that Jon is Lyanna and Rhaegar's son but I don't think his name is Aegon. Some have suggested that his real name is Jaehaerys, which would make sense, but I'm inclined to a different name - Aemon.

There have been three known Aemon Targaryens-

1. Jaehaerys and Alysanne's son

2. Aemon the Dragonknight 

3. Maester Aemon

Of course Jon's connection to Maester Aemon is obvious but there are connections to the other two.

The first Aemon was the second born son to Jaehaerys and Alysanne. Their first son was named Aegon and he died as an infant. Also Aemon was married to Jocelyn Baratheon. Lyanna of course was betrothed to Robert Baratheon. 

But the closest comparisons are to the Dragonknight. Again he was the younger brother of an Aegon, he wielded a historic Valyrian sword, joined a brotherhood at a young age that required him to forsake lands, titles and wives, rose to Lord Commander and died at his post. 

Now if Young Griff/Aegon really is a Blackfyre (which I personally believe) it creates a parallel between our current "Targaryens" and the Dragonknight's family - Aegon IV/Aegon VI, Naerys/Daenerys and Jon/Aemon. And if the rumor about Daeron II's paternity is true (which I don't believe but it's still worth mentioning) then Jon is descended from the Dragonknight. 

In conclusion, I believe that Jon Snow's real name is Aemon Targaryen. 

His real name is Jon. He was named by his father. That is the only real name he has ever had 

[Free Northman Reborn]

Jon Targaryen sounds rather badass to me.

A strong monosyllable first name combines much better with a long, multi syllable surname than the traditional Targ first names do.

[zoenerys]

I agree with the above posters about Jon's true name being Jon and not some Targ name. Ned was his true parent IMO. I don't believe he would ever accept Rhaegar as his father or replace Ned with him. No way. 

[Dorian Martell's son]

5 minutes ago, zoenerys said:

I agree with the above posters about Jon's true name being Jon and not some Targ name. Ned was his true parent IMO. I don't believe he would ever accept Rhaegar as his father or replace Ned with him. No way. 

He will accept that his mother and father are Lyanna and Rhaegar, But his dad has always been and always be Ned 

[J. Stargaryen]

The fact that Rhaegar already had named a son Aegon is the exact trick GRRM is using to keep us from realizing that Jon's true name is Aegon Targaryen. If Rhaegar hadn't already named a son Aegon, it would be completely obvious that GRRM intended Jon's true name to be Aegon. Because that is the Targaryen name.

Lyanna named him after Rhaegar and his family had all been killed, and she knew they had. That's why she was so insistent on extracting the promise from Ned.

Here's the passage that first made me consider the possibility that it was Lyanna that had named Jon, and what that might mean:

Samwell Tarly nodded. "I … if you want, you can call me Sam. My mother calls me Sam."

"You can call him Lord Snow," Pyp said as he came up to join them. "You don't want to know what his mother calls him." - AGoT, Jon IV

"You don't want to know what his mother calls him." Ohhhh. His mysterious mother actually had a name for him that wasn't Jon Snow? Maybe she just called him what Rhaegar told her to call him. Good point, except Rhaegar expected a girl.

Here's the passage that tells me Rhaegar believed his next child was going to be a girl, and therefore wouldn't have bothered picking out a male name:

He looked up when he said it and his eyes met Dany's, and it seemed as if he saw her standing there beyond the door. "There must be one more," he said, though whether he was speaking to her or the woman in the bed she could not say. "The dragon has three heads." - ACoK, Daenerys IV (HotU)

This chapter is from Dany's POV, but ask yourself what Rhaegar's POV here tells you. He sees a female Targaryen and says that "There must be one more (child), [...] The dragon has three heads." GRRM is telling us that Rhaegar envisioned the third head of the dragon to be female. He didn't bother choosing a male name for Lyanna's baby because he expected a girl. If Rhaegar didn't pick out a name for a boy, then it was up to Lyanna to pick one out herself. What name do you think Rhaegar would have wanted for his son and heir? Well, we know the answer is Aegon because that's exactly what he chose. But it's his reasons why that point a big fat finger at Jon Snow rather than his son with Elia.

“Aegon,” he said to a woman nursing a newborn babe in a great wooden bed.

“What better name for a king?”
“Will you make a song for him?” the woman asked.
“He has a song,” the man replied. “He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire.”

Prince that was Promised? The Song of Ice and Fire? Who does that sound like to you, Elia's son or Lyanna's? Not to mention all of the various "king" hints in Jon Snow's story.

Note: I'm not saying that the scene above is depicting R+L=J. It's definitely R+E=A, but it tells us what Rhaegar wanted his son and heir to be named, and what he expected of that child. And it's a very small leap to realize that Lyanna would have understood that, if not outright known it. Add that together with the obvious fact that she knew the fate of Rhaegar's family, and she has all the motive and opportunity in the world to name her son Aegon Targaryen.

Rhaegar believed his son and heir, for whom he had chosen the name Aegon, was meant to be the promised prince with a destiny of ice and fire. He also believed Lyanna would have a girl. Of course, he told her these things. Then Rhaegar died, and his family was murdered. Rhaegar was wrong. All hope was lost. Until Lyanna gave birth to a son. Which meant that Rhaegar had another son and heir, and thus another chance to be right. If he had another chance to be right, then the world had another chance at its promised prince with his song of ice and fire. So Lyanna honored her husband's wishes by naming his son and heir Aegon, possibly hoping that this second son of Rhaegar's would be all that he hoped for somehow. Otherwise, their love had given birth to only war and destruction and everyone who had died—Rhaegar and his family, Lyanna and hers—had died in vain.

PS-small prediction: F&B has given another Daenerys, which makes three. Our Dany being the third. Eventually, the main series will give us seven Aegons, or rather, Aegon VI and then Aegon VII. Young Griff the former, and Jon Snow the latter. I don't know exactly if that means Jon will rule wisely for many years, or any such thing. But GRRM has really teed up a seventh Aegon. And, in doing so, I can't imagine why he would then forgo it. Seven gods, Seven Kingdoms, seven Aegons. The two most important numbers with the two most important characters.

[Ygrain]

I agree with JS that Aegon seems to be the name of choice. Aemon would be the next best thing :-)

As for Jon's daddy, not a biological parent:

"Lord Eddard Stark is my father. I will not forget him, no matter how many swords they give me."

 

[Jô Maltese]

 

 

[Morte]

Jon's name is ... Jon.

If we assume that R+L=J than we must also see that his mother was dying from blood loss, her thoughts centred on her son's survival. And as it would cost all her strength to stay awake and talk to Ned in that stage, I don't think she even could spend thoughts on something as mundane as a name.

It would be horribly clichéd and unrealistic to make her switch theme and tone from "promise me, promise me Ned ..." to "by the by, and in case you don't outright kill him or leave him with someone- his name is...". I still hope that GRRM is writing better then this.

[Megorova]

Even if his real name is Jon, when(if) he will be crowned, he will have to take a different name. Like King of UK, George VI, whose original name was Albert Frederick Arthur George. Until his accession he was called Albert, or Bertie, not George. Many rulers after their coronation took different name:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regnal_name

Though the reason why I'm 99.99% sure, that Jon is Aegon, because I think, that he is GRRM's parallel to King Arthur, and LOTR King Aragorn. All three names begin with "A", and all three names mean "dragon" - Arthur Pendragon, [D]Aragorn, [Dr]Aegon.

[Aegon VII]

8 hours ago, J. Stargaryen said:

The fact that Rhaegar already had named a son Aegon is the exact trick GRRM is using to keep us from realizing that Jon's true name is Aegon Targaryen. If Rhaegar hadn't already named a son Aegon, it would be completely obvious that GRRM intended Jon's true name to be Aegon. Because that is the Targaryen name.

Lyanna named him after Rhaegar and his family had all been killed, and she knew they had. That's why she was so insistent on extracting the promise from Ned.

Here's the passage that first made me consider the possibility that it was Lyanna that had named Jon, and what that might mean:

Samwell Tarly nodded. "I … if you want, you can call me Sam. My mother calls me Sam."

"You can call him Lord Snow," Pyp said as he came up to join them. "You don't want to know what his mother calls him." - AGoT, Jon IV

"You don't want to know what his mother calls him." Ohhhh. His mysterious mother actually had a name for him that wasn't Jon Snow? Maybe she just called him what Rhaegar told her to call him. Good point, except Rhaegar expected a girl.

Here's the passage that tells me Rhaegar believed his next child was going to be a girl, and therefore wouldn't have bothered picking out a male name:

He looked up when he said it and his eyes met Dany's, and it seemed as if he saw her standing there beyond the door. "There must be one more," he said, though whether he was speaking to her or the woman in the bed she could not say. "The dragon has three heads." - ACoK, Daenerys IV (HotU)

This chapter is from Dany's POV, but ask yourself what Rhaegar's POV here tells you. He sees a female Targaryen and says that "There must be one more (child), [...] The dragon has three heads." GRRM is telling us what Rhaegar envisioned the third head of the dragon to be female. He didn't bother choosing a male name for Lyanna's baby because he expected a girl. If Rhaegar didn't pick out a name for a boy, then it was up to Lyanna to pick one out herself. What do you think Rhaegar would have wanted for his son and heir? Well, we know the answer is Aegon because that's exactly what he chooses. But it's his reasons why that point a big fat finger at Jon Snow rather than his son with Elia.

“Aegon,” he said to a woman nursing a newborn babe in a great wooden bed.

“What better name for a king?”
“Will you make a song for him?” the woman asked.
“He has a song,” the man replied. “He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire.”

Prince that was Promised? The Song of Ice and Fire? Who does that sound like to you, Elia's son or Lyanna's? Not to mention all of the various "king" hints in Jon Snow's story.

Note: I'm not saying that the scene above is depicting R+L=J. It's definitely R+E=A, but it tells us what Rhaegar wanted his son and heir to be named, and what he expected of that child. And it's a very small leap to realize that Lyanna would have understood that, if not outright known it. Add that together with the obvious fact that she knew the fate of Rhaegar's family, and she has all the motive and opportunity in the world to name her son Aegon Targaryen.

Rhaegar believed his son and heir, for whom he had chosen the name Aegon, was meant to be the promised prince with a destiny of ice and fire. He also believed Lyanna would have a girl. Of course, he told her these things. Then Rhaegar died, and his family was murdered. Rhaegar was wrong. All hope was lost. Until Lyanna gave birth to a son. Which meant that Rhaegar had another son and heir, and thus another chance to be right. If he had another chance to be right, then the world had another chance at its promised prince with his song of ice and fire. So Lyanna honored her husband's wishes by naming his son and heir Aegon, possibly hoping that this second son of Rhaegar's would be all that he hoped for somehow. Otherwise, their love had given birth to only war and destruction and everyone who had died—Rhaegar and his family, Lyanna and hers—had died in vain.

PS-small prediction: F&B has given another Daenerys, which makes three. Our Dany being the third. Eventually, the main series will give us seven Aegons, or rather, Aegon VI and then Aegon VII. Young Griff the former, and Jon Snow the latter. I don't know exactly if that means Jon will rule wisely for many years, or any such thing. But GRRM has really teed up a seventh Aegon. And, in doing so, I can't imagine why he would then forgo it. Seven gods, Seven Kingdoms, seven Aegons. The two most important numbers with the two most important characters.

You used almost the exact same line of thinking as I did, and as you can probably tell from my username I agree with your conclusion. Heck, if grrm didn’t say in an Ssm that the women was Elia I would think Dany had a vision of Jon, Lyanna, and rhaegar. I also think there’s a parallel to the elder brother waiting for the seventh ruby, and here we are waiting for aegon vii. 

[Aegon VII]

47 minutes ago, Megorova said:

[Dr]Aegon.

Lol, paging Doctor Aegon!

[kissdbyfire]

6 hours ago, Megorova said:

Even if his real name is Jon, when(if) he will be crowned, he will have to take a different name.

Can you name a single king in Martin’s universe who changed his name upon being crowned? 

I don’t see it becoming a thing at this point or further down the line. 

[J. Stargaryen]

7 hours ago, Aegon VII said:

You used almost the exact same line of thinking as I did, and as you can probably tell from my username I agree with your conclusion. Heck, if grrm didn’t say in an Ssm that the women was Elia I would think Dany had a vision of Jon, Lyanna, and rhaegar. I also think there’s a parallel to the elder brother waiting for the seventh ruby, and here we are waiting for aegon vii. 

Yeah, there's other evidence for Jon being Aegon and even Aegon VII, but I just wanted to list the barebones evidence explaining how we get from Rhaegar naming his son and heir Aegon to Lyanna naming her son Aegon. I've mentioned the Elder Brother speech on numerous occasions as evidence for Jon as Aegon VII. As far back as 2014, IIRC, when it first occurred to me that Jon could have been named Aegon. It was one of the first things that I thought of since a lot of us had been discussing that line as having to do with the line of Aerys & Rhaella or Rhaegar's family, with Jon being the eventual seventh ruby.

11 hours ago, Morte said:

Jon's name is ... Jon.

If we assume that R+L=J than we must also see that his mother was dying from blood loss, her thoughts centred on her son's survival. And as it would cost all her strength to stay awake and talk to Ned in that stage, I don't think she even could spend thoughts on something as mundane as a name.

It would be horribly clichéd and unrealistic to make her switch theme and tone from "promise me, promise me Ned ..." to "by the by, and in case you don't outright kill him or leave him with someone- his name is...". I still hope that GRRM is writing better then this.

There's no switching of theme or tone. In fact, by saying "His name is Aegon Targaryen and I need you to protect him. Promise me, Ned" Lyanna gives Ned a lot of info in a few short words. By saying "His name is Aegon Targaryen," Ned then knows that R&L were married, probably in love, etc. By your own logic—that Lyanna was talking to Ned with her dying breath—telling Ned the baby's name is the most efficient way to tell him the story of her disappearance.

[Shmedricko]

I made a post on Reddit over a year ago about Jon's birth name being Aemon which may be of interest to this thread:

(Spoilers Extended) His True Name: A Detailed Analysis

I don't want to repeat it all here, because it's quite long, but the post is divided into four parts:

• Jon Doe - Establishing what is known about the name Jon, and why there is reason to believe he was given another name before that
• Prince Aemon - Potential clues that the name was Aemon Targaryen (there are still a few possible hints I haven't added to the post, including new ones from F&B)
• Future Significance - The possibility that Jon could adopt Aemon (or any Targaryen name) as his regnal name, but still go by Jon with certain people
• The Show - A quick note about GOT and its future (I made the post shortly before Season 7). If you don't want to read about GOT then just stop once you reach "The Show" header.

I am no longer "almost certain" that Jon's birth name is Aemon, however. I'm now torn between Aemon and Aegon, and have started to lean towards Aegon. @J. Stargaryen covered many of the key points regarding the Aegon possibility above, and there are more Aegon quotes which could have relevant double meanings about Jon (a comparable amount to the Aemon quotes, I think, which is why I'm torn), such as Aemon giving Jon the same advice he gave his brother Aegon when they parted for the last time:

Quote

He knew what he would face today, and found himself tossing restlessly as he brooded on Maester Aemon's final words. "Allow me to give my lord one last piece of counsel," the old man had said, "the same counsel that I once gave my brother when we parted for the last time. He was three-and-thirty when the Great Council chose him to mount the Iron Throne. A man grown with sons of his own, yet in some ways still a boy. Egg had an innocence to him, a sweetness we all loved. Kill the boy within you, I told him the day I took ship for the Wall. It takes a man to rule. An Aegon, not an Egg. Kill the boy and let the man be born." The old man felt Jon's face. "You are half the age that Egg was, and your own burden is a crueler one, I fear. You will have little joy of your command, but I think you have the strength in you to do the things that must be done. Kill the boy, Jon Snow. Winter is almost upon us. Kill the boy and let the man be born." (Jon II, ADWD)

Or this new quote from Fire & Blood:

Quote

Rumors swept the city, one after the other. Some said that Lord Stark planned to take Prince Aegon back to Winterfell and wed him to one of his own daughters (an obvious falsehood, as Cregan Stark had no trueborn daughters at this time), others that Stark meant to put the boy to death so that he might marry Princess Jaehaera and claim the Iron Throne himself. (F&B, Aftermath—The Hour of the Wolf)

Quoting and slightly editing another comment I made on Reddit:

I've also considered the possibility that GRRM may have originally planned for Aemon, or kept his options somewhat open on Jon's true name (being the gardener that he is), and only later decided that Aegon would work best to compare and contrast with Young Griff being introduced in ADWD.

Ultimately, I don't think it matters too much. Both names can work. If GRRM goes with Aegon, then the Aegon hints will take on additional meaning, and the Aemon hints will be relegated to generic Targaryen foreshadowing. If GRRM goes with Aemon, then the Aemon hints will take on additional meaning, and the Aegon hints will be relegated to generic Targaryen foreshadowing.

But basically, I think it's a toss-up between Aegon and Aemon (and at the moment I'm leaning towards Aegon).

22 hours ago, Ygrain said:

"Lord Eddard Stark is my father. I will not forget him, no matter how many swords they give me."

It's been pointed out before, but this line is interesting because while Jon thought that after literally being given a sword, giving one's sword is also a symbol for swearing fealty, and the Iron Throne is made of swords. So that line could foreshadow lots of men fighting for/swearing loyalty to Jon because he's Rhaegar's son (and Jon accepting that), but Jon still remembering Ned as his father.

[J. Stargaryen]

16 hours ago, Jô Maltese said:

 

 

Re: the identity of Aegon VI—assuming Jon ends up as Aegon VII. And, btw, I'm glad people are picking up on the rubies connection.—I think it's almost certain that Young Griff will be crowned as Aegon VI. That's certainly what they're aiming for.