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In both Legends and current canon, Luke and Leia had been told at least some true information about their origins while growing up:

  • Luke knew that Owen and Beru were his aunt and uncle, and that his father's name was Anakin Skywalker, although he was told that his father had died and was a "navigator on a spice freighter".
  • Leia knew that Bail and Breha were her adoptive parents, as evidenced by Luke asking if she remembers her "real mother" in Return of the Jedi.

However, they don't seem to have had any suspicion that they might be related until Return of the Jedi, even though they were born on the same day of the same year and both knew they were both adopted under mysterious circumstances. Even if the Rebel military didn't celebrate birthdays, Leia would presumably have access to everyone's personnel file as a Rebel officer. This raises the question of whether they knew the real day (or location) of their birth, or whether their adoptive guardians told them something else.

Did Luke or Leia know when (or where) they were born? Answers from canon and Legends are both acceptable.

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    If you were adopted and met someone who was cared for by their aunt and uncle (so not the "same level" of adoption) and they were from Outer Mongolia and you were from Paraguay and you happened to have the same birthday, you would go "Wow this is a huge coincidence". You wouldn't jump to "We must be siblings."
    – ThePopMachine
    Commented Jan 30, 2020 at 17:20
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    When they shared birthday cards it probably came up - but surely people living in the Star Wars galaxy know about the "Birthday Problem": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthday_problem
    – RobertF
    Commented Jan 30, 2020 at 17:32
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    Do we even have any evidence that they would have used the same calendar to keep track of their birthdays? For certain they weren't counting time relative to the Battle of Yavin in 19 BBY. And it seems unlikely that Tatooine was using whatever the standard galactic calendar was before then.
    – The Photon
    Commented Jan 30, 2020 at 17:32
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    @Valorum, "Historians" reviewing events after the fact do. People on a distant Hutt-dominated world with only tenuous connections to the empire?
    – The Photon
    Commented Jan 30, 2020 at 17:35
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    Oh, it also occurs to me: You are statistically LESS likely to be the sibling of someone who has the exact same birthday than someone who doesn't....
    – ThePopMachine
    Commented Jan 30, 2020 at 19:23

2 Answers 2

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According to the Leia Princess of Alderaan book by Claudia Gray, it says that Leia did not know the exact day of her birth but that they just went by when Bail brought her home to Breaha; and you learn in the Revenge of the Sith book that Bail, Yoda and Obi Wan watch Padme's funeral so we can assume that it's not the same day.

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In the Canon biography Skywalker: A Family at War, it's established that Leia had a false birthday:

Within days of Padmé Amidala's death, the newborn was adopted into the Royal House of Alderaan, and presented soon after to the people during a Name Day ceremony. Her birth was officially recorded as taking place several months earlier, to avoid any potential suspicions.

(page 121)

Based on this, it's unlikely that Leia knew her real date of birth.

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    A very nice (canon) find
    – Valorum
    Commented Jun 3, 2022 at 7:38
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    Although it does say something about the observational skills of the average Alderaan resident that they can't tell the difference between a baby several days old and one several months old. This might explain Bail's confidence he could pull it off, because he knew his people.
    – Keith Morrison
    Commented Jun 3, 2022 at 21:06

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