Jon is the bastard son of Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell, the head of House Stark and Lord Paramount of the North. The North is one of the constituent regions of the Seven Kingdoms in Westeros, and House Stark is one of the Great Houses of the realm. House Stark rules the region from their seat of Winterfell and Eddard also holds the title Lord of Winterfell. He is also the Warden of the North to King Robert Baratheon.[1]

Eddard once told King Robert Baratheon that Jon's mother is a serving girl named Wylla, but refused to elaborate any further. Jon himself has no knowledge of his mother.

Jon was raised at Winterfell on an equal footing with Eddard's legitimate children. He has an older half-brother Robb, two younger half-sisters Sansa and Arya, and two younger half-brothers Bran and Rickon. Jon's presence at Winterfell is a source of friction between Eddard and his wife, Catelyn, although Catelyn put aside her anger temporarily when the infant Jon became severely ill. Jon got on well with his half-siblings, particularly Robb and Arya.