Why are there two characters named Aegon?

Question

Spoilers for the Season 7 finale of Game of Thrones, "The Dragon and the Wolf".

At the end of the episode through one of Bran's visions we learn that:

Jon Snow's real name is Aegon Targaryen.

While we knew that Jon was the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark why would

he be named Aegon, as Rhaegar already named his first son Aegon

"House Clegane was built upon dead children. I saw them lay Prince Aegon and Princess Rhaenys before the Iron Throne." - Thoros of Myr, Season 3 Episode 5 "Kissed by Fire"

This just seems confusing...

Answer 1

Rhaegar did not name his son

and

It's not unusual in royalty

Rhaegar died before naming his unborn son. The name was chosen by Lyanna, and Lyanna alone (and the writers, but that's something else), because in the end, Rhaegar was dead and she had the final word.

She probably chose a name she liked and that "sounded" Targaryen:

• Maybe she liked Aegon, the first son of Rhaegar, and she wanted to give him the same name.
• As a Northerner, Lyanna knew of Aegon V, who was the last respected king before the Mad King started all the troubles in Westeros. Knowing that she was pregnant of the last Targaryen, she wanted to name his son like the last "good" king as a symbol of hope.

There are a lot of inspirations for a given name.

Answer 2

Aegon Targaryen is a common name in the family.

The name "Aegon Targaryen" has been used seven times now, in GoT history. The last one before Jon was his half brother, Prince Aegon (presumably VI), who was killed by The Mountain as an infant. Aegon I was the head of the family when they conquered Westeros, famed for riding Balerion.

As recurring names are common among royalty (as pointed out in Oliver's answer), and the "Xth of his name" postfix has been used explicitly with all but the last two Aegons, one would assume that Lyanna was merely trying to give Jon a historied name.

Answer 3

Rhaegar wanted his sons to be named Aegon due to prophecy

The Targaryen family was big on prophecy and destiny since they boasted of magical and supernatural elements themselves (namely, their dragons and the unique relationship they had with the magical beasts).

This is elaborated on in the novels that Game of Thrones adapts, where Rhaegar Targaryen was particularly obsessed with the prophecy of The Prince That Was Promised, who may also be Azor Ahai reborn. Aegon is an important name in the Targaryen family because the first Targaryen king was Aegon the Conqueror, who unified six of the seven kingdoms of Westeros (the seventh joining years later on its own terms).

The explanation may be as simple as Rhaegar wanting his son, who he believed to be The Prince That Was Promised and/or Azor Ahai reborn, to be named Aegon Targaryen.

It's not clear if this will be true in the novels, but there is a possibility, considering the showrunners have said that they are following an outline that the author of the novels, George R. R. Martin, has provided them despite taking some liberties. There are some hints to Jon being a Targaryen in the novels too, and perhaps his name even being Aegon.

There is an excerpt in the novels where Daenerys has a vision of Rhaegar discussing with Elia about their son Aegon being, well, the chosen one. This shows how Rhaegar likely believes that the chosen one should be named Aegon, and Rhaegar could believe that his son with Lyanna is this chosen one, not with Elia (or they all are together, but the sons should still have the name Aegon regardless.)

The man had her brother's hair, but he was taller, and his eyes were a dark indigo rather than lilac. "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." 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."

Answer 4

I think the TV show is trying to recycle names and/or changing them to make it relatable. We know that Aegon is a "Targaryen Name" so, in order to make Jon look more Targ-related. Its not the first time the show changes up names of the characters in order to make the names stand up in some way.(Asha changed to Yara for example)

Its unlikely that they will use (f?)Aegon storyline with Jon, its probably just an aborted arc that will not see the light in the series, just like Victarion or Quentyn.

Answer 5

There is precedent in companion books for Targaryens naming close living relatives (and potential heirs apparent) "Aegon"

In King’s Landing, Queen Alicent grew most wroth when she learned the babe had been named Aegon, taking it for a slight against her own Aegon … which it most certainly was. (Hereafter, we will refer to Queen Alicent’s son as Aegon the Elder and Princess Rhaenyra’s son as Aegon the Younger.)

From "The Rogue Prince, or, A King's Brother", which predates the events of Game of Thrones by about 200 years.

It may be that the name is important to the Azor Ahai prophecy, which we still don't know in its entirety.

Answer 6

This is speculative, but I suspect the hint is in the annulment to Elia. It's not like it was unusual for Targaryens to have multiple wives. There was no reason to annul his marriage to Elia just because he wanted to marry Lyanna.

But we also know that Rhaegar was very interested in the prophesy about the Prince Who Was Promised. He knew that the prince that was promised's song would be "the song of ice and fire". After meeting and falling in love with Lyanna, it probably occurred to him that it made more sense that the prince that was promised would come from their union rather than the union with a woman from Dorne. So he wanted to move his children with Elia out of the line of succession so that the prince would actually be the crown prince and eventual king of Westros. Naming him Aegon was a way to make it clear that his son with Lyanna was replacing the one he had with Elia, this new Aegon was his heir and the heir to the Targaryen throne.

Answer 7

The most likely conclusion is that the writers used the name of the aborted Aegon(?) arc from the books instead of coming up with a new one: they have already changed names and characters before (Asha/Yara; Aeron Greyjoy turned into a random Drowned God priest in the series, Barristan dying for nothing, etc) so it seems the simplest explanation.

It's not meant to confuse viewers for having both (half-)brothers with the same name, since the other Aegon(?) doesn't appear in the series. All we know from watching the series is that Elia had two children that, according to Oberyn, were both murdered by The Mountain (where's Amory Loch?), but their names are never mentioned.

My guess is that he'll be named differently in the books, and that the name won't matter much, since I bet Jon will still use the name he's been using to honor both Ned and Jon Arryn, leaving his birthname as a mere bureaucratic formality.

Also, "Aegon's the name of Aegon the Conqueror, how cool is that??!!1!1!", might have something to do with the naming as well.