Skywalker is the most famous name in Star Wars. In fact, the name is so important in the franchise that the nine episodes that make up the main narrative have been named the Skywalker Saga. So, the question is, how many Skywalkers are there?
From both Star Wars Legends and canon, let's explore all the people who have officially had the name Skywalker.
Shmi Skywalker
The farthest back we can go on the family tree is to Shmi Skywalker, Anakin's mother, who lived as a slave on Tatooine. Presumably, she had a father and mother. It would not be unreasonable to expect that they were also named Skywalker, but since we know nothing about them, Shmi is considered the mother of the Skywalker line.
Anakin Skywalker
The man who would become Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker, had no father, so he was given his mother's surname. He would go on to become a powerful Jedi but would fall to the Dark Side and would cast aside the name of Skywalker. However, at the end of his life, he turned away from the Dark Side once again and died as Anakin Skywalker. Anakin was married to Padmé Amidala, though she isn't on this list because there is no indication that she ever took his last name. This was probably true, at least in part, because their marriage was a complete secret to almost everybody.
Luke Skywalker
The son of Anakin Skywalker, Luke kept his father's name, though he wouldn't know the true story of the man who was his father until he was much older. Like his father before him, Luke became one of the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy and is one of the primary reasons that the name Skywalker holds such weight in the world of Star Wars.
Leia Skywalker
Though we don't have any moment in the franchise where Leia is referred to as Skywalker, she was born with Luke on Polis Massa. Her last name presumably was Skywalker for a few hours before she was adopted by the Organa family and her last name was changed to help hide her existence from her father. She kept Organa as her last name until she married Han Solo, at which point she took his last name.
Rey Skywalker
Though not related by blood to any of the previous Skywalkers, Rey rejected her familial last name of Palpatine in favor of the last name of her Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker. She took on the mantle of Skywalker, continuing the name's legacy into the future of Star Wars.
While Rey is the final name on the list of Skywalkers currently canon, we can add a few more if we expand the list to the Legends canon. Check out our Legends Skywalker on the next page.
Mara Jade Skywalker
Jumping into Star Wars Legends, Mara Jade was first introduced as The Emperor's Hand, a covert agent assigned to take on the Empire's most secret assignments who answered directly to the Emperor. Mara Jade first met Luke as an adversary being ordered to kill him by the Emperor. However, the two of them would eventually fall in love and get married after having worked both together and against one another at various points for several years. Mara Jade and Luke would go on to have a son, continuing the Skywalker family.
Ben Skywalker
Ben Skywalker was the son of Luke and Mara Jade, making him the grandson of Anakin Skywalker. When the Legends line of stories ended, Ben was the couple's only child and likely going to be the only child. Because of this, we have to presume that Ben had at least one child at one point because we know of descendants of Luke who would have had to go through Ben.
Luuke Skywalker
Luuke (note the extra "u") was a genetic clone of Luke Skywalker, grown from cells taken from the hand Luke lost during his duel with Darth Vader on Cloud City. Luuke was created by Joruus C'baoth, who also gave the clone Jedi training, preparing him to face Luke one day. Technically, Darth Vader has also been cloned at least once, though that clone was always referred to as a clone of Vader and was never referred to by the name Skywalker, which is why Luuke Skywalker makes this list but the other clone doesn't.
Cade Skywalker
In 2006, a new comic series called Star Wars: Legacy was launched. The series took place over a hundred years after the events of the original trilogy and was centered around a character named Cade Skywalker, a direct descendant of Luke. Cade is proof that the Skywalker line extended past Ben Skywalker, though we don't know how.
Kol Skywalker
Kol Skywalker is the father of Cade Skywalker. He appeared in the first issue of Star Wars: Legacy and was also in several flashback sequences throughout the series. Kol is Cade's father, making him the closest known descendant of Ben Skywalker on the timeline. It is unknown how many Skywalkers existed between Ben and Kol, but we know that some do have to have existed in that missing gap.
Nat Skywalker
The third Skywalker from the Star Wars: Legacy series is Nat Skywalker, the older brother of Kol Skywalker and Uncle of Cade Skywalker. At one point in the series, Nat leaves the Order and takes on a new identity, that of Bantha Rawk. He eventually adopts some children in the series, but in those cases, the children all take on the name Rawk instead of Skywalker.
This brings the total number of Skywalkers in both Legends and canon to 11. Did you know all the Skywalkers?